LOCHGILPHEAD-based contractor D.A. MacDonald has taken delivery of its first ever Andover Trailers tri-axle step frame.
The bespoke-built beavertail step frame has a gross weight of 56 tonnes, making it suited to carrying the wide range of heavy construction plant the business transports to civil engineering projects across Scotland.
Chris Stewart, health, safety environment & quality manager at D.A. MacDonald, said, “We looked at a range of manufacturers for the new trailer and were certainly aware of Andover’s formidable reputation for build quality. One of the biggest contributing factors, however, was that they don’t simply sell trailers ‘off the shelf’, they gave us the flexibility to spec it exactly to our needs.”
The step frame joins a commercial vehicle fleet, which includes a range of plant bodies, tippers and heavy plant. Specified with 17.5-inch wheels on BPW axles, with additional rear-lifting axle capability, the new trailer also includes safety features such as slide-out wide load marker boards, strobes, safety lights and LED lighting.
Andover Trailers’ beavertail design includes two 3.8m x 1m flip toe ramps with hydraulic sliding width adjustment, alongside 18 pairs of swivel, screw and fixed lashing points along the deck and low-profile neck.
The trailer will be pulled by D.A. MacDonald’s new Scania V8 R50 tractor unit and is expected to cover around 50,000 miles annually.
Chris Stewart added, “We’re delighted with how the trailer has been performing so far, and we have no doubt that it will more than last the distance. That said, we do like to run a smart fleet, so if it needs to be replaced before then, we will certainly be looking to work with Andover Trailers again.”
