Higher than ever performance and versatility

Robinson Road Planing put into service new 6x2 lift-axle Scania rigid with Thompsons Loadmaster Lite body 

ROBINSON Road Planing Services of Ripon, North Yorkshire, have just put into service a Loadmaster-bodied tipper that, they say, delivers an altogether higher level of performance and versatility.

The vehicle in question is a 6x2 lift-axle ‘New Generation’ Scania rigid, powered by a 500hp engine that makes 26-tonne tipper work effortless. As well as having a top engine, driver Mike Gregson is also well looked after by having a high spec Scania ‘G’ sleeper cab to work from as well as his own choice of gearbox – a much-preferred manual unit.

As with any tipper though, it is the body that does the hardest work, typically loading and tipping many times a day.

‘We’ve always had Thompsons bodies, whether as standard tippers or as demounts for hooklifts, because their build quality is just superb,’ said company owner Matthew Robinson.

‘After years of service there have been no issues, no failures, nothing at all. Just the occasional lick of paint to the toprails and they carry on as good as new. There’s no better body out there, so for this tipper the choice was automatic.’

For road-planing work, tipper operators generally prefer a reduced height to the rear of the body to reduce the risk of damage from coming into contact with the planing machine, and this new truck is typical of the breed.

What is slightly less typical is that Robinson have chosen the single-skinned Loadmaster Lite model in preference to the full-spec heavy-duty Loadmaster model.

‘The Lite version is easily strong and rugged enough for our work and it also gives us that extra margin of payload too. It’s got the perfect balance for our needs,’ said Mr Robinson.

Weighing 11,500kg unladen, this lift-axle 6x2 offers a 14.5-tonne payload, only 4 tonnes less than a typical steel-bodied eight-wheeler.

But there is another and perhaps bigger point to this truck’s top-level specification too – namely that it often works pulling a three-axle drawbar trailer carrying a heavyweight planing machine to wherever Robinson’s work next takes them.

Driver Mike Gregson said: ‘When pulling a 20-tonne-plus hi-drag load – particularly over the hills around our area – you really need all the power you can get. With the trailer attached, this is also a truck that you really have to drive properly, and for me having both a manual gearbox and an in-built Scania retarder is ideal.

‘Of course, straight tipper work for the truck on its own is an absolute doddle, but the point of this vehicle is that it can easily handle every job required of it. As well as how well it performs, I really like the look of it too – the smooth-lined Thompsons body looks absolutely right with Scania’s latest cab, and it’s very easy to keep clean, too.’