"Daf has really perfected this last model"
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Sean Walsh
Sean Walsh, managing director (right), with John Speller (left) and son Nick Walsh (centre).
M Demolition and excavation contractor S Walsh and Sons has run Dafs for the past 20 years. Managing director Sean Walsh says: "Today we have a fleet of 14 eight-wheelers working within a 30-mile radius of our base at Tilbury. Six are Renault Maxters and the rest are Dafs. We bought our first two 85CF5 about 18 months ago, another this year, and we have one on order. All are 3405. We took a demonstrator for a while, it had so much power and it was even saving on diesel.
"We're getting 7.0mpg, which was unknown for us before now. The power is brilliant—the truck is working within itself all of the time. We have steel bodies on all our trucks so were looking at a payload of just under 19 tonnes.
"The Daf is quite a different truck from the Renault. That's a good workhorse but the Daf is more driver-oriented and, even without the suspension seat, it is a much more comfortable truck to drive.
"We service them ourselves and run them for up to nine years—we have L-reg Dafs with the original engines in them. One of my most important specifications is chassis autolube. Those same L-reg chassis are on the original kingpins.
"With the CFs we haven't had any problems that have taken them off the road. The gear linkage needed some adjustment on the first two. We sent them down to Harris's at Greys overnight and they were ready next morning. We've had no further problems. Brakes are the same as any other truck—they need a new set every year—and we never reach the point where we wear out a tyre.
"We have dealt with Harris's all of the time we've run Dafs. They have always got the bits we need or at worst we get them first thing next day.
"Daf has really perfected this last model. The straight front axles give good ground clearance. We used to have to make our own rad guard, but that's standard now. The back end is never any trouble. What does make me a bit sick is that you pay go,000 for a truck and it comes without a radio. Even the most basic car has a radio today and you can't put a driver in a cab without one."