I’ve driven both and…
I have no love at all for the tag. Fish-taily in the dry and downright dangerous in the wet. It never seemed to provide good traction in any conditions. I know the mid-lift isn’t perfect but it seems a great deal more stable than a tag.
Anyone care to elaborate on why they prefer a tag to a mid-lift?
I don’t want to start a war on one against the other, just interested to see why some peole prefer them.
Tag for traction, that’s about it for me between the two.
As for lifters in general, i can’t stand vehicles where the driver has no input on the lifter at all, Stralis i drove you had no input and our new Mercs are the same, they’ll be a fat lot of use when global warming vanishes and it snows again.
Thats one good thing about the MAN, the mid lift raises fully even if max loaded after about 15 seconds, makes manoeuvering a doddle, cuts tyre scrub and is obviously a boon in slippery conditions which is just as well cos it’s skittish in the wet no matter what tyres are on it.
The most stable 3 axle units i’ve ever driven have been Scanias with full size mid lifts, especially twin steer, they go exactly where you point them and corner well, the Sed Ack 401 twin steer i had many years ago was similarly well planted.
The most unstable were Volvo FM’s with (no driver input at all) small mid lifts, these were used a lot on plus11 car transporters, bloody terrifying on worn roads.
Tag is best off road, on our new Volvo’s we can even lift the tag up when fully loaded. Also you can do tighter reversing.
Only problem with having a tag that will lift fully when loaded is you cant turn left or right 
chaversdad:
Only problem with having a tag that will lift fully when loaded is you cant turn left or right
Same with a 6 wheeler rigid when it’s heavy on the rear 
axletramp:
chaversdad:
Only problem with having a tag that will lift fully when loaded is you cant turn left or rightSame with a 6 wheeler rigid when it’s heavy on the rear
I did similar when I moved the 5th wheel all the way back to move a deep pin trailer so it didn’t hit my hydraulic tank fitted by the air lines. The next day when I had a loaded bulker trailer on I was struggling to get out the yard on the muddy concrete surface as the weight on the rear of the unit meant the front wheels had no grip to turn ha.
When it comes to lifting a tag when fully loaded its to help move forward on landfill sites when unloading walking floor trailers, if you have an ejector trailer normally that will push you away from the pile and off the waste but walking floors offer no help.
Having only driven midlifts until late recently I hated it when I was given the tag unit. That was until I done a full days work (mainly site work with a flat bed) and now I love it. It’s abit sketchy at best going down the road but getting in to tip it’s a godsend
Tag any day of the week, wouldn’t want a midlift again. Never had an issue with traction, always grips when I need it to be it off road or on a slippy hill. Reversing is fantastic, the maneuverability is excellent.
A bit bouncy running solo but that’s about it.
A.
Our new FH are midlift bugger all traction with it down or up,would have thought more traction with it up but nope,never driven a tag axle but the 61 plates we used to have we’re better with traction up or down.
Making trucks lighter don’t always work
Never liked either tag or mid. Had a tag on a stretched F7 i once had in the UK but since then always LWB 4x2’s…
yourhavingalarf:
I’ve driven both and…I have no love at all for the tag. Fish-taily in the dry and downright dangerous in the wet. It never seemed to provide good traction in any conditions. I know the mid-lift isn’t perfect but it seems a great deal more stable than a tag.
Anyone care to elaborate on why they prefer a tag to a mid-lift?
I don’t want to start a war on one against the other, just interested to see why some peole prefer them.
Dangerous in the wet? Get a ■■■■■■■ grip on yourself.
Adonis.:
Tag any day of the week, wouldn’t want a midlift again. Never had an issue with traction, always grips when I need it to be it off road or on a slippy hill. Reversing is fantastic, the maneuverability is excellent.A bit bouncy running solo but that’s about it.
A.
100% agree
I’ve often hear old sweats saying that you need a short wheelbase for snow or nordic conditions. They all prefer tag axle over mid when the white stuff comes down.
What I’ve still not worked out is why the Canadian and Alaskan driver prefer a long wheelbase. They say a longer wheelbase provides flex and forgiveness in the chassis and more traction on the snow and ice roads.
goshow:
I’ve often hear old sweats saying that you need a short wheelbase for snow or nordic conditions. They all prefer tag axle over mid when the white stuff comes down.What I’ve still not worked out is why the Canadian and Alaskan driver prefer a long wheelbase. They say a longer wheelbase provides flex and forgiveness in the chassis and more traction on the snow and ice roads.
Funny how vehicles can be so similar in design but so different in capability.
Agency job i was on about 7 years ago, quite a big snow one week, had an MAN 6 x 2 artic with arsetronic, got stuck on 1/2 an inch of snow on a flat road at Harlow, embarrassing or what 
, tried rocking it back and forth to get it moving gently (just what arsetonic is best at 
) bloody gearbox overheated after about 10 mins of this so had to shut down for about half an hour before it let me go again, have had this before in same engine/box combination vehicles in just heavy traffic 
Same winter, blizzard conditions i’m in a 430 manual 6 x 2 Merc Axor artic, snow about 6" deep and still coming down like billio, had to deliver to Comet Wolverhampton where you drove up and in as if going into the car park and then reverse on own side up an incline into Comet’s back yard, thought i’d be in serious trouble there but no the lorry just romped up the ramp without a single slip.
In both cases the mid lifts were up and similar light loads of white goods, OK the manual box will have helped but no rocking or cajoling was needed the Axor just dug in and went, can only be how the vehicle is weighted, maybe not coincidence that my present permanent MAN 6x2 is most skittish artic i’ve ever had in the wet unless the tyres are as new, and thats stretching memory right back to motors with Michelin XY recuts of doom on the drive axle 