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Tester's impression: The Foden Alpha we borrowed from Evans Bros
Page 49
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is not what you'd call a typical six wheeled tipper —you're looking at a 14.85m close-coupled, centre-axle drawbar trailer rig with a 450hp Cat diesel under its sleeper cab.
Once detached from the trailer there's not much need to split ratios in the 16-speed ZF box (four over four again, with both range-change and split 'on the button') or even to change gear at all. Braking was especially effective on the Alpha with powerful primary and secondary braking to cope with the downhill momentum of 44 tonnes. Not only does the Jake brake sound good, is effective, even fully loaded and on the sort of steep incline that's all too common in the Evans' home territory.
Regular driver Dylan Perkins keeps it switched in permanently to take the strain off the service brakes. Fully loaded on six axles the 12-litre Cat dug in and lugged down, taking the sharp, steep hill climb on the A419 towards Swindon slowly but surely in 5H.
A good lock makes the rig surprisingly manoeuvrable, aided oy the short trailer's foremost axle which lifts automatically when empty to reduce tyre wear and assist shunting.
The Al pha/Daf 85 cab design is far from being in its first flush of youth but is still amounts to a decent workplace: quiet inside and narrow enough to fit tight urban delivery spaces while offering a reasonable living environment for a couple of nights out a week. Our test example is contracted to Hansons and was full of the drivers kit, effectively demonstrating that there's plenty of storage space to accommodate both day and overnight gear.
Evan's Alpha sports a host of optional extras, including a walnut dash and heated seats but not, for some reason, air-con which is becoming increasingly important to ensure decent residual values.
The nine-tonne front axle runs on super singles but this doesn't noticeably affect the turning circle. Customers can specify asstandard a 7.5-tonne axle, day cab and a more modest engine output for a solo six-legger. Our test vehicle had Foden's trademark no-maintenance rubber suspension as standard but air and steel springs are available as options.
Big (4301it) fuel tanks added weight, but Alcoa alloys saved it. Other essential kit included a reversing camera, PM On-Board weigher, Rouse insulated body, electric Easysheet and Edbro front-end-ram tipping gear. This was quick going up but on the trailer it took an incredibly long down to come down again.
It's not as daunting to drive as it looks. Cat-powered Foden chassis have long been popular with the construction industry for their durability. And because Foden is small and specialist enough to build bespoke rather than for stock, customers can have pretty much what they want.