Five years ago, CM reported on a revolutionary new concrete mixer drum made of plastic. Now the appropriately named Revolution, from the McNeilus subsidiary of the US manufacturer Oshkosh Corporation, has reached UK building sites.
The composite egg-shaped drum is constructed by glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) being wound around a polyurethane liner and offers a weight saving of 600kg compared with a steel drum of the same 8m3 capacity.
This is sufficient to allow a 32-tonner to carry its full load without the danger of an overload, a risk that forces operators to run at 0.5m3 less than full capacity. At the time of our original story, Oshkosh predicted a payback time of between eight and 16 months based on US figures.
This first example is being trialled by Tarmac contract haulier John Smith, out of its batching plant at Stancombe near Bristol. Mounted on a Daf lightweight FAD CF75 four-axle chassis, the complete vehicle weighs in at 12,200kg.
Besides a payload increase of up to 10%, other benefits include lower noise, easier cleaning, better heat insulation and a service life which McNeilus has tested to more than 200,000 revolutions compared with 100,000-150,000 revolutions for a comparable steel drum.
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