Stratos for Seddon 4x2s
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• Seddon Atkinson is now building 4x2 rigids using the Strato cab, Four J-reg sleepercabbed Stratos plated at 23 tonnes are going into service with animal feed distributor CM Varley of Darlington.
Until now 17.27 chassis have only been available with the Motor Panels cab.
The 17.27s have also been stretched from 5.5m to a 5.8m wheelbase and have been given a third, lifting axle by Southworth Engineering of Preston.
They have Cummins 198kW (265hp) 8.3-litre engines, Eaton gearboxes and Rockwell S160E back axles with diff-locks. Varley is fitting three with Boalloy curtainsided bodies and one with a tanker.
Seddon uses the Strato cab on its tractors as well as its heavier, multi-wheel rigids. The Oldham manufacturer will not say whether a lighter rigid with the Strato cab will be launched officially, although it is believed to be discussing the option with its distributors this week.
The dealer supplying Varley, Longfield Road Motors of Darlington, says the spec could be popular with drawbar users running at a plated weight of 32 tonnes.
The bigger cab is better suited to trunking work than the Motor Panels cab, says sales manager Stephen Latheron.
Varley, however, will be using the vehicles as straightforward rigids. The company, which makes and delivers its own farm supplies, says drawbars or larger Strato-cabbed rigids would be too big to get in farm gates.
But Varley's director Andrew Varley did not want the Motor Panels-cabbed 4x2. "It's noisy, small and past its sell-by date," he says.
Southworth has also converted a Hino SH.283 tractor to a 17-tonne rigid for a Scots haulier who is using it for skip loading. Stephen Friel, director of Greenock-based HL Friel, says it is the only Type Approved Hino 17-tonner in the UK.
Southworth extended the wheelbase on the 203kW (272hp) F-reg tractor from 3.2m to 4.15m and added an extra 950mm to its length, giving it a new centre-bearing propshaft. Friel, which will put the vehicle into service this week, paid £2,000 for the conversion.
Friel specialises in tipping and skip removal, using a fleet of 24 rigids, including 24-tonne and 32-tonne Hinos. It plans to move to an all-Hino fleet as trucks are replaced. "Hinos are the easiest of all our trucks to maintain," says Friel.
Hino's UK importer, Harris UK, says there are no immediate plans to extend the range available to hauliers here. It currently offers a tractive unit with 24-tonne and 32-tonne rigids. Southworth carries out about 30 conversions from tractive units to rigids a year.