Living in the shado of big brothe
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The East Midlands often tends to be overshadowed by its Western neighbour.
Graham Montgomerie redresses the balance as he profiles three manufacturer with products as diverse as 40-ton tande bogies and cab suspension seats
HE West Midlands-based side )f the motor industry tends to let most of the publicity (bad as veil as good), but there are nany companies in the East t/lidlands, with an important part o play in the overall transport ;cene.
Southfields Coachworks Ltd of 3akewell Road, Loughborough, or example, specialises in cornnercial vehicle bodywork, TIR It and curtain siders.
In the former, four main body ypes are produced including the Spidertilt which is patented and ises a steel and polyester web
bing load retention system.
Above each dropside is a hinged gate consisting of a steel framework with an interlaced infill of heavy duty polyester. These gates can be opened out or lifted out from the vehicle as required.
With Southfield's Roll Poster tilt body, no components have to be lifted off and placed on the ground during loading and unloading. This is achieved by allowing the intermediate posts to slide along a special track running from end to end.
In between the intermediate posts are polyester webbing cargo control nets which locate by an overtake tensioning buckle when in the closed position.
When released they concertina along the vehicle when the posts are moved.
With the Webtilt TIR body, heavy duty polyester webbing is fastened around the top cant rail and fastened to the dropsides by over-centre tensioning buckles. According to Southfields, enough tolerance is built into t top loop to enable the cargo tention nets to slide along t cant rail during the loadi process.
In the Marketir, load retenti timber battens located in po ets on the intermediate pos are positioned above t dropsides. These are easily movable as are the side posts give maximum loading space.
The Marketir incorporates t essential features of the Sou fields' range — cantilever c rail, composite dropsides steel and timber, remova steel roof grids, and galvanis pressed steel lined bulkhead.:
All the Southfields' TIR bodywork range is suitable' fitment to semi-traile, drawbars, rigids or demoull bles.
The company also produ two body types in the curta sider category. The Floloada Southfields' volume-selling cu tam n sider and has a G-sectic cant rail which enables fewi roof support posts to be used.
In fact Southfields claim tK no roof supports at all are r+ quired on bodies 7.3m (24ft) ( less in length, and that th special G-shape gives compl protection from fork-lift imp damage to the curtain track.
The load bearing characte i tics of the Floloada curtains hat been tested on a tilt rig whE 20.5 tonnes of beer kegs we tipped on to a side curtain at angle where the trailer whee were clear of the ground on or side.
The curtains themselves rt on galvanised steel rollers whil are self-lubricating and requi no maintenance. Southfiel( claim that the use of steel rolle overcomes the problem of spl ting sometimes associated vi the more traditional nylon.
As with the TIR bodywork, loloada can be fitted to a wide ange of chassis. The Urbanloada is the latest in he Southfields' range and is inended for multi-drop delivery vork. It has no individual vertical 'tickle straps but uses instead n over-centre cam action tenioner at each corner which iouthfields claim allows a full ide opening in less than nine econds.
Due to the roof section contruction there are no central upport posts for maximum ase of loading.
Southfields Coachworks Ltd is ituated on a 41/2-acre site about ye miles from the M1 and has a apacity of 720 bodies per year rith a workforce of close to 100. The Northamptonshire town f Corby houses the head office
for the Truck Equipment Division of York Trailer Company Ltd. This particular section of the York empire is involved in the extension and conversion of existing chassis, uprating of equipment, and the fitting of York group manufactured bodywork.
At the present time, the company is handling large contracts for the conversion of single-axle trailers to tandem axle units while at the same time increasing their length, As well as converting trailers, York Truck Equipment will extend truck chassis and convert from a 4x2 to a 6x2 using a York third axle. The company will also cut down a rigid chassis (be it twothreeor four-axle) reinforce it, fit the auxiliary equipment including brake connections, and turn it into a tractive unit.
Alternatively, if the tractive unit has reached what is politely referred to as the end of "its useful working life" it can often still be used as a yard shunter. York Truck Equipment undertake such a conversion by fitting a Dockspotter which is a hydraulically operated lifting fifth-wheel coupling.
It can lift up to 12.2 tonnes up to 205mm {12in) high with coupling. and uncoupling being remotely controlled from the cab. York also manufactures a heavy duty version of the Dockspotter for .dockside tugs which is rated at 20.3 tonnes with a lift up to 510mm (20in).
Although a declining market, there are still a lot of automatic coupling tractive units on thi road and York markets a device which will convert such a unit t< fifth-wheel generation. Knowr as the Yorkmatic Big D, it has capacity of up to 18 tons gcw and is removable though it car be permanently fixed to the trac tive unit if the automatic coupl ing trailers become obsolete.
The subject of adding an ax1( to trailers cropped up earlier anc York also does the same for trac tive units but in a different man. ner. The York Bonus Loadel Conversion will turn a 4x2 trac. tive unit into a 6x2 by the addi. tion of a single axle dolly whicthas a forward reaching neck complete with kingpin.
It comes with lighting anc braking connections and telescopic legs for off-vehicle parking.
Corby also handles the Skip. master, a skip handling system which York claims, can cut down the loading and unloading time cycle. It is designed to suit stan