a bit of an insight into one of my days.
8 april 2010
my drive is a 57 plate VOLVO FM12 440 6x2 with a two axle rear steer bulk blower trailer running at 40T gross.
get work for 0500 do my daily checks & make sure all is in order as was loaded by one of the mill loaders
then go look for the most importany machine in the mill
see the mill staff are all hard at it …somewhere else ?
first load of the day is to a farm at launcells , between holsworthy & bude this dairy farm is organic & takes a full load 23t leave mill at 0520 & mosey down to stourton cross on the A30 for a 15 min break at 0700 would normally run straight in but has a delivery time of 0800 earliest
wake up chaps
get into farm & turn up in the top yard
quick check with farmer to confirm where he wants what as he sometimes wants 3t blown into another bin but this time all up in the loft for the parlour
4 pipes out of the wall so will split the load into 4 & start blowing . my trailer has 4 compartments so saves weighing it off , i’ll just blow eack compartment up each pipe
conecting pipe to trailer
wires are the biggest hazzard although not great having 3 full compartments tipped & blowing in the wind either
my unit doesn’t have a hydraulic pack or PTO power so my trailer is fitted with a donkey engine , which powers everything , it’s a 75HP air cooled SAME engine
pic of one side of the loft above the parlour
empty
11.5t later full
control pannel
pressure guage usually runs at 0.5 bar / 5 - 7.5 psi depending on comodity & distance to blow
0930 all done & now off to lifton mill via launceton
got the timing a bit wrong today , may have to wait a while
alongside one of the newer scanias
i have 3 drops for the next load
in the loading bay
loading
view of the business end in the back of the trailer obviously gravity fed through the small square exit in th middle , into a discharger that is on a variable controll , the auger is used to clear the corners when finished but is also used to keep some of the more difficult loads moving during unloading
all loaded , 6t in the 1st compartment , 4tin the 2nd & 12t isplit between the 3rd & 4th
time to weigh out
off to exeter for my 30 min break
break taken & off to find the next farm at Aylesbere Nr Exeter
found the farm at 1330 nice lane
leading to this lovely big yard
can just about turn , but then it does say 8wheelers only on the ticket
again 4 pipe to the loft 2.5t up th short pipre & 3.5 up the long pipes
use the weigher
all done onto the next farm at Dunkeswell above Honiton 1445 ah a bin nice change !
next farm just up the road get there at 1515, another nice big bin !
thats me done so just need to go back to yard to load , still got some hours left so got loaded & decided to make my way to fordingbridge Nr Sailsbury for tomorrows drop at Badminton feeds , don’t quite get there so stop for the night at downton business park end of shift 1900
Great bit of reading there, brings back a few memories of when my grandad worked for southern bulk,
some of the lanes and the poxy little farms!! he liked the challenge!
euromat:
nice diary and pics mole, i used to enjoy the bulk, although some of the farms i dont miss (or erith oilseed works!!) keep them coming!
I remember having to either hide in the cab and draw the curtains or wait in the weighbridge office at erith when i was a kid as they would not let passengers in! i hated having to go there!
obviously gravity fed through the small square exit in th middle , into a discharger that is on a variable controll , the auger is used to clear the corners when finished but is also used to keep some of the more difficult loads moving during unloading
