Founded in 1928, Summerleaze is a privately owned company whose origins are in the field of mineral extraction. Over the years, sand and gravel from Summerleaze quarries has played a major role in supplying the aggregate needed for the construction of many thousands of homes, offices, schools, hospitals and roads in the Thames Valley. To date almost 9 million tonnes of aggregate have been processed and supplied to projects such as these.
Summerleaze supplies a full range of aggregates to local businesses and the general public, including daily transportation of road stone between one quarry to a another for processing. This arduous duty now falls to one particular truck and demands the very highest level of reliability, both from the truck itself and also from its tipping gear.
For the last two years the road stone quarry run has been undertaken by a Foden Alpha 8x4 tipper with a C10 Caterpillar engine, purchased back in 2001. This was a very popular tipper chassis back in its day, and the fact that it is still running is testament not only to the build quality but also to Summerleaze’s workshop where the company carries out all its own vehicle servicing.
Just as impressive is the fact that the Edbro CX15 tipping gear which was originally specified with the vehicle is still operating with the same pump and power take-off (PTO). In fact, in the whole of its 15 year operating life on the Foden the tipping gear has not required any work or repairs – not even resealing!
Steve Cook, Summerleaze Transport Manager, comments: “I was told that Edbro cylinders are ‘Fit and Forget’, I can certainly confirm that’s true. The Foden Alpha is still making regular quarry runs despite being the oldest vehicle in our fleet. The fact that the cylinder is still operating after all this time beggars belief.”
This demonstrable longevity fits in perfectly with the Summerleaze desire for long term reliability and durability. The company focuses on buying high quality equipment that, properly maintained in its own workshop, will give the longest possible service life.
Of course the longevity of the CX15 cylinder is no accident. Knowing that its tipping gear is more than likely going to be used in harsh environments, and that breakdowns can bring production to a complete halt, Edbro’s design team sets out to achieve long term reliability by designing out any component that would be likely to have a limited operating life, including high safety loading factors and going for robustness on every detail.
Peter Angell of JOST says the attention to detail in the design is matched by complete thoroughness during manufacture. “All of our manufacturing is to a very high standard and we do 100% end of line testing of every cylinder that we make. The Edbro and JOST names are synonymous with quality and reliability because of our on-going commitment to these procedures.”