Queensland infrastructure specialist, EXM Concreting has come up with a way of transporting larger cloads of concrete over longer distances more efficiently by working with Mack Trucks to come up with a solution.
While EXM has been providing infrastructure solutions to the agricultural sector across the Darling Downs and Central Highlands of Queensland as well as in Northern NSW since 2015, the company became frustrated and fed up with difficulties around concrete supply into agricultural areas.
Managing director of EXM, Evan English found the turning point was a visit to the World of Concrete Expo in Las Vegas whee he went to investigate mobile batching plants, and from here, the company decided it was better to transport the concrete from existing fixed plants rather than to establish temporary batting plants near the sites..
“As most of the area we service is grain production country, we have built a lot of bases for grain silos,” said English.
“A typical silo needs about fifteen cubic metres of concrete delivered in a timely fashion, and your typical agitator might carry somewhere between five and seven cubic metres f concrete, so you can see the problem,” English said.
According to English, supplying jobs in remote rural areas at distances of up to 300 kilometres means doing a return trip simply isn’t feasible.
Looking for a better way, English sketched out some hypothetical drawings of a truck and dog combination that he believed could do the job.
“We’d already bought some of our own trucks to reduce our reliance on other companies, so the next logical step was to get a truck that actually met our specific requirements,” English added.
The EXM managing director said he then took his idea to Ash Rowley at Volvo Commercial Vehicles Brisbane South to see if the truck was even feasible.
“I figured that the Mack guys knew a lot more about trucks than me, so I just told him what we needed and gave him the flexibility to work out how to do it, so he got right onto it and came up with some brilliant ideas I hadn’t thought of,” English said.
The truck and dog agitator solution they came up with involves a traditional 8×4 rigid concrete agitator truck based a Mack Anthem, towing a second agitator mounted on a dog trailer. The second agitator is operated through the use of a live drive to a splitter box to seamlessly run both bowls.
English said another example of Mack’s creativity was the camera mounted on the far side of the truck.
“They mounted cameras on the passenger side mirror eliminating the blind spot when reversing, which is something I would never have thought of that,” English said.
The EXM tipper dog concrete rig is based around a Mack Anthem, powered by a 500hp MP8 engine coupled to an mDRIVE automated manual transmission, while the two agitator bowls have separate hydraulic systems controlled from the cab.
“I reckon the dog trailer is probably just as stable a 10-wheeler agi truck, although ultimately this comes down to driver attitude and speed.,” said English,
EXM says it has also ordered two more Anthems with the shortest wheelbase Mack has ever produced.
“They’re about 4060mm, and we needed these because we want to tow a semi-trailer mounted agi, and the trailer doesn’t project past the turntable, so the short wheelbase will make the combination super manoeuvrable,” he said.
EXM says the Anthem is ideal for these solutions because it enables it to keep the tare weight around eight tonnes.
“We‘ve got a Metro-liner 10-wheeler as well, but the Anthem fits the bill for these jobs, and Mack was really helpful in customising the model to suit our requirements,” said English.
From the company depot in Oakey, EXM sees a lot of prospects for farms and feedlots, that up until now have been just a bit too far away to service easily.
“Being able to deliver all the concrete we need for a job with one truck is a game changer for us, because we’re a construction business and having control over this aspect makes a huge difference.
“Mack and Fleetrite have played a central part in making our rough sketches become reality,” he added.
Vice president of Mack Trucks Australia, Tony O’Connell was keen to emphasise the value of Mack’s Australian-made trucks,
“The ability to build Mack trucks here in Australia allows us to create vehicles that are 100 er cent customisable to task,” O’Connell said.
“This means we can meet the unique demands of customers like EXM, delivering innovative solutions that focus on application excellence,” he said
“The truck and dog agitator is a prime example of how we collaborate with our customers and suppliers to bring ideas to life, ensuring our customers can achieve their goals efficiently and effectively,” he added
