WASTE NOSTALGIA BY TIMOTHY BYRNE
Game changer took a Big Bite out of the industry
JACK Allen (Motor Bodies) Ltd, a Birmingham-based family owned company with a proud history dating back to 1927, were the largest suppliers of waste collection vehicles across the UK in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
The fi rm originally started business under the leadership of Lawrence John Allen, who was known as Jack Allen to his friends. He was the son of a narrow boat builder called Fred Allen.
The company, famous for their slogan: “The end user is the best designer”- later became Jack Allen (Sales and Service) Ltd, and had their fi rst factory at Buckingham Street before moving in 1994 to Northgate, Aldridge, West Midlands.
The MD of the business in the 70s was John Allen, an entrepreneur in solid waste handling equipment. Initially the company were agents for the Dennis Brothers range of waste collection vehicles before they formed a relationship with Heil, the world’s largest manufacturer of waste collection vehicles in 1970.
Imported to the UK
On one of John Allen’s visits to the States, he saw a ‘Big Bite’ Mark V vehicle with a large 3 metre ³ hopper. He quickly realised it could be used with skip lifting equipment to collect large volumes of waste in heavily built up areas, such as London.
He purchased a Mark V ‘Big Bite’ of 25 yards³ capacity from Heil in the States, and imported it to the UK. Without telling Heil what his plans were for the ‘Big Bite,’ it was mounted onto a Seddon DD6 6X4 24 tonne tipper chassis.
A tank recovery winch was acquired from the Abingdon MOD sales, and a skip hoist was confi gured to lift skip containers of 10 yards³ capacity into the hopper of the ‘Big Bite’ - using a series of pulleys, cables and a hoist. The hugely successful ‘Big Bite’ was born in the UK, and launched in 1974.
In the same year, staff from the then Dumbarton District Council visited the Jack Allen Birmingham factory and saw the ‘Big Bite’ in action. Key staff members could see that massive fi nancial savings could be made by purchasing the new-style waste collection vehicle.
They held a prompt committee meeting at the Buckingham Street facility, and agreed to purchase the fi rst prototype unit
THE fi rst Jack Allen 25 yard³ ‘Big Bite’ lifting a 10 yard³ skip, sold to Dumbarton District Council in 1975
there and then. The vehicle was painted in Dumbarton’s deep red colour, and was exhibited at the 1975 Institute of Solid Wastes Management (ISWM) Brighton exhibition.
The original winch type lifting system was soon replaced with the Mark One series roll-up type skip lifting arms, which were operated using hydraulic rams capable of lifting skip containers up to 14 yards³ capacity.
Orders then followed for 25 yard³ ‘Big Bites’ - complete with the Mark One series roll-up type skip arms - from Alyn and Deeside and Harrogate councils and Black Country private sector operator WASTE PLAN Ltd, a subsidiary company of Leigh Interests PLC.
These ‘Big Bites’ were of 25 cubic³ capacity and were mounted onto a Dodge 500 Series 6x4 24 tonne chassis. The popularity of the ‘Big Bite’ grew, and it was soon a favourite with local authorities and private sector contractors for the collection of industrial waste.
The ‘Big Bite’ became such a success that in 1978, Jack Allen launched the ‘Big Bite Junior’ model at the 1978 Institute of Solid Wastes Management (ISWM) Brighton exhibition.
Popular with local authorities
This was based on the successful ‘Colectomatic Challenger’ series waste collection vehicle of 20 yards³ capacity. The ‘Big Bite Junior’ was able to collect both domestic and trade wastes in open back form, with a new Series Two skip hoist fi tted to lift skip containers of up to 14 yards³ capacity.
This enabled the ‘Big Bite Junior’ to empty skip containers on the same round, thus reducing operating costs. The product became popular with both local authorities and private sector operators.
In the early 1980s, the Series Two skip lifting arms replaced the Mark One series used on the larger 25 yard³ Mark V ‘Big Bite.’
The fast emerging company also introduced a larger 32 yard³ ‘Big Bite’ in the early 1980s. The launch of the larger ‘Big Bite’ was driven by customer demand for the product, and the larger volumes of waste collected.
JACK Allen’s 25 yards³ ‘Big Bite’ was exhibited at the 1977 Institute of Solid Wastes exhibition in Torbay
54 SHM May, 2018
A larger four axle ‘Big Bite’ of 27m³ capacity was introduced by the company in the mid-1980s, with the Mark Three series skip lifting arms giving an increased skip lifting capacity of 16 yards³.
www.skiphiremagazine.co.uk
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