Steel lining Saunders have Neville Industries, Telehoist and Truck Engineering
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bodies and while the Neville design in light-alloy with replaceable 18in. U-shaped body sections is considered a "breakthrough" in allowing ease of repair, the operator is now "going off" alloy due to initial expense and ease of damage; to preserve the floor against rocks and so on which can be included in excavated and demolition material, a steel lining is considered essential.
By and large, Saunders find alloy difficult to repair except for the replaceable sections. Special features of Neville bodies used by the operator are heavy dumper-type top rails and a heavy channel at the rear of the frame; the strengthened rails are to stop the sides bulging—with wet loads in particular this is possible—while the strong rear channel reduces the chance of damage when the vehicle is pushed "carelessly" by a bucket loader or similar device.
Mr May emphasized the importance of "buying right" in the first place. The Telehoist bodies have fabricated one-piece sides and are therefore not all that easy to repair. But they are quite robust and have a relatively low initial cost. Robustness is also built into the Truck Engineering bodies particularly at the rear where stout corner
Top: The need for future repair must be taken into account when specifying tipper bodywork. As well as being basically robust to withstand rough treatment as with this Truck Engineering body on one of Saunders Ford Six-wheelers, there are various ways in which ease of repair can be provided for. Above: If stuck on a site, a favourite method of moving a tipper is to push it with a loader or similar piece of equipment. Saunders specifies channel-section members at the rear of the frame to save damage in the area. Night: Neville alloy bodies as used by Saunders are made using replaceable 18in. sections which keep repair time down. They also have heavy-duty top rails.
posts are specified to safeguard the area most prone to damage in a tipper.
Buying right is the key to an economic vehicle, as important in respect of the body as it is to the chassis. Make sure that the design gives sufficient strength for the work involved and that there will be no real difficulties when the time comes for maintenance or repair. The time to do this is when the specification is being drawn up. It is also important to ensure that if the specification includes features that will call for special techniques to repair, adequate facilities for these methods will exist.