Site dumpers may become a sight in North America
Published in: Diesel Progress North American Edition
Date: 11/1/2002
By: Yengst, Charles R.
One product most Americans and Canadians have not seen in action is the compact articulated dump truck, which does not look like an articulated dump truck and is used for hauling dirt and other materials on jobsites. Compact ADTs, often called “site dumpers,” are not new to construction and have been around probably over 30 years. These machines are primarily found in Europe, but also show up in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Not many have made their way to the United States or Canada. The majority have wheels and articulated steering, but there are similar types of equipment, primarily produced in Japan, that have a crawler undercarriage. The largest percentage, however, is of the wheeled design.
The compact ADT can best be described as a motorized wheelbarrow, although it is much better than a wheelbarrow. It has the ability to haul some pretty good sized loads and it is very handy around almost any construction jobsite. In fact, site dumpers carry anywhere from about one to nine metric tons of material, depending on the model.
Site dumpers are common in Europe in several countries and they are not just some tinny piece of equipment used around small jobsites. They may show up on a highway or street project, at airports where construction never stops and at large and small housing developments. Landscaping contractors and municipalities often use them, although construction is the primary end market. I’ve seen them carrying sod, cement, trash, sandbags and marker cones and I rather imagine that they get used for more than that in many instances.
Backhoe loaders, mini-excavators, small hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders and skid-steer loaders are the machines most frequently used to load site dumpers.
An obvious question is why have these machines not been used in North America? My take is that Europeans don’t really want us to know how versatile and useful these machines are and have kept them a good secret. Perhaps, another reason is that European job sites can get a bit crowded and having a site dumper to move material around helps to keep the job site open and tidier.
In North America, tight quarters are not usually the problem. Also, contractors like to drive around in wheel loaders, moving dirt and other materials in the loader bucket, or they use big on-highway dump trucks to get dirt out of the way when necessary. Site dumpers have never really caught on or been tried that much.
But I think we may be seeing site dumpers in North America before too long. Last year, more than 8000 site dumpers were produced and sold throughout the world. The market in the U.K. accounted for about 55 percent of the total units sold, while Spain rang up about 25 percent of the demand. There are growing sales of the machines in France, Germany and Austria also. Sales outside of Europe have been small and only account for about four to five percent of total production annually at the current time. As for North America, less than one percent of the machines came this direction last year.
Terex Benford is the largest manufacturer, accounting for about one-third of all site dumpers produced and sold in 2001. AUSA of Spain is the second largest supplier, followed by Thwaites and Barford Construction Equipment, both located in the U.K., and Neuson of Austria, which owns Lifton in the U.K. Winget in the U.K. is also important.
Other companies making this product include Fiori, Dieci, Dumec and Piccini (all in Italy) and Multitor, Agria Hispania, and Piquersa Maquinaria (from Spain). Most of these “other companies” are relatively small, representing a few percent or less of overall industry sales of site dumpers annually. Most supply primarily within the countries where they are located or export a few units to other regions where they may have contacts.
A few companies have tried selling their products within the North American market over the past five years, but with only minimal success thusfar. Terex Benford and Thwaites have probably made the most inroads, but it’s still been nothing to write home about. AUSA opened an office in Oregon in the past year and is developing a dealer network for its sales. A few companies displayed their compact ADT product lines at ConExpo in Las Vegas in March.
It’s not likely there will be any major rush to buy these machines here in the U.S. or Canada right now. Once the machinery markets start showing some progress, which I feel will happen in 2003, site dumpers will get their chance to become a part of the North American construction equipment scene. I believe we will see Terex Benford, Thwaites, AUSA and Neuson spending more time and money in North America to develop the market for their products. The logical place for this to occur is the rental equipment business where the machines could be demonstrated and tried by contractors and other users without ownership.
CHARLES R. YENGST IS PRESIDENT OF YENGST ASSOCIATES, WILTON, CONN.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications