I wonder if anyone is using the continental spec tri axle tipping trailers as per Schmitz and Kassbohrer,it has been suggested to me by a competitor that the wheelbase on these trailers is not long enough to be used at 44ton,so are these legal at 44ton?
If that were the case gestapo, would be pulling them daily,and they wouldn’t be type approved either.
I don’t know if it still stands but when 44 tonne came in tipper trailers were exempt from iirc having 9 metres between the pin and the 1 st axle , I could be wrong it’s a long time ago now .
Punchy Dan:
I don’t know if it still stands but when 44 tonne came in tipper trailers were exempt from iirc having 9 metres between the pin and the 1 st axle , I could be wrong it’s a long time ago now .
The nature of the bag in a box system requires a 30’ chassis that tips, the tipping ram sits over the pin for safety and the back off the trailer is at the back of the box for the rotary valve,
Taken from Commercial Motor,
UK hauliers are allowed to operate at a higher weight limit than is generally the case in the rest of Europe. The government calculated that permitting 44 tonnes on six axles is less damaging to roads than the 40 tonnes on five axles authorised under EC96/53.
To operate at 44 tonnes both the tractor and trailer must have three axles, none of which should exceed 10,500kg and all of which must have RFS. The distance between the coupling centre and the centre of the rearmost axle of the semi-trailer must be at least 8m.
Taken from croner,
Determining Maximum Authorised Weight
The method involves a calculation multiplying the axle spread (the distance, in metres, between the foremost and rearmost axles of a rigid vehicle or between the kingpin and the rearmost axle of a semi-trailer) by a factor laid down in the regulations. Different factors apply to different types of vehicle and different numbers of axles, as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Weight Factors for Rigid Motor Vehicles, Tractor Units, Trailers and Articulated Vehicles
Vehicle
Weight Factor (kg/m)
Rigid motor vehicle with:
2 axles
6000
3 axles
5500
4 or more axles
5000
Tractor unit with:
2 axles
6000
3 or more axles
6000
Trailer, not being a semi-trailer or a centre-axle trailer, with:
2 axles
6000
3 or more axles
5500
Articulated vehicle
3 or more axles
5500
So according those, king pin to centre of rear axle min of 8m, and 8x5500kg gives 44000kgs
No, in a word.
If you do the pin to rear axle x 5.5t calculation you’ll find it is somewhere between 33 and 36 tonnes gtw depending on the manufacturer.
The tipping skellys for 30’ bag in the box are purpose built for our regulations and are 8m, in fact usually 8.05m pin to rear axle.