Lightweight sets new industry standards

Setting new tipper industry standards seems the name of the game for Fruehauf these days. At the CV Show they announced a ground breaking 2 hour rigid body fitting service called Formula Fruehauf. Now they seem ready to set new standards in aggregate tipper payloads. 

Since early 2007, Fruehauf’s chief engineer, John Howard , has been working on a project to design an aggregate tipper which retains the legendary stability and durability of a Fruehauf, yet is light enough to offer a market leading 31 tonne payload when combined with one of today’s lightweight tractors. And the company has announced that it will be ready to reveal the results of this work in Harrogate at this month’s Tip-Ex Show.

“We were never able to get below about 5.8 tonnes with our old designs,” said John “and although others have advertised unladen weights of 5.5 tonnes or even less, this has often been achieved by following the same basic Fruehauf chassis design, but using reduced section sizes. The consequence of this can be either reduced strength (i.e. durability), or reduced stability, or both!” For the first time in John’s long career in tipper design, he was given both the time and freedom to ignore existing designs and to start afresh with a blank canvas, making use of the latest advances in materials, components and design techniques. “This is what every engineer dreams of being able to do” said John. “I felt like a child that had been given the keys to the sweet shop!”

Although it is often the body that receives most of the attention, it is the chassis which is key to a tipper’s strength, durability and stability. Much of John’s focus was therefore directed towards taking a fresh look at the legendary Fruehauf chassis design, which has been ‘emulated’ by so many competitors over the years. The result is a new chassis which incorporates a number of innovative design features, for which they have already submitted patent applications. “I know that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but it was often galling to see inferior copies of our chassis design on the market, which leave the customer feeling short changed when they start cracking, or suffer an unexpected roll-over, within only a few years. These patents will prevent the same thing happening in the future with our latest designs” said John.

The main chassis related improvements include a complete redesign of the rear tortion stability box, which plays a vital role in achieving Fruehauf’s renowned high level of stability; a new chassis to body connection using a unique cradleless mounting arrangement; and a redesigned steel ram top mounting. Fruehauf have also specified the Mercedes Airmaster axles, as first seen at last year’s Tip-Ex Show, as standard equipment. These axles store the vehicle’s compressed air supply inside the axle beams themselves, avoiding the need for independent air tanks on the trailer, thereby saving weight.

To maximise the weight saving, Fruehauf have also looked at the body design and, although continuing to offer its famously light ‘flagship’ bathtub body, have developed an even lighter pressed aluminium ‘half-pipe’ design. Incorporating a high strength, wear resistant 8mm alloy floor front to rear, with an immensely strong 340mm deep extruded top rail, and reinforced body rear end frame, the half-pipe offers beautifully clean lines for improved load discharge, cleaning and aesthetics. This trailer weighs in at a remarkable 5.2 tonnes, offering around half a tonne more payload than most aggregate tippers of an equivalent strength and stability. As well as patent applications on individual features, the whole design has been protected with a European Community Design registration application.

Even the bathtub version, which incorporates the full front to back 8mm hard wearing floor feature and closer than standard rib pitches to give improved support for high density loads, weighs in at only 5.4 tonnes.

With aggregate tipper operators being paid anywhere between say £10 and £15 per tonne, and achieving from 4 to 10 loads per day, the additional income generated from a half tonne increase in payload is truly staggering. Assuming working just 5.5 days per week and 48 weeks per year, even at the lower haulage and load rates quoted above, the annual benefit works out at £5280 per year. Take the higher figures and the benefit increases to a staggering £19800 a year, or nearly £200,000 over an assumed 10 year life of a trailer! “Now that really will make a dent in the recent diesel price increases,” says Fruehauf Managing Director Matthew Wordsworth. Or perhaps bring those dreams of an overseas villa a little closer? 

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