From: Spare the Tires and Brakes, Spoil the Chassis
Choose the Right Engine
"Engine horsepower affects brakes, tires, and route efficiency," advises Houston Ratledge, production manager at Heil Environmental Industries Ltd.
A rearloading waste-collection truck requires 150 to 300 horsepower, depending on body size, which ranges from 6 to 32 cubic yards. As a rule of thumb, he says, "Take body size and multiply by 10."
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Automated sideloaders need at least a 300-horsepower engine, Ratledge says. "It should develop in the range of 1,000 foot-pounds of torque. All Heil automated units use what we refer to as OIGAI—operate in gear at idle. We can enter a community, pick up your garbage, and the truck never has to exceed its idle speed to perform 100% of its functions. Rearloaders can make a lot of noise if they have to rev the engine to compact. Automated is quiet because of OIGAI. That's why it needs a high-horsepower, high-torque engine with the capacity to handle the demands of a hydraulic pump."
Frontloaders also require high horsepower and high torque, but for a different reason. "It's a function of body weight and payload weight," Ratledge says, "to get the truck on and off the landfill."
November-December 2004
From: Spare the Tires and Brakes, Spoil the Chassis
Choose the Right Engine
"Engine horsepower affects brakes, tires, and route efficiency," advises Houston Ratledge, production manager at Heil Environmental Industries Ltd.A rearloading waste-collection truck requires 150 to 300 horsepower, depending on body size, which ranges from 6 to 32 cubic yards. As a rule of thumb, he says, "Take body size and multiply by 10."
Automated sideloaders need at least a 300-horsepower engine, Ratledge says. "It should develop in the range of 1,000 foot-pounds of torque. All Heil automated units use what we refer to as OIGAI—operate in gear at idle. We can enter a community, pick up your garbage, and the truck never has to exceed its idle speed to perform 100% of its functions. Rearloaders can make a lot of noise if they have to rev the engine to compact. Automated is quiet because of OIGAI. That's why it needs a high-horsepower, high-torque engine with the capacity to handle the demands of a hydraulic pump."
Frontloaders also require high horsepower and high torque, but for a different reason. "It's a function of body weight and payload weight," Ratledge says, "to get the truck on and off the landfill."