A sure bet

July 1, 2008
More than 144,600 industry professionals from around the world attended CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008 and the co-located IFPE (International Fluid Power Exposition)

More than 144,600 industry professionals from around the world attended CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008 and the co-located IFPE (International Fluid Power Exposition) trade exhibitions during their five-day run March 11-15, 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. CONEXPO-CON/AGG and IFPE expositions set records for attendance, exhibit space, and number of exhibiting companies. In addition, CONEXPO-CON/AGG is the largest trade show in North America of any industry in 2008.

CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2008 covered more than 2.28 million net square feet of exhibits (211,966 net square meters), taken by 2,182 exhibitors, which was 21 percent larger than the previous show in 2005. IFPE 2008 also was the largest in its history with more than 129,000 net square feet of exhibit space (11,994 net square meters) used by 469 exhibitors — a 16 percent increase in space compared to 2005.

Here are some of the equipment exhibits from this year's event at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The next edition of the triennial shows will be March 22-26, 2011 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Check online for details: www.conexpoconagg.com, www.ifpe.com.

From sand and gravel to boulders, the Clement Rockstar can handle them all, according to the Minden LA company. The frameless half-round end dump trailer has ¼-inch AR450 steel body, headboard, and tailgate for resistance to dents and cuts. The 55" sides and 32-foot inside length provide 32-cu-yd capacity. Top rail and tailgate are flush allowing easier tarping. With a stop block attached to the body of the trailer, all hub-piloted 10-hole 8.25 × 24.5 wheels stay grounded at 41 degrees, and 50,000-lb center point suspension provides maximum stability for off- or on-road conditions.

Thurston Manufacturing Company, Thurston NE, says the Circle R Side Dump trailer is the only side dump trailer with zero tub warranty claims since 2001. The FlexCorner tub design, along with six integrated tub pivot points and a low cut center tub divider, combine to resist cracking issues commonly found in side-dump trailers. Circle R features a low center of gravity and large volume tub (24.2 cu yd), which is available in either AR400 or grade 100 high strength material. The 20" deep I-beam frame eliminates chassis bounce and section stress.

Titan Trailers, Delhi ON Canada, displayed its V-Floor trailer, adapting the steel-slatted live floor system from Keith Walking Floor to Titan's aluminum body Thinwall trailers for extreme-duty applications. The newest version of the V-Floor trailer has been modified to handle the high heat of hot material and to simplify clean-out. The height of the trailer also was shortened to reduce its weight and to help it retain heat in the asphalt. Strong but light extruded aluminum sidewalls and coupler plate of Titan's patented Thinwall body allow significantly larger payloads than steel dumps, while the V-Floor design eliminates the weight of the dump's subframe. Thinwall panel features a horizontal tongue-in-groove joint that allows 100% machine welding inside and out for end-to-end strength.

Dragon Products LTD displayed a five-axle removable neck trailer with 48-ft deck. A 60-ton payload is distributed over 16 feet. The four-beam frame design has A514 T-1 high tensile steel flanges and webs. Main beams are boxed reinforced at critical deck transition with 2-1 minimum safety factor at maximum payload stresses. Rear deck roller has 8" SCH 160 pipe (8⅝" OD) with double spherical bearings, 2 sets of over load rollers, and grease fittings on main roller and overload roller. The deck load rollers have 6" SCH 160 pipe (6⅝" OD) with double spherical bearings, grease fittings, air operated to raise, and spring loaded to lower. The company maintains separate manufacturing facilities in Beaumont, Silsbee, Liberty, and La Porte, Texas along with Lathrop, California and Akron, Indiana.

Landoll, Marysville KS, demonstrated its Model 835 two-axle trailer with a third flip axle that increases the legal weight capacity. Dan Caffrey raises the ramp while being assisted by dual heavy duty springs, which reduce the weight that is required from a manual stand point. Caffrey operates a cable winch that is supplied as standard equipment.

The ramp is designed with a load angle of 5 degrees, allowing for asphalt paving, tall-mast forklifts, and a large variety of low-clearance equipment. The trailer has a 30-ft lower deck with a loaded deck height of 18". The trailer also can be equipped with aluminum pull-out extensions to 13' 6" wide. These features allow customers to haul a variety of construction, rental, and agricultural equipment.

Mac Trailer Manufacturing, Alliance OH, says its 38-ft material tandem trailer has become very popular in the Texas market for materials handling. The 12,600-lb MAC “Work Horse” is fabricated with fully welded floor seams, interior body, and exterior body for enhanced strength and corrosion prevention. Tailgate latching design provides an over center cam lock with a linkage rod between the two latches operated by a single air cylinder to ensure latches open simultaneously and stay locked. Air lines are color coded for ease of trace and maintenance. Floor is 10 gauge — Grade 80 and sides are 12 gauge, Grade 80.

The X-L Super Slider from X-L Specialized Trailers, Manchester IA, uses a gear track rather than hydraulic cylinders to pull the axles forward. This allows the axles to move farther forward when not limited by the length of the hydraulic cylinder, resulting in a 6 degree loading angle for the 37-ft main deck. The 48-ft trailer has a distributed load capacity of 70,000 lb, or 50,000 lb concentrated in 10 feet. A 12,000-lb winch is standard on all Sliders, and a 15,000, 20,000, 30,000 lb winch can be added as an option.

Trail King Industries says its new dry bulker is less bulky because the Advantage 1033 pneumatic dry bulk hauler has been redesigned for lighter weight — as light as 8,340 pounds, down from 8,800 lb formerly. Among the principal weight reduction areas were the steel struts and end frames, which were changed to aluminum. Going to a heavier gauge aluminum (.210") in the tank shell meant that internal bracing could be eliminated. A lighter version of the Hendrickson Intraax suspension (the AANT 23K) delivers more weight savings. The 1033-cubic-foot capacity dry bulk trailer is manufactured in Trail King's Brookville PA plant.

Iowa Mold Tooling (IMT), Garner IA, added some international flare to the ConExpo show in Las Vegas with the EDSC10 — a European-style mechanics body mounted on a Dodge Sprinter chassis. IMT partnered with German company Elite Truck Bodies, a qualified partner of Daimler AG, to manufacture a crane body for the Mercedes Sprinter chassis. That unit became the first crane body to be certified by TUV-Hessen, the authority on European safety and environmental standards and regulations. The EDSC10 addresses customer concerns about fuel economy and maneuvering in tight urban environments. With a body weight of 2660 lb, the EDSC10 is the lightest mechanics truck in its class, the company said, and a fully loaded EDSC10 on the Sprinter chassis will get 18 to 20 mpg. The EDSC10 is an 11-ft crane body rated for a 10,000-ft-lb telescopic crane. Fully integrated, the EDSC10 does not need additional bumpers, outriggers, or crane reinforcements. Applications include companies that need to perform field maintenance on lighter, more compact equipment.

Autocrane, Tulsa OK, celebrated its 50th anniversary in business and displayed a lube truck with an eight-point spring-mounted body to frame for durability. Storage cabinets have hidden hinge, rounded corners, and latch: two underbody storage cabinets with single door, two under oval storage cabinets with double doors, and one on-deck storage cabinet. The truck is equipped with four oil tanks — two 100-gallon and two 60-gallon — that have lockable fill cab and guarded tube type sight gauge. The diesel fuel system has a 1,000-gallon capacity oval tank, Blackmer two-inch hydraulically operated diesel delivery pump rated at 60 gpm, and Hannay N818 reel with 1" × 50' hose, ball stop, swivel, and automatic fuel nozzle. The waste oil evacuation system has 125-gallon waste oil tank with 6-inch clean out.

Western Star Trucks, Redford Township MI, says bigger is better with the recent production of a truck for extreme-duty mining and quarry applications. In collaboration with Somerset PA-based J&J Truck Bodies & Trailers, Western provides customers with a new Western Star 6900 XD paired with a heavy-duty dump body constructed of Hardox 400 steel from J&J. Key specifications of the 6900 XD 40-ton dump include 110,000-lb planetary drive axles, a Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine with Tier 3 off-highway emission ratings, a fully automatic Allison 4500 RDS transmission, standard Jacobs compression brake, and purpose-built dump box.

The SL-545 hooklift hoist from Swaploader, Des Moines IA, is ready to take on the grueling workloads that the roofing, recycling, and large constructions industries know how to dish out. The SL-545 is used by waste removal, contractors, landscapers, municipalities, equipment haulers, material haulers, lumber and rental yards, and roofing contractors. The 54,000-lb dump and lift capacities feature sliding jib, slide-through body locks, large beveled rear rollers, dual pivot rear section, dual lift cylinders, nylatron pads, and low-pressure hydraulics.

Designed for heavy transport and heavy construction applications, the new Titan by Mack is powered by the new Mack MP10 engine, a 16-liter workhorse with a top rating of 605 horsepower and 2,060 lb-ft of torque. The MP10 engine is matched to the Mack T300ES series 10-, 13-, and 18-speed transmissions, which deliver triple countershaft performance for the most demanding applications. The Titan by Mack is built upon the company's Cornerstone chassis with proven rock-solid performance, durability, and reliability. The chassis is offered in three frame rail thicknesses — 8 mm, 9.5mm, and 11mm — with optional full or partial 5mm inside channel reinforcements and application-specific crossmembers. Frames are rated at 120,000 psi, and 2.12 million rbm (lb-in) to 4.26 million rbm (lb-in). A short 41-inch front axle position increased load capacity and ensures excellent visibility and maneuverability. Front axles and suspensions are available from 12,000 lb to 20,000 lb capacity, while rear axles and suspensions are offered from 38,000 lb to 65,000 lb capacity.

Stellar Industries, Garner IA, was in continual motion during the ConExpo show in Las Vegas with the demonstration of the Slider34 Hooklift and Spider ISO container attachment. Capable of loading, unloading, and dumping various bodies up to 34,000 lb with lengths ranging from 14' to 20', the Slider34 has hexagonal sliding jib to reduce flexing, add structural integrity, and ease the replacement of wear pads. The Spider attachment allows a standard Stellar Hooklift loader to attach to existing anchor points on ISO shipping containers without the need for additional understructure on the container. When the Spider is removed from the hooklift, it can be used for such standard applications set-up as flatbeds and dump boxes.

Poclain Hydraulics, Sturtevant WI, demonstrated the company's Addidrive Assist system for on-highway, vocational-model trucks. It offers better mobility and traction in difficult driving conditions — mud, snow, sand, and steep inclines and declines. This hybrid (hydraulic used in combination with existing mechanical) all-wheel-drive system provides advantages over mechanical all-wheel-drive axle configurations: significant weight savings of 880 lb, no increased cab height requirement resulting in lower center of gravity, a 5 to 10 percent savings fuel consumption, greater vehicle stability, and engagement-on-demand while moving. Heart of the system is the Poclain MFE08 hydraulic motor, which provides greater off-road capabilities because of high torque. In difficult road conditions, the driver shifts the transmission from mechanical to mechanical-plus hydraulic transmissions at speeds up to 20 mph. After speed is achieved, the hydraulic motors can be freewheeled at up to 600 rpm with nearly 100 percent efficiency. The motor is compact and designed to be integrated into the hub of an existing on-highway truck axle without modification to the truck chassis.

Beall Corporation says it became a distributor of the Ever-Durable Warepad (EWP) and Box Pad because the products will extend the life of spring trailer suspensions along with reducing noise. The EWP is an ultra-strong plastic wear component that protects hangers and equalizers and reduces spring breakage in the trailer spring suspension. It eliminates the metal-to-metal wear that occurs when two pieces of steel rub together, along with reducing noise and vibration in the spring suspension. The Box Pad is designed to protect the cross members, steel or aluminum, of dump bodies along with reducing noise. Quick installation requires no welding, torching, or grinding.

Muncie Power Products, Muncie IN, displayed a hydrostatic split-shaft PTO (SSU) that provides applications for road and airport cleaning vehicles, rubbish skip washing vehicles, fire fighting vehicles, or other trucks that are required to move at slow speed but at the same time allow the PTO to be operated at full power. A hydraulic pump and one hydraulic motor are coupled to the SSU, which — when properly connected to the hydraulic system — converts the vehicle from mechanical into hydrostatic drive. Engagement of hydrostatic transmission during the working cycle is automatically consented after mechanically disengaging the main transmission so that the vehicle can move back and forth at a speed up to 50 km/h.