Through this modern era of waste collections, I’ve had very little interest in videoing just about any of the rear loaders which have worked in Penrith City Council, with pretty much zero fascination for the current fleet and also not much interest in the previous fleet. However, there was a single machine which I was very determined to get on video, being an original SITA unit that was there when the Penrith contract kicked off in late 2007. I speak of truck 070, the only brand new rear loader put together for the beginning and also the only frontline clean-up truck there for a while. Just like the group of ten side loaders SITA released onto the road, the purchased cab chassis was a stock standard 2007 model Iveco ACCO, no disappointment or surprises here. The compactor choice was a sweet Heil Formula 4000 sourced from Binksie Services, ordered in true clean-up spec as an open back with no bin lifter gear. In addition, the company got a monster 28m capacity body made as appropriate for the bulk waste job, which to the best of my knowledge is the only one of its kind in Australia... I thought Rockdale previously ran one as well, but I seem mistaken.
During the first half of 2019 when I was scrambling to get some of the existing Penrith trucks on video prior to their imminent replacement (or redeployment in some cases), one priority capture was vehicle 070. I felt it would be so wrong to not document this specific clean-up workhorse. So one Friday I was out and about in the Penrith LGA and told myself if I got one of the young Visy Volvo recycle side arms and big bad 070 on bulk waste, this day’s outing would be worthwhile and I’d go home a happy person - and go home happy I did! After success with the side loader and now during the later morning period, I followed my instincts and made my way into one section of the Friday collection zone, arriving in the suburb of Erskine Park and turning into Swallow Dr. All I can say is that I had an abundance of good luck at that point, as timing was absolutely paramount, with the target truck driving right past me. I didn’t even know if 070 would be on the job that day, as it had become a bit of a spare rear loader towards the end of the contract, but here it was! If I didn’t cross paths with it when I did, I likely wouldn’t have found it at all.
Once I’d done a quick change of direction in my ute, I caught up to that Heil rear loader and followed into a dead end street with the boys doing one last pile for the suburb. I appeared out of nowhere and took them by surprise with my videoing query, no doubt they were initially a little unsure about my intentions, but thankfully these gents were quite chill and accommodated me, proving to be quite helpful with my task at hand, so cheers to them for being legends! It worked out there was a cluster of streets in the south-east corner of nearby Colyton with some bulk waste piles awaiting removal, so I tailed them there, parked up and went along with the action. I was a little concerned at the truck being almost full, getting worried I might be unable to shoot much footage, although this resulting upload proves that all worked out well in the end. I hung around right until their final collection to get as much as I could, with all these clips also appearing in chronological order. Of course the camera battery gave up on me part of the way, so I even sprinted back to my ute and charged it up for about 10min to provide enough juice for a little more action, all good though!
There’s no shortage of pack cycles during this video and a generous amount of item destruction is seen occurring in the process, so the clean-up fans won’t be displeased. Plus just as I aim for, I included a handful of driving shots of this truck travelling between the booked on-call presentations of household junk, with the final take showing the truck maxed out and heading off to the Kemps Creek landfill. I did my best to avoid the slow boring bits and mixed up what angles I could of the packer performance, also managing a highish close view which shows how the sweep blade rotates on the slide shoes with these Heil 4000s. One thing I picked about this truck was the throttle advance is rather soft during the pack cycles, described as more of a higher idle, and overcome a lot by that nasty dry friction noise you won’t miss, but during a couple shots I bring the engine sound into the spotlight - you may notice the revs cut out prematurely during the last inches of packer movement. Anyway, a lengthy look at a real awesome rear loader in my eyes, an example of simple, tough and reliable gear that you don’t get in this country anymore.
20 июл 2023
