Wilcox joins forces with Alusuisse
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• The Wilcox Group and Alusuisse of Zurich, the Swiss bodybuilder and chassis manufacturer, have produced a new stepframe all-aluminium tipping tank semi-trailer.
Developed jointly over the past six months, the new bulk trailer has a 51m3 capacity tank body mounted on a stepframe chassis which brings its overall height down to below 4m. The all-alloy tank has a dished front cap and a hemispherical rear end.
The first prototype is fitted with Norde Fluidride suspension on a York tri-axle bogie, and a Hyva single front-end ram giving a kerb weight of 6,000kg.
All the tank bodywork has been developed by the Wilcox Group's Seadyke Freight Systems at Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, with most of the chassis components produced by Alusuisse and supplied to Seadyke for final assembly. A choice of running gear is expected to be offered on production models.
UK bulk tanker operators have already expressed interest in the new tank trailer, and Seadyke will soon start an evaluation programme using the first prototype as a demonstrator.
Wilcox will sell the all-alloy tank trailer, developed primarily for 38 tonne GCW operations, in the UK, although the arrangement for Continental sales has yet to be finalised between the two companies.