Full weight of the law
Page 10
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• The problem of operating heavy recovery vehicles legally has been tackled by Bedfordbased recovery company NMT with its Weightshifter MkII, which is based on a Scammell S26 6x4 rigid chassis.
The Weightshifter, equipped with sliding ballast weights, is designed for the lift and tow recovery operation of vehicles up to a maximum legal weight, while retaining steering control and without overloading drive axles.
In the past recovery operators used two-axle vehicles for a wide range of recovery operations, but in reality, even with a ballasted front axle, they were unable to lift more than about 4.5 tonnes without running into problems.
The greater load capacity of the six-wheeled chassis solves the problem of axle overload while maintaining a high degree of manoeuvrability, but does not, on its own, ensure sufficient loading on the steering axle for the retention of steering control or adequate braking levels.
Unladen, with both two-tonne blocks in the rear position, the Weightshifter has a front axle weight of 7.1 tonnes and a rear bogie weight of 10.7 tonnes. When the blocks are moved hydraulically to the forward position the weight distribution changes to 8.6 tonnes front and 9.2 tonnes rear.
The lift and tow equipment incorporates a weighing facility used to determine the position of the weights to suit each recovery job, accommodating lifts of up to eight tonnes.
The idea was first put into practice seven years ago and was put to the Department of Transport as a solution to the problems of overloading, steering stability and braking endemic in the design of recovery vehicles. At that time Lynda Chalker, the then , Transport Minister, said that the idea has some merit".