DAF auto eight-wheeler turns muck into brass

Turning muck into brass by helping move a million tonnes of rubbish to landfill sites that are then turned into golf courses, is part of the everyday work of a new DAF automatic eight-wheeler on Merseyside.

The FAD CF85 is the latest addition to the fleet of Kealshore Limited of St Helens, a company that specialises in site clearance and aggregate supplies. Fitted with the AS-tronic gearbox, it’s the first automatic for the company and driver John Makin, who’s also a skilled fitter, says he’s very impressed by its performance.

“It’s better than an automatic in a car,” he says. “Having 12 gears makes it very flexible and smooth in all load or road conditions. When I’m in busy traffic I can focus better on the road and here the exhaust brake is also a big help. When I’m off-road in soft conditions I can go into manual mode and drive the vehicle in the normal way but without the need to use a clutch pedal.”

Good off-road performance is helped by the high torque characteristics of the MX engine combined with diff locks on the single reduction drive axles. ASR is also a standard feature that gets the CF85 moving in even the slipperiest of conditions.

Kealshore have opted for the 360 horsepower rated version of the MX to give a comfortable power to weight ratio of 11.25 bhp/tonne at 32 tonnes gvw. At this rating it delivers a plentiful 1775 Nm of torque across a range between 1000 and 1410 rpm. The company has also chosen to go straight to Euro 5 with the MX, which uses SCR technology to meet the tough exhaust emissions standards that are not due for implementation until October 2009.

Director Ian Pickavance is also finding the CF85 to be a very productive truck. “It’s a light weight chassis to start with,” he says, “and we’ve had the new Predator body by local firm Abba fitted. This is based on a unique modular construction system using Hardox steel, with the combined result being that we’re getting a payload of just over 20 tonnes.

“By also fitting PM Onboard’s latest weighing equipment, we can be confident of being always able to run at the maximum load and we’ve eliminated the risk of axle overloading. The system gives individual axle weights as well as the overall weight and the flat screen colour monitor is also linked to the reversing camera so that we need to have only one screen in the cab.”

With the truck covering over 80,000 kilometres a year fuel is key consideration and was one of the factors in Kealshore’s choice of the CF85. The company uses an integrated fuel monitoring system by Fueltec?? which provides fuel usage figures direct to Ian Pickavance’s computer. “This enables me to track fuel consumption very precisely and, although it’s early days yet, the CF85 seems to be living up to its promise as a fuel efficient truck.”

DAF dealer North West Trucks supplied the truck and will be providing ongoing service and maintenance support.