Trucks

There are some jobs that need to be done where a truck is the perfect tool, but what stops a lot of them doing it is the terrain. That’s right, once you get off the highway and onto dirt tracks, regular trucks don’t always have what it takes to get the job done.

This is where 4×4 trucks come into their own, because they are built especially for off road work and gaining access to places that regular trucks cannot get to. This includes dirt tracks that have steep hills to climb, mountainous areas where there are remote cabins that need supplies getting in and out, dirt tracks that are prone to flooding and any other place that is inaccessible by other kinds of vehicle.

A good four wheel drive truck such as those in the Chevy range or Toyota HiLux can get to places most other trucks can’t and ensure deliveries of supplies to remote homesteads or work gangs in out of the way places. They are also perfect for ferrying workers to and from wilderness areas or even for getting you home if you live in a remote cabin on the side of a mountain with no permanent road access.

The secret to the 4×4 is in its transmission being able to drive both axles simultaneously to provide at least two wheels, one front and one back to be driving the vehicle along. Now a lot of folks believe that 4×4 trucks can drive all four wheels simultaneously, but that’s not generally the case with all except a few specialist model vehicles which I’ll mention next.

Each axle of a 4×4 vehicle has what is called a differential (or diff), which applies drive equally between each wheel on that axle. When the vehicle is cornering, the diff applies more drive to the outer wheel describing the arc of the turn than to the inner wheel, to prevent the vehicle skidding off the road. Should one wheel on an axle spin, the other one will not drive at all and you may have noticed this phenomenon if you got your car stuck in mud – only one wheel will spin while the other one remains stationery. That’s because the diff is applying all the drive to one wheel that can turn easily (on the wet mud) and not to the other.

With a 4×4 truck or any other 4×4 vehicle, drive is applied to both axles, but drive to each wheel on each axle is governed by the differential. So if you’re in the wet and your wheels start spinning, someone standing outside the vehicle may notice that only one front wheel and one back wheel is spinning while the other two remain still.

So in effect, while its called four wheel drive, its actually only two wheel drive when you are in this situation. Now for the specialist 4×4 vehicles.

There are several Land Rover models which have a device called a diff lock, which can be engaged in circumstances of wet muddy terrain that will prevent the differential from balancing the drive on each axle and effectively force full drive to both wheels on that axle. These are the real 4×4 vehicles as they provide genuine drive to all four wheels equally, which is a real help when you’re in a very muddy situation and you need to climb a hill as well. Needless to say, you should never drive one of these vehicles on the road with the diff lock engaged or you will risk skidding off the road on a bend.

So now you know what the benefits of 4×4 trucks are.

Trucks

Its probably a term you’ve heard used here and there but never knew the answer to what are bucket trucks. Well here at Trucks, that’s right up our street, so we’ll answer that question for you right here.

Bucket trucks get used in a fair number of industries. They are seen along roadsides here and there most days. You’ll often see telephone or utilities company employees can be seen riding in a bucket up to the top of a tall pole to fix something. Well, that’s pretty much what a bucket truck is.

Bucket trucks are mainly used for the lifting and lowering of workers up to those hard to get to places that are generally too tall for ladders, or for places where scaffolding cannot be easily or safely erected. They’re also useful for jobs that can be done in a short space of time without the added time load of erecting and dismantling scaffolding.

Bucket trucks come in a large number of shapes and sizes and each one is designed to help make certain work that much easier easier. They are used for loads of different purposes, but the most common use is by power linemen, who are able to undertake and complete their work in a safe, comfortable, and efficient manner. So wherever there are steel or concrete poles with something at the top that needs fitting or fixing, workmen will use bucket trucks to get the job done.

Bucket truck design includes a handy storage bin that’s perfect for safely holding the various tools and other material that may be needed by the worker. Some bucket trucks are specially designed with either a single or double-arm boom, while others have a hydraulic outrigger jack for extra stability. Some designs have the boom arm powered by the truck’s engine. Others are separately powered by an auxiliary engine mounted on the rear section of the truck.

These trucks are powerful pieces of machinery that should be treated with respect and there are several guidelines laid down OSHA rules and further information should be sought should you be considering adding one of these to your machine fleet for your business.

Hope that answers your question of what are bucket trucks.

Trucks