Tailboard loader for Freightliner containers
Page 42
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
NEW DESIGNS of vehicle tail-lifts and side-lifts promise to revolutionize distribution by road in the fast approaching era of containerization.
The latest of many Ratcliff tailboard loaders is designed for use with standard Freightliner containers. It will enable pre-loaded containers to be collected at any terminal for immediate distribution.
This has always been possible with appropriate traffic but most operators have used Freightliners to supply factories or bulk warehouses. Now it will be possible to go "round the houses" with 20ft containers carried on tail-lift equipped vehicles or trailers.
The 1-ton-capacity tailboard illustrated was developed for Brooke Bond Ltd. for tea distribution in the Glasgow area (writes John Darker).
The new Ratcliff tail-lift is fitted to a BTC 30ft skeletal trailer. When I examined the prototype at Ratcliff's Northampton depot, the torsion bar balancing device was so effective that the tailboard could be moved by two fingers.
Some adjustment of the spigot positions on the skeletal trailer was necessary to allow for the correct clearance between the container body and the lifting tailboard. Obviously, if demand for this equipment develops E. J. Ratcliff (Mechanical Engineers Ltd.) would liaise closely with trailer manufacturers.
Mr. Ted Ratcliff, the firm's founder, said he would be glad to send a drawing of the tail-lift fixing points to any interested trailer or chassis manufacturer, though he hastened to point out that his men were adept at modifying any type of vehicle sent in for a tail-lift to be fitted.
I understand 80 per cent of the parts used on the new tail-lift are standardized. This has enabled the price to be kept competitive—cost of the tail-lift and installation would be about £400.