GRANGE QUARRIES COMES OF AGE WITH ITS FIRST HARSH TIPPER

17 May 2021

GRANGE QUARRIES COMES OF AGE WITH ITS FIRST HARSH TIPPER

Founded in 2000, Grange Quarries of Lockerbie is celebrating its 21st birthday with a 10 – vehicle fleet expansion, with the company’s latest tipper going on the road being fitted with both a HARSH front end tipping gear and a HARSH ‘Slide n’ Cover’ sheeting system.

“This vehicle is a bit different from our usual tippers” says Grange director Stuart Dodd. “HARSH now has a significant presence in Scotland, and we deemed it the right time to try their equipment out as part of a higher overall specification. The finished tipper is certainly impressive, particularly in terms of the wider range of work we can put it to.” 

What Stuart is referring to is the ability of the new truck to easily handle every type of work that his company undertakes; these ranging from everyday aggregates jobs through to delivering lime to farms or ultra – heavy duty tasks such as tipping rock armour for sea defences.

“First and foremost we want tippers offering the maximum possible versatility to cover the full spectrum of our duties” says Stuart’s brother and Operations Manager Robbie, adding “and, of course, without carrying unnecessary weight.”

This theme of combining high strength without incurring excess weight makes fitting a HARSH HFT32 combined ram and tank front end cylinder an obvious choice. This unit is amongst the lightest in its class whilst also providing exceptional strength along with a proven track record for long term reliability and durability.

Complementing the HARSH tipping cylinder is another new introduction to Grange, this time a specially built version of Thompsons’ Loadmaster Lite body featuring a super heavy – duty 6mm thick floor and 4mm sides. This particular body also features a dual purpose rear door that can work either as a standard top-hinged tailgate or else in a barn door configuration to provide a completely open rear end that avoids any potential damage when tipping out large rocks or bulky loads.

Topping off the whole vehicle is another market – leading HARSH product – the retractable front to rear ‘Slide n’ Cover’ sheeting system.

With the sheet compressed behind the front bulkhead and the body open, loading is equally easy from either side of the vehicle. Additionally, there’s the further advantage of a minimal chance of incidental damage to the sheet from shovels.

When fully extended and the body covered, the ‘Slide n’ Cover’ sheet also offers complete weather protection, often a vital requirement for payloads going to customers in the agricultural sector. Additionally, operators also report that having a smooth, aerodynamic and semi-rigid covering over the full length of the tipper body can deliver a notable gain in the vehicle’s fuel economy.

“I’d have to say that this new vehicle takes our tipper fleet another step forward” says Stuart Dodd, adding “but whilst specifications and details are obviously important, perhaps even more so is that HARSH backs its products up with local, fully effective parts and service support as well. 

That makes a very big difference in how our trucks ultimately perform.”