They say necessity is the mother of invention. And so it proved for a German machinery maker, who needed a high-output spreading and loading combination that could be operated and transported between sites by just the one driver. His resulting monster muck truck, along with its two subsequent incarnations, is the subject of this report
The truck-based outfit is more efficient than any tractor and trailed spreader, says Axel Grimm who has spent nearly 3,000 hours behind the wheel of his muck truck since 2011. A partner of Bauch & Grimm Ltd, Mr Grimm has operated the rig from the outset. The truck was developed and built by his partner, Hermann Bauch, who fitted a mounted spreader on the rear and then attached a trailed flatbed trailer to the truck to transport the accompanying wheeled loader between spreading sites.
“Its four axles give the self-propelled muck spreader complete stability in the field. At times I’m spreading at up to 20km/hr and don’t even notice minor bumps and hollows in the ground,” says Mr Grimm.
The same applies to the outfit’s ride on the road, where the 21.50m long road train also offers excellent stability, courtesy of Mr Bauch adapting the wheelbase of the flatbed trailer so that it’s a better match to that of the truck.
Mr Grimm’s business partner is a self-confessed tinkerer who enjoys tweaking machinery until it works for him. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, his design tool of choice is not a computer with CAD software, or similar; he prefers to rely on experience gained over many years, plus admitting to indulging in a little trial and error.
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