LOCK UST ER CM tests a lot of artic combinations,
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but it's rare for us to get our hands on a drawbar outfit, particularly one that's laden to 38 tonnes. So we jumped at the chance of driving an ERF brick-and-block hauler run by Entwisle's of Lancashire, which also built the bodywork and trailer. How would it fare round CM'S Scottish route?
Price as tested: £62,619 (ex-VAT). Prime mover chassis-cab £60,700 plus: Alcoa alloy wheels (£1,484); LX trim (£435).
Engine: 10.8 litres, 374hp (279kW). GTW: 38,000kg. Payload 23.57 tonnes (see text). Fuel consumption: 7.50mpg (37.71it/100km).
Average speed: 70.2km/h (43.6mph). Driving can be a lonely business—but not if you're a brick haulier. As we drove this wagon-and-drag round our route, every other brick-wagon driver we encountered waved without fail. Clearly brick drivers are a friendly lot, and perhaps this has something to do with the wagons they drive...
The wagon in question is an ERF EC11.38 fitted with Cummins' Mll—a combination of cab and engine we've driven and enjoyed many times before, but rather than the usual 4x2 tractive unit matched to our triaxle test trailer, this was a 6x4 prime mover hauling a tandem-axle drawbar trailer.
With so many variations from our usual test subjects it's not exactly fair to make comparisons, but it will make a refreshing change to see how this outfit copes with the motorway runs, the urban manoeuvring and the roller-coaster A-roads of our route.
IN PRODUCT PROFILE The full designation of this chassis is the EC11.38 DB3—the last part indicates a 6x4 drawbar chassis with a design/plated GVW of 26 tonnes and a design GTW of 46 tonnes. The EC cab is not the only choice—ERF's smaller, Steyr-derived ES cab is also available if weight is critical, although we suspect few owner-drivers would choose it The cab in this case is ERF's standard single-bunk sleeper, though a daycab is available which shaves around 55kg off the weight. A high-roof twin-bunk cab and the luxury Olympic cab are also offered.
When we tested ERF's twin-bunk sleeper in our annual cab test (CM 9-15 April), we suggested it was a bit too sizeable to be a typical fleet machine; ERF's marketing supremo called up straight away to assure us that, indeed, it is a popular choice for bread-andbutter fleet use—so there! We stand corrected.
The all-electronic Cummins M1 1 engine is here rated at a nominal 380hp, but it's also available in 305, 340 and 405hp versions. Doubtless ERF will also fit the 12.7-litre Detroit Diesel 60-Series engine or a Caterpillar alternative if you desire.
True to form, ERF also offers plenty of gearbox options: the nine-speed Eaton/Fuller RoadRanger; the 13-speed Eaton Twin Splitter; eight or 16-speed ZF synchromesh boxes; and here, Eaton's S-series 16-speed synchro box, which is an impressive 30kg lighter than the Twin Splitter or the ZF alternative, and a welcome no-cost option.
There's still more choice at the driving end: the Rockwell (or rather Mentor) RT-52-153 double-drive bogie is available with four different ratios, from 4.56 to 3.91:1—the same offered by the S180E drive axle fitted to the equivalent 4x2 tractor. This example has a 4.10:1 ratio.
The front axle is an eight-tonne Mentor item suspended on steel taperleaf springs, while the rear bogie rides on a four-bag air system. The Entwisle-built trailer is air-suspended too, as you would expect of a brick carrier; it is more fully described overleaf.
Other features include the standard autolube system, a 600-litre fuel tank (a 400-litre tank is standard), cross and inter-axle diff locks as standard and cruise control.
• PRODUCTIVITY An EC11.38 tested last year holds the absolute record for fuel consumption round our Scottish route, but we could hardly expect a similar performance from this outfit: it had less suitable motorway gearing (the recordbreaker had a 3.91:1 drive axle), uncertain aerodynamics and a double-drive bogie. As it was, we returned a respectable 7.50mpg—a good result, considering that conditions were far from ideal; there was constant rain on our first section and a fair amount of standing water round the rest of the route.
Our truck wasn't fitted with Cummins' Road relay driver information display, so we were unable to check on fuel consumption section-bysection, but we'd be willing to bet that it performed relatively better on A-roads than on the motorway: it's geared for around 1,600rpm at 56mph in top, whereas maximum torque occurs at just 1,20Orpm.
Weather conditions held back the average speed, but the ERF still managed a respectable 70.2km/h overall round the route.
As far as payload is concerned, it's difficult to compare a drawbar with an artic. In any case, the prime mover in this spec (without the body) is claimed to weigh in at 8,340kg with a full fuel tank and a 75kg driver; not too bad, considering the size of the tank and the beefy chassis—the sidemembers are 305x95x8mm section, rather than the 270x85x7mm of the lightweight tractive unit.
Entwisle reckons that with the body, towing hitch, crane and brick grab fitted, the prime mover tips the scales at about 11.21 tonnes fully fuelled; with the 3.22-tonne trailer, the rig gives a useful payload of 23.57 tonnes. Not too far off a curtainsider, eh?
• ON THE ROAD We tested the Entwistle ERF with a full load of building bricks on board, so our usual regime of test hills and track tests was not possible—a full-power stop from 40mph might have been rather destructive...
So at first we drove quite gingerly, to be sure that the combination behaved itself; and it did. On the motorway it was stable, on twisting A-roads it was predictable, and through the centre of Edinburgh the drawbar layout was much more wieldy than an articthe steering is sharp and the trailer simply follows the unit, with minimal cut-in. The only limitation to manoeuvring is the prime mover's relatively large turning circle of 18.5m.
The drawbar's ride quality was a revelation: it's clear why brick-and-block carriers need air suspension, and even after the rollercoaster A68 nothing of our frangible load was harmed. The driveline made the driver's job easy, too: the M1 1 is a torquey motor with no real vices; you just need to get used to the Cummins CELECT concept of "idle-away" take-off, where the engine will pull away at full torque if necessary (hill starts, for exam pie) without the driver touching the accelerator pedal—if you do touch it, power is cut back and the truck is liable to kangaroo.
The gearbox was fine: a first sight of the chunky gearlever with "Eaton Fuller Transmissions" printed on it makes you expect a Road Ranger, but you get a 16-speed synchromesh box instead. It shifts sweetly, (if not too quickly) with switches for both range change and splitter.
The Blackhill climb from Shotley Bridge through Consett is usually hard going for both the truck and the driver. But this time a combination of relatively short gearing, good ride quality and excellent traction from the doubledrive bogie made short work of the hill, and we managed to stay in high range all the way up; the time was 4min 39sec, an exceptional result for a 380hp unit.
Down hills the combination behaved itself, and the service brakes were sharp enough; at first we were disappointed that the truck lacked a Jake brake, but the exhaust brake installation made up for it.
There's nothing fancy about it just a button mounted in front of the steering column, between the clutch and service brake pedals. It is easy to control with the left foot, and to combine with a dab of brake, much better than a heel-operated control. The other pedals are well positioned, especially the low-mounted, organ-type accelerator pedal. But you need not use it much if you make use of the excellent cruise control, which works more smoothly than most. Still, the dash-mounted controls are too far from the driver's line of sight, and are hardly intuitive: the first switch turns the control on or off, while the second combines five different controls. A more conventional stalk control would be preferable.
Other controls are more sensibly placed— crossand inter-axle diff lock switches are out of harm's way above the windscreen rail.
• CAB COMFORT The single-bunk sleeper cab is fitted out in ERF's typical dark grey trim, but an extra window on the nearside makes it look much airier; mock-walnut trim and dark blue carpet add a bit of opulence (but is it Royal Blue or Prussian Blue?). True, there's a lot of visible plastic in the cab, but the expression "truth to materials" springs to mind—it's a well-judged design.
ERF's four-point cab suspension is usually good, and here it is mated with a long wheelbase and air suspension.
As you would expect, ride quality is excellent a little jiggly in the fixed passenger seat, but very well isolated for the driver. Combined with good visibility and straightforward controls, it makes the drawbar an exceptionally easy truck to drive all day. The heating system works well, but there's one little quirk: an illuminated air-conditioning switch is fitted even though air conditioning itself (an option) is not. Is ERF trying to tell the driver what he's missing?
• SUMMARY This truck could seriously improve your standard of living! It was so easy to drive round the Scottish The MI I is torquey Route that we were able to take in much more of our surroundings, and we saw landmarks and views we'd never noticed before—what exactly is that big red thing that runs parallel to the Forth Road Bridge?
Seriously, this was an example of a very well-developed vehicle which does its job without fuss: the combination of chassis, body and driveline makes for a relaxing drive, excellent payload and acceptable fuel economy. It's also worth pointing out that spares are seriously cheap: with ERF's recent price cut, our standard basket of spare parts comes in at just £540—£400 less than last year's artic, despite the drawbar's extra axle.
Full marks to Entwisle's for specifying it, and full marks to ERF for supplying it.
And as well as seeing a bit more of the world, you can make new friends with brick drivers up and down the country...
CI by Toby Clark OPERATOR'S VERDICT Some say that if you want a job done well, do it yourself. James Entwisle of Preesall, Lancashire, clearly believes this: the family-owned haulage firm that bears his name, established 30 years ago by his father, also repairs and builds bodywork. And now, with a wealth of operating know-how behind it, the company has started building its own brick-carrying bodies and trailers. According to James Entwisle: "We understand fully what's needed for this job, and there aren't many that can build precisely what we want."
Eight-leggers are common on brick-carrying work, but a six-wheeler with a matching drawbar trailer manoeuvrable and has the potential for a fair bit more payload. Entwisle first tried other trailer builders: "We them understand what we wanted built, so in the end we started building them ourselves." is at least as couldn't make equipping the The ERF 6x4 chassis, specially built for drawbar applications, is double Hitched as normal, but Entwisle has had this reinforcement extended to the end of the frame.This saves him adding a heavy-duty steel subframe; instead, only a small aluminium subframe is used. Along with the aluminium body, weight is kept to a minimum.
Contact: 01253 812478.
SPECIFICATION Prime mover: ERF EC11.38 D83 with outer axle spread of 5.79m (nominal)—other OAS options: 5.24, 5.39, 6.29, 6.59 and 6.89m. Entwisle aluminium body, length 20h 6in (6.25m). Ringfeder Type 81 automatic drawbar coupling. Loader: Atlas 100.1A2 10t/m crane (fitted to rear of ERF chassis) with Kinshofer KS331 brick grab.
Trailer: Entwisle steel chassis and aluminium body, length 16ft (4.88m).
Mentor (formerly ROR) air-suspended axles.