Tip-ex 2018: Kel-Berg moves with the times

Kel-berg said its new T109 belt-driven horizontal discharge trailer is not only safer to operate than conventional tipping trailers, but also has numerous advantages over moving-floor trailers.

Speaking at Tip-ex, Kel-Berg general manager Ronnie Verner told CM it discharges four times quicker than a moving-floor, and lasts longer too. He said: “Movingfloor trailers were designed for carrying loads like woodchip on long journeys, not for making multiple drops with abrasive aggregates.”

Verner also said some moving-floor systems wear out within a couple of years, whereas conveyor belts experience virtually no wear at all.

These are sentiments echoed by Mark West from Transport Conveyer Systems in Hounslow, Middlesex, which showed an asphalt-spec Canadian-built tri-axle live bottom trailer and an 8x4 rigid. “They cost the same as moving-floor trailers, have a two-minute discharge, and a more precise delivery too,” he said.

West said that belts, which are rated to 220 degrees centigrade, undergo very little stress compared with moving-floor planks, so typically go for seven years before they need replacing.

Both companies believe conveyor belt systems will soon experience a surge in popularity in the UK, and said interest at the show was high. West said: “Tip-ex has been phenomenal for us and if I listen to what people have been telling me here, I’m expecting to make between 10 and 15 sales. I have also had lots of people asking to borrow our demonstrators.”

Meanwhile, Kel-Berg, whose latest trailer is 1.1 tonnes lighter than the one it previewed at last year’s show, is expecting Tarmac to add it to its list of preferred trailers. It has so far imported 10 of the Danish-built trailers, and has found buyers for six of them.