Bob 'Mr Classic' Tuck has been travelling northwards and he tells me: "Brian, Just come back from a trip to Glasgow and I saw a number of motors on the M74 belonging to Iain Watt of New Cumnock. They reminded me of the time - about three years back - when I did a trip out with their Volvo FM six wheeler and trailer." And that's it pictured above--and very smart it is too---says Biglorryblog. Bob adds: "You don't see many of these combinations trawling round the UK (tipping ones I mean but flat wagon & drags carrying bricks & blocks are gaining favour of course). Iain only ran the one of these and it was apparently the first of its kind in Scotland." Now click through here to see how you tip the load from a drawbar tipper all in once place...!
Bob tells me: "The reason he got such a good performance from it was down to its regular driver Alastair Gibson."
"Apparently no other driver fancied taking the drag out."
"As you can see, if there's enough space, Alastair could jack knife the outfit to tip the truck without unhitching the trailer."
"However, I recall us going to a garden centre near Edinburgh with a load of material and Alastair had to drop the trailer before backing into a narrow bin. But even that he did quickly. I've lost track of what Watts are up to but I think the drag outfit has been sold on."
"I've attached a couple other Watt motors to show how well turned out their fleet is. The Volumetric truck was a new exercise back then..."
."Hope they are of interest...cheers Bob." Interesting stuff BT...like you I often wondered why more operators didn't go for the flexibility of a waggon and drag...especially when times got tight as at least the rgid could do some work when there wasn't enough of a load for an artic.
Our lads over here prefer the three or four axle "dog" trailer where the front axle is on a turntable. Have seen these jackknifed to the point where the trailer is parallel to the truck.
Pete, the same applies here in NZ as you will no doubt know. 3 or 4-axle trucks with 4-axle trailers are the normal for tippers and it is usual to unload both truck and trailer without disconnecting unless the unloading is done in a narrow alleyway with no room. I will post a few photos from a large tip-truck firm and maybe Brian will put them on the blog.