New plant for Fuller gears
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• By August 1971 Fuller Roadranger RT.900 Series gearboxes will be in production at the Eaton Yale and Towne Transmission Division factory, Worsley, Manchester. To provide for this an extension to the works is being built which will add 50 per cent to the manufacturing floor space.
At present the ex-ENV synchromesh and constant mesh gearboxes and the Fuller Roadranger 610 Series (600 lb ft capacity) gearboxes are produced at the rate of 4000 a month by Eaton Yale and Towne in Manchester. The 60,000 sq ft extension will be used to transfer the finished parts store and final inspection, which will take up about one-quarter of the area, and all gearcase and cast-iron cover machining will occupy a similar space. In the rest there will be assembly facilities as well as shipping and packing areas and the space released from the current shops will allow improved facilities for development work and vehicle conversions with a revised and enlarged section for the production of small axles—used on fork-lift trucks and electric delivery vehicles.
By the end of this year 20 per cent of the components for the bigger 900 lb ft Fuller transmissions will be produced. The basic box which, like the RT.610, is a twin-countershaft design will continue to be imported from America but when the enlarged factory is in full production, by January 1972, the British company expects to be completely independent of US supplies. There are 9-, 10-, 13and 15-speed versions of the Fuller 900 Series. All will be produced at Worsley and from 1972 anticipated European requirements for this transmission will be met. As illustrated at the recent Commercial Motor Show, the transmission is particularly suitable for the heavier-weight tractive units with highpower engines and a number of vehicles fitted with it employ Lipe-Roflway clutches. Eaton Yale and Towne Transmission Division is the UK agent for the American Lipe-Rollway and says that if demand is sufficient the company will start manufacturing in Britain.