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HOW MUCH DO YOU TIP?
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All-steel or steel-and-aluminium, underbody or scissor-type lifting ram, single or double cab? And what about the axles?
Sharon Clancy cheas out the light tipper body market.
irhe manoeuvrability of 3.5-tonners makes them a popular choice for construction duties, such as builders' nerchant deliveries to construction sites and ocal authority roadside repairs.
Light tippers have either all-steel or steelind-aluminium bodies, under-body multitage or scissor-type lifting rams and single or louble-cabs. Body panels can be steel or iluminium, although floors, frames and )ulk heads are usually steel for extra strength.
Recent hikes in steel prices have reduced he comparative cost of aluminium which, iccording to Tipmaster, offers better corrosion .esistance and a 30kg weight saving over a :omparable steel body.
Bulkheads are usually mesh infill to mprove rearward vision from the cab. Double-skinned walls add extra strength but at the cost of payload,so they are something of a rarity at 3.5 tonnes.
Overall payload on light tippers varies considerably from 700kg to more than 1.300kg, depending on the chassis, wheelbase body type and lifting gear.
Wet loads cut margins Justin Gallen, MD of Ingimex, says if payload is critical operators should remember that wet loads and uneven loading can eat into axle capacity margin. Sand, for example, can weigh up to 60% more when wet: -Unitary chassis are lighter than chassis needing a subframe, and twin-wheeled rear-wheel drive axles offer more flexibility."
Ingimex,'Tipmaster and FleetTip, the tipperbody division of hydraulics specialist Hydromech. are the leading body manufacturers in the 3.5-tonne tipper market. Ingimex focuses on sales through the van manufacturers and their dealer networks.
Tipmaster's composite aluminium-steel body has a steel floor, headboard and corner pillars painted grey and undersealed in black for greater protection. Its heavy-duty ladder rack has a galvanised mesh infill.The onepiece side panels have recessed fasteners and the anodised aluminium tailboard is doublehinged. All the pivot points have grease nipples.The electro-hydraulic power pack features a plastic tank with a visible oil level for easy checks; the motor and el ectrics are in a weatherproof box.There are hand-held controls on a wander] cad.
Fleet-Tip manufactures the all-steel Euro body—its Euro Advance scissor-action tipper body is the standard conversion oriToyota Dyna chassis. The headboard, floor, tipping gear and rear corner posts are all powdercoated black and the sides and tailgate are powder-coated to match the cab (except on the silver cab, where the body is all black).
The single-skin 400mm-deep Euro panels are powder-coated in a threestage process that includes a protective zinc primer.The company also supplies bolttogether kits with a quoted fitting time of five hours.
Tipping kits can he either a scissor action.multi-stage ram or front end. Kits include power pack,rear hinges, hose and all wires and switches. They are available for body lengths of up to 3.2m. Ingimex's Dan body has a stainless-steel subframe, single-piece steel floor and aluminium side panels. The rear pivot brackets have maintenance-free bearings.The steel headboard incorporates four load restraints. The scissor lift has a single-acting ram with underbody electro-hydraulic pump. The tipper controls are mounted on a wanderlead.
Two-tonne capacity
Tipper bodies usually have a capacity to tip two tonnes, says Justin Gallen. Front-end rams are not popular on 3.5-tonne chassis because they eat into the available load deck. Most popular are single-stage scissor-lift designs and multi-stage telescopic rams. Ingimex says one problem with multi-stage rams on light vehicles is that the top stage of the ram begins the lifting process so it must be capable of lifting the whole load.lhat means the bottom stage often has capacity of up to four tonnes and this is difficult to limit With a scissoraction lift the single-stage ram's capacity is limited by the hydraulic pump.
Three-way tippers are not as popular in the UK as they are on the Continent. But Steve Wade,sales director for FleetTip, says they do offer advantages for some jobs: "If you are tipping long products, such as pipes into trenches, the operation is faster than with a rear-end tip.Also,on jobs where manoeuvrability is tight, such as on motorway hard shoulders and on narrow driveways." Three-way tipping adds weight and cost.MatthewTerry, sales director at Tipmaster, says sales of three-way tippers are not increasing in the UK:"There is no doubt they increase versatility, but the tipping gear is around 30kg heavier and operator safety is an issue,so they are not popular with rental fleets. You do need to check the driver knows how to operate the system. If the locating pins are not in 1 the correct position,for example, the body will not tip in the direction the driver thinks it will."
"Rear-end tips are inherently safer than a sideways tip on uneven ground," says Gallen ."Designing a tipping system on a light chassis so the operator is in as safe a position as possible and yet still able to see what is happening with the load is a truck balancing act."
With a rear-end tip, he points out, the engine and gearbox act as a cantilever to the load mass. On a sideways tip, there is less counterbalance so the safety margins are narrower. "There are plenty of guidelines and CEN regulations on tail-lifts but none on tipper bodies," he points out.
Fleet-lip has enhanced sideways tipper stability by designing the body so that it is hinged at the four comers.lhe load height is no higher than with a rear-end tip.
Since 1998 tipper bodies have been subject to the same health and safety rules that govern high-level equipment. Gallen says tipper bodies should have a device fitted to prevent the vehicle moving with the body raised: "We fit an isolator switch that cuts power to the electric motor, preventing the body being raised during transit.There is a buzzer in the cab if the driver forgets to trip it."
Off the shelf
One-stop shopping cuts down the delay before your new tipper starts earning its keep. Many LCV manufacturers offer factory-fitted tipper conversions, and even for more bespoke bodies there are approved converters with close links to dealers, so lead times are not usually very long. In many cases the converter will match the chassis warranty.
Iveco, for example, quotes a maximum delivery time of two weeks on its DriveAway range, using Ingimex and FleetTip bodies. FleetTip bodies are available on the 3,450mmwheelbase Daily C12, while Ingimex supplies any body for the 3,750nun-wheelbase chassis. Both offer single or double-cab and rear or three-way tipping. If payload is critical. at 1,170k g for a 3,450mm-wheelbase body, lngimex offers 105kg more than the FleetTip model while the FleetTip scissor-action threeway body adds just 30kg .
Ford retains the lion's share of the 3.5-tonne market with a one-stop programme for the Transit that includes tipper bodies on medium and long wheelbases.The tipper has three-way tip capability, a five-stage ram and an integral body prop; payload is quoted as 1,175kg and there's a crew-cab option.
One of the best-value, ready-for-the-road tipper conversions is the £11,995 Citroen Relay 1800 MWB chassis with Tipmaster alloy-steel body. It has a 1,300kg payload and is sold through Citroen's Ready to Run programme.The spec includes the Tipmaster. a 2.2-litre HDI 104hp turbo-diesel engine, remote central locking, heated mirrors, power steering, electric windows and dual passenger scat. Options include a 500kg tail-lift, 300kg crane and 127hp 2.81 !DI engine.
Top and bottom hinges isuzu offers two off-the-shelf tipper bodies in its NKR Grafter range with prices starting at £12,950.The all-steel body has folding sides, a top-and-bottom hinged rear tailgate, recessed quick-release body levers, and a body mounted folding access step.The spec includes an in-cab tipping warning light with chassismounted isolation switch and a 9m wander lead.The full-height contoured steel headboard has integral ladder loops and a mesh safety inset across the lower half.
Since Mercedes-Benz closed its Wentworth Park conversion centre it has stopped offering a one-stop shop for tippers. However, all the main light tipper body manufacturers offer approved designs for both the Sprinter and Mitsubishi Canter chassis — the latter is a popular chassis for tipper work.
Chassis-cab versions of LDV's new Maxus van are promised within a year; in the meantime operators can still buy line-built Convoy-based tippers. Convoys have proved popular with local authorities,partly because of good axle tolerances and the appeal of an extra-long-wheelbase crew-cab model.
Vauxhall's current 0%/three-year finance offer, which runs until 31 March, includes conversions such as the Movano-based tipper. Ingimex is the core tipper converter on Vauxhall's one-stop shop conversions on the Movano.The very short lead time of five days is achieved because the Movano plant in Belgium holds Ingimex stocks. and the complete vehicles are then shipped via Zeebrugge to the UK. Renault UK has a pan-European network of approved chassis converters and you can get a tipper body on the Renault Mascott from RenaultTrucks. Renault Trucks offers both Master and Mascott 3.5tonne tippers, although the company says the lighter Master chassis offers a better payload at 3.5 tonnes.
Volkswagen offers a one-stop Tipmaster tipper conversion through its extensive Van Centre network.
A factory fit three-way tipper body for the Toyota Dyna 350 MWB chassis will be available from March, with a 300 SWB version to follow later in the year.The steel-and-aluminium Scatollini body has a 50° rear tip angle and 45° side tip angle. It is fitted atToyota's Portuguese plant;the list price is £16,995.
If off-the-shelf does not suit your requirements,Toyota has appointed FleetTip as its approved tipper converter.
Fleeflip has designed a shaped ladder gantry specifically for the Dyna which includes three-bar protection for the rear window.A pull-out galvanised side step is fitted to the underside of the body at the passenger side — flush fitting front and rear corner posts are fitted with spring-loaded, inset catches for use with the 400mm-deep Euro panel sides.The tailgate is top and bottom hung and equipment includes a towbar protector. •