The other day, I parked my car at the premises of truck maker DAF to take a classic bus to the museum. Some interesting, all-blue demo rigs caught my attention. One of them was this skip loader with a drawbar trailer, carrying four standard-sized skips (containers) in total.
This type of open-topped and stackable waste containers can be seen at any construction site, including one’s own yard or driveway when doing a home improvement job and such. The driver delivers an empty container and picks it up later once it’s filled with debris. Naturally this process can be repeated as long as needed.
The DAF 4×2 truck, with a GVM rating of 20,500 kg (45,195 lbs), is powered by a 10.8 liter MX-11 engine; 410 hp, as it says on the doors.
A short and sturdy chassis, ideal for maneuvering in tight spots. Its wheelbase is only 400 cm (157.5”).
The VDL company (Van der Leegte) supplied the whole body and skip loader system.
This video shows how it all works, featuring the actual truck from the article.
The CF is DAF’s midsizer. This is the series’ day cab, a sleeper cab is also available, either with a standard (low) roof or with a raised Space Cab roof.
The dashboard of the current CF-series. Pictured the high-end Exclusive Line.
The truck’s skip loader system is also used to put the containers on and off the GS Meppel trailer. The container in the middle is resting on a trolley.
The trailer’s GVM rating is 28,000 kg (61,730 lbs), its second axle is liftable. The legal maximum gross weight of the whole combination is 48,500 kg (106,925 lbs), which is simply the sum of the truck’s and trailer’s GVM.
The CF was parked next to the XF top model with a Super Space Cab. Midsizer vs fullsizer. As an aside, the letters HVO on the green stickers stand for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, also often referred to as blue diesel.
In a next episode we’ll have a closer look at a duo of heavy-duty dump trucks, operating in different size and weight segments.
Very nice truck, but My Lord I think I would need a shower and a change of coveralls before I could get behind the wheel of an interior that fancy and tightly assembled. But I grew up driving a 1959 International (pre)-Loadstar that we could never get the driver’s door to seal properly and the seat padding kind of dribbled out of the tears in the vinyl,
+1 It has been a long time since I drove any type of “work” truck but what I remember is painted dash, flat and uncomfortable bench seat and hose it out rubber mats on the floor. The interior of this truck would not be out of place in a high end pickup.
The ride comfort in a late model DAF would make a modern pickup owner jealous they are really nice to drive, quiet and comfortable, theres a definite snarl from the exhaust pulling hard but only noticeable with RHD as that the side the outlet is on, windows up theres almost no noise at all.
I see the term “skip” used occasionally in the US but typically we just call them dumpsters. Is there a difference or is dumpster derived from a brand name, that became universal, like Kleenex?
I guess I should have looked it up. Who knew that Dumpster would have its own Wikipedia page?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumpster
Mind you, skip also has its own Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skip_(container)
Well, that’s interesting. I never knew that dumpster was once a trademarked name — and until today, I’d never heard the term skip.
Quite a rig. Thanks for posting. Although I don’t know enough to comment on your posts often I really enjoy them Keep the coming!
Yeah nice trucks, the dash is a mirror image of what Ive been driving recently but ours are the lo rent versions without the colour contrast panels and a couple of those switches are deactivated fortunately most of the NZ trucks are delivered via Australia where the ZF transmissions are removed and a proper Eaton Fuller Road ranger 18 speed inserted, however this season we did have an automatic on the fleet, yes a very clever truck great downhill with the DAF retarder system, uphill no so great compared to the manual versions very slow shifting, I had a wander around the dealer lot of new DAFs while waiting for a service to finish no four wheelers like the posted model on offer and no 410hp engines all we get are the 510 and the 460hp was sold here for a while some 530hp trucks have arrived but most are still the previous cab styling.
The cab styling changed at the introduction of the Euro 6 emission standards. After that, there’s was another mild refresh/update. Those are the ones shown in the article.
Yes both styles are on the road here but since we have no emission standards earlier versions are still perfectly legal to sell as are adblue delete modifications and EGR deletes.
Watching that video reminded me of my early working life at a metal stamping factory, the scrap metal bins used the same system for picking up, without the trailer though.
The bins would have weighed over 10 tons (metric), the controls for lifting were in the driving compatment.
Sometimes the bins were extra heavy and the trucks (International ACCO) would pull impressive wheelstands, engines roaring.
On occasion we would get a forklift one each side of the bin to “help” the truck lift the bin, they wouldn’t allow that today, I was glad when they changed to a hook on lift style bin which solved that issue.
I wish i had a video of that today, they would probably use it in one of those “what not to do on a forklift” safety videos.
How do they get those three bins on the trailer?
With the truck’s hydraulic telehoists. The bin in the middle is resting on a trolley, as mentioned, so that it can be pushed or pulled easily by the telehoists before lifting.
Can’t find a better video than this: