NEW CARRUTHERS DAF XDCs SHOW WHY HARSH FRONT END GEARS ARE LOVED BY ALL

3 December 2024

Another two new DAF XDC eight wheelers have just joined the Workington – based fleet of Phillip Carruthers Ltd, one of northern England’s leading specialists in groundworks and plant hire. And just like Carruthers’ previous XDC tippers, both are fitted with HARSH front end (FE) tipping cylinders.

Carruthers acquires its trucks from stock vehicles held by MOTUS Commercials in Carlisle, which in turn looks to L. Townend Ltd of Holmfirth in Yorkshire to fit the chassis with their bodies and tipping gears. The completed tippers are then quickly snapped up by tipper operators across the region.

Because of their proven performance, HARSH FE gears are highly popular throughout the bodybuilder / truck dealer / end user supply chain. Strong, reliable and durable yet highly competitive in weight, they are now a first choice throughout the tipping industry and found on trucks working in every business sector from moving sand and aggregates through to site clearance and recycling.

Richard Townend comments “As a tipper bodybuilder we now fit more HARSH gears than any other make – it’s our preferred choice. Their long term performance is guaranteed, they raise no issues for operators and HARSH after sales support is fully proven too. From a bodybuilder standpoint, working with HARSH is easy – there’s rarely any issue with supply and Jason (Bramall, Business Development Manager) looks after us very well indeed. We have a long – standing relationship with HARSH that only grows stronger through time.”

Ready for work, Carruthers’ new 450hp XDCs with their single skin steel ‘Governor’ bodies and combined ram and tank FE gears tare off at 12,500kgs, thereby affording a 19.5t payload. The trucks typically do multiple short haul trips per day, shifting soil and earth, so they are worked notably hard.

Carruthers’ Transport Manager Steve Irving is once again delighted with the company’s latest trucks “For us, it’s all about performance, reliability and value for money” he says, adding “Our drivers love these new DAFs too. Between them, DAF, HARSH and Townend create an ideal tipper package.”