"We expect the gearbox to stay fresh way beyond the sell-by date"
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"We have all our Mercedes 1628s on a three-year buy-back arrangement" says Ken Needham, Robirch Transport Manager at Burton-on-Trent. "And although they'll have covered well over 200,000 miles by then, experience iells us we needn't lose a minute's sleep over gearbox reliability."
The 1628 has a ZF Ecosp lit as standard, so it's built for a long, trouble-free working life. Is that why Mercedes chose it? "Well, with their reputation, they wouldn't settle for less than the best. But there's more to it than that.
They've matched the Ecosplit's 16 speeds perfectly with the engine's performance. It's such a flexible box that you can always get maximum torque and good road speeds at the flick of a button.
On our runs from Burton to Bridgend, Caldicot, Amersham and Enfield,the 1628 just purrs along the motorways, taking hills and inclines in its stride without overrevving. That's when you know you're getting the most efficient performance possible!'
What about fuel consumption, though?
"Hard to beat. We monitored one tractor over 35,000 miles last year, and it averaged 7.6 mpg, as against 6.6-6.9 mpg on other tractor makes we've tried. Add that to the reliability, and you can see why Mercedes and Ecosplit are made for each other. That's what made them first choice for us'?
You'll be hearing a lot more about ZF Ecosp Ills. Their advanced design is at home on every truck of 32 tonnes and upwards.