WHEN IT COMES TO MOVING NEW, USED AND HIRE EQUIPMENT AROUND, PLANT SPECIALIST HODGE PLANT GROUP USES TWO IMPRESSIVE SCANIA TRACTORS INCLUDING A T730 WITH A DESIGN WEIGHT OF 150 TONNES. HEAVYTORQUE FINDS OUT MORE.
Starting in 1986 with one excavator, Alistair Hodge now runs a business group that encompasses sales and hire of plant and agricultural equipment, earthworks, and quarry operations, as well as a field‐to‐factory grain processing operation. From that first small excavator, the Hodge Plant group has grown to incorporate five companies: Hodge Holdings, Hodge Aggregates, Hodge Finance, Hodge Agriculture and Acer Rentals.
An engineer by trade, Alistair worked hard to build his initial plant hire operation, expanding steadily and forging a reputation for reliable service. For around 18 years now, the core of the business has been based around machinery import and export, with the divisions each complementing each other to provide a one‐stop solution for anything to do with plant and machinery. These days, Hodge Plant can provide the complete range of equipment needed to establish and operate a quarry – and even oversee the whole operation if required.
HEAVYTORQUE DROPS IN ON KINGS HEAVY HAULAGE TO FIND OUT ABOUT ITS RECENT MOVE TO A NEW PURPOSE‐BUILT DEPOT AND TO TAKE A LOOK AT TWO NEW HEAVYWEIGHT TRACTOR UNITS THAT HAVE RECENTLY GONE INTO SERVICE.
Specialist heavy haulier Kings Heavy Haulage has seen many changes in the industry in its time, including a huge increase in legislation, new working practices, and massive developments in the vehicles, equipment and technology used. It has also experienced numerous economic ups and downs, of course. But the Avonmouth‐based, family‐ owned firm has weathered it all over last 55 years, at times consolidating and then carefully expanding when the time is right.
Over the years, its management has taken the operation in new directions while retaining the company’s substantial presence in the traditional heavy transport market. So these days it has a wide customer base, taking in the mainstream heavy/specialist transport market and particular areas of specialisation such as the aerospace and defence sectors. The skilled team at Kings can take on almost any task, from overnight delivery of a couple of high‐value boxes in a van to an oversized load that requires an 11‐axle 150‐tonne lowloader.
With 140 pages of first-class specialist transport content, what more could you wish for? Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or an individual copy.
KENT‐BASED ALCO SPECIALIST TRANSPORT HAS AN EXTRA STRING TO ITS BOW IN TERMS OF ITS HEAVY HAULAGE ACTIVITIES – THE MIGHTY FLEET OF SISTER COMPANY NEIL YATES RECOVERY. HEAVYTORQUE FINDS OUT HOW THE TWO WORK TOGETHER.
Operating a specialist heavy transport business in parallel with a busy vehicle recovery operation based in the busy south‐east of the UK is not for the faint‐hearted. Heavy traffic volumes and ever tougher vehicle movement controls and restrictions – particularly in the Greater London area with low emission zones, operating curfews and tightening vision standards – ramp up the pressure for every truck operator. And moving oversized loads and meeting the demands of a wide range of customers around the country only add to the challenge.
The nationwide movement of construction equipment, vehicles, trailers and other machinery certainly keeps the 28‐strong fleet of Kent‐based Alco Specialist Transport busy, which comprises 4‐axle rigids and artics rated for 44‐150 tonnes GCW, plus truck‐mounted cranes and other equipment.
BROTHERS STUART AND KEVIN WATSON HAVE LEARNED ALMOST EVERYTHING THERE IS TO LEARN ABOUT MOVING HEAVY MACHINERY, INCLUDING WHAT HANDLING EQUIPMENT TO USE AND THE BEST WAYS TO GET IT FROM A TO B. HEAVYTORQUE REPORTS.
The business of moving machinery goes back to the beginnings of the industrial revolution. As soon as engineers found ways to design and build machines that could continuously replicate processes previously carried out by hand, there was a requirement to move these machines from their point of manufacture to their point of use.
As industrial development expanded, whole areas became centres of production. The big companies expanded rapidly and those that supplied them with parts and services set up nearby. Soon, the business of moving, installing and relocating industrial machines became an industry in its own right, and new techniques and practices were developed to lift, shift, skid and roll heavy machines into place. Often, however, the early equipment used was rudimentary, like pillar jacks and simple block and tackle kits enhanced with additional pulleys, monkey winches, rollers and big levers.
With 140 pages of first-class specialist transport content, what more could you wish for? Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or an individual copy.
THE HEAVY TRUCK MODEL COLLECTIONS OF ANDY BETTS, MARK DEATHRIDGE AND MARTIN HALES HAVE BEEN BUILT OVER DECADES AND ARE IMPRESSIVE TO BEHOLD BUT, AS THEY TELL HEAVYTORQUE, IT ISN’T JUST ABOUT THE MODELS; IT IS THE THRILL OF FINDING RARE MODELS AND THE FRIENDSHIP.
In the back garden of a suburban street in Corby, Northamptonshire sits a new shed. But you won’t find tools, lawnmowers, or even a hidden bottle of whisky in there. Instead, it is home to the heavy haulage model collection belonging to Andy Betts. Inside it, the walls are covered in shelving, most of which has been filled with heavy haulage models covering more than 30 years and featuring most of the big truck and trailer manufacturers in Europe – and a few from the US – in the liveries of well‐known heavy haulage companies, as well as their boxes. Andrew has insured his collection for £40,000 which isn’t unrealistic, given how many models he has collected and that they generally appreciate in value. And the shed has been fitted with an alarm system – a stipulation by Andy’s wife. “She said I wasn’t putting the models in there until I was fully secured,” he says. “And she’s right because the value of them is frightening, really, when you add it up. You don’t think about it when you’re buying them.”
VINCE MARSHALL SERVICES HAS EVOLVED QUITE A BIT OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS AS ITS CUSTOMER MAKE‐ UP HAS CHANGED, MOVING FROM STRAIGHTFORWARD MACHINERY TRANSPORT INTO A FULL‐SERVICE CRUSHING OPERATION, AS HEAVYTORQUE REPORTS.
Some businesses are laser‐focused on a single industry sector or an individual customer requirement, offering exactly the product or service that a specific end‐user needs. Others, like heavy haulage business Vince Marshall Services, are capable of rapidly adapting to the changing needs of varying industry sectors, meeting the constantly‐ changing requirements of a diverse range of customers. As the Suffolk‐based company approaches 40 years in business, its latest Volvo FH16 750 tractor unit is a far cry from the firm’s first Leyland Terrier. Likewise, owner Vince Marshall, who started the business as an owner‐driver, now employs a team of staff across the haulage and construction equipment fleet, though he still takes the wheel of the FH16 himself when required.
Vince Marshall Services operates two heavy lowloaders. The Volvo FH16 is paired with a King GTS51 lowloader trailer, while an older Scania tractor unit operates with a King GTS44 lowloader.
With 140 pages of first-class specialist transport content, what more could you wish for? Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or an individual copy.
PHELAN HAULAGE HAS DEVELOPED QUICKLY SINCE PETER PHELAN ESTABLISHED THE COMPANY IN 2017, AND WITH ITS NEW DAF XG 530 WITH HIAB X‐HIPRO 858 EP‐6 CRANE, THE BUSINESS NOW EXPECTS TO HIT EVEN GREATER HEIGHTS. HEAVYTORQUE REPORTS.
When Peter Phelan, founder and director of Phelan Haulage, describes his new truck and crane unit as “an absolute monster”, you can see his point – it is a striking unit with an impressive reach. The DAF XG 530 tractor unit is mounted with a Hiab X‐HIPRO 858 EP‐6 crane from MV Commercial, which has a 4‐tonne lifting capacity at a full reach of 16 metres.
“It’s a very impressive bit of kit and to safely lift that amount of weight at that reach is exceptional,” he comments.
The new arrival, which features a spacious DAF XG cab, mirror camera system and three‐star DVS rating, joins three other crane trucks in the fleet and is expected to clock up about 100,000km a year as it travels around the country on a range of work. Inside the cab, it has all mod-cons including two bunks, inverter, microwave, coffee-maker, fridge, freezer, air-con and a night heater – which, as Peter says, is “everything the driver needs to live comfortably”.
With 140 pages of first-class specialist transport content, what more could you wish for? Click the appropriate link below to purchase your annual subscription, or an individual copy.
