Thompsons’ lightweight Sandmaster tipper body – designed for sand and aggregates – has been mounted on a 400hp DAF CF chassis, yielding an unladen tipper weight of 12,000kg.
Christened Reginald Wilfer, to carryon this operator’s tradition of picking names from Charles Dicken’s characters, this 2016 version of its namesake it well kitted out.
Today’s Wilfer was specified with side to side electric sheeting, Thompsons AutoLoc air operated tailgate and super shiny alloys.
“We buy our trucks with the intention of running them for as long as we can,” states managing director Moreton Cullimore. “And we also own them fully, right from the outset,” he adds.
“So a 15-year working life might be typical; we even have one that’s still working at 20,” he continues.
“This way, we believe we get the maximum possible value from our vehicles, so getting their specification right at the outset is hugely important.”
Cullimore explains that he has run Thompsons steel bodies for many years, and found the formula “exactly right for our needs”.
That, he says, is what encouraged him to try his first Thompsons alloy body on an 8x4, pointing to the 600kg saving compared with Thompsons’ lightest steel design, the Stonemaster.
Cullimore already runs two Stonemaster tippers, primarily for aggregates and stone work, taking advantage of its lightweight, achieved by using a lighter underframe, no siderails, but also higher-strength but lighter steels in the headboard and tailgate.
Again mounted on DAF CF chassis, Cullimore’s steel Stonemasters dive under the 13 tonnes unladen weight industry yardstick, tipping the scales at just 12,780kg fully fuelled.