Huddersfield-based SE Broscombe has been in business for 100 years and, says operations director Dan Brooke, “we stick to what we know. If something is working well, we see no reason to change it.”
The latest acquisition, a DAF CF 8x2 ticks the boxes, says Brooke. “The new HMF 60t/m crane lifts 10 tonnes at truck side and 3.3 tonnes up to 14.6 m away, which lets us talk to customers about a lot more work than when we only had a lighter Hiab unit.
“The real difference though, is that the CF is so much lighter than comparable quality trucks that, even with the big new crane, we can get a genuine 10-tonne payload on it. Its lift and steer axles also give us terrific manoeuvrability on building and construction sites. We’d been having to farm a lot of heavier work out – now we don’t.”
The new DAF is ADR compliant, which has also enabled Broscombe to pick up new work, carrying IDCs of treatment chemicals to sewage farms.
Based in Huddersfield, the company does its own service and maintenance work on site. Dan Brooke himself is a time-served DAF apprentice fitter, and the firm employs a fully trained, full-time fitter in its own workshops.
DAF is the dominant marque in the operator’s 15-strong fleet and, adds Brooke, “fuel is very good and they never miss a beat.
“We reckon they’re among the best rigids you can buy – if not the very best.”