DAF CF85: Review

Name: DAF CF85: Review
Brand: DAF

Notching up close to nine decades in the transport industry gives a company more than a little credibility; typically there is more than one good story to tell too. Tasmanian based Duggans is one such company, and this is one of their stories.

Luke Duggan, one of the third generation workers now at Duggans, had passed on a mud map a few days earlier of how to find him at a sand pit on the northern side of Hobart this coming Thursday.

"Sometime around mid morning," He added, "You won’t miss our DAF its bright yellow".

He was right. It certainly did standout in the sandpit.

Duggans are a wholly family-owned company operating from Cradoc in the Huon Valley. It’s founder, Harry Duggan, started the business in 1927 when he purchased his first truck. Now a third-generation family business, it fervently values employees and customers by maintaining strong and lasting relationships with both. In building these relationships the business has grown from a humble transport business 89 years ago to a company that can provide all components and expertise for a successful project.

Their journey to leading the market is a fascinating one, carved from true grit and determination to deliver the best product and services. During the late 70s Duggans acquired a concrete batch plant and commenced supplying the local market with quality premixed concrete.

At the time concrete aggregates were purchased from quarries located in Hobart. Due to the long haul from Hobart to Cradoc over the steep narrow and windy Huon Road, they extended their existing quarry to include the production of quality concrete aggregates.

Duggans premix concrete is also used in their precast concrete factory, where they manufacture and deliver precast concrete panels and components for the building industry and private sector statewide. They have their own drafting office and have been manufacturing high quality precast concrete and delivering it to sites throughout Tasmania for over 25 years.

Today Duggans is Tasmania’s leader in the manufacture and supply of precast concrete.

Luke finished loading, climbed from the loader and wandered over with a smile. "You're spot on time," he said extending his hand. "I’m running this load of sand back to our concrete plant at Cradoc if you want to tag along."

"You’ll really get to see how well these CF85 DAFs go as it's a long pull up the Southern Outlet of Hobart then there’s another one on the Huon Highway near Sandfly," Luke revealed.

The nuts and bolts of this FAT CF85, include the 12.9 litre PACCAR MX engine rated at 460hp (343kW). According to the literature it boasts a pretty respectable torque output range from 1775 to 2300Nm. In addition, the MX engine also comes with an integrated engine brake that delivers engine retardation from 280hp (210kW) at 1500rpm to 430hp (320kW) at 2100rpm.

The ZF 12-speed AS-Tronic automated manual transmission features 12 forward speeds and two reverse ratios. It is suitable for gross train weights up to 70 tonnes.

With the AS-Tronic, shifting and clutching are electropneumatic - there is no clutch pedal. Normal mode is automated with manual mode available and shifting is via a fingertip lever. It can be driven with the PTO engaged only in second and fourth gears. The ‘M’ setting is for precise low-speed manoeuvring in forward and reverse.

The rear axles are Meritor MT23-165 with 3.9 ratio with both interaxle and cross axle differentials locks. The rear suspension is a PACCAR Airglide 400 eight-bag air suspension with aluminum pedestals, shock absorbers and stabiliser bars.

"We were impressed with the light tare weight of the DAF FAT CF85 and chose the light-weight Hercules alloy body and matching three-axle dog. This gives us a 33.5 tonne payload," Luke explained. "That’s one thing we really like about the DAF is it gives us a great payload at the end of the day.

"It’s a well-specced truck too, the cross locks are really terrific in the sand pit, and they come in handy when we’re working on bush roads," Luke added. "You’d be surprised how many dirt roads there are down here in the south of the state and how steep they are as well."

"This body is fitted with a quick change system that allows me to lift it off to transform it into a prime mover so I can deliver the precast panels that we make at Cradoc.

"One thing that really leaps out at you when you first climb into the DAF CF-85 is the abundance of storage space this truck offers," Luke said.

The dash is well appointed and comes standard with an elegant wood grain fascia. The controls and switches are within easy reach and easy to find. It’s probably worth mentioning the new steering wheel, which is thicker than previous models and the four-spoke design affords clear vision of the entire dash. It also has one of the most generous adjustments in a vehicle of this class with 8.5 cm of reach and between 30 to 45 degrees in angle.

The control for the gearbox is located neatly in the dash and for most applications it will merely be a matter of selecting “D” for drive and you’ll be away. The conveniently placed selection knob also provides a shunting position for manoeuvring around yards such as connecting to trailers.

The left-hand steering-wheel spoke has a button for answering the mobile phone. Located next to that is the button for activating the phone book which opens up in the centre of the dash panel for ease of viewing. The neat feature of the phone function is it will work with a variety of phones so in a fleet situation where drivers change trucks they can take their phone to the next vehicle and it will still function the same.

Cruise control switches are located on the right side spoke and they function as you’d expect.

Another feature with these CF-85 trucks is the road-speed override function. If you depress the accelerator all the way down you’ll feel an indent, that’s how you activate the road-speed override function.

The best way to explain how this operates is to imagine you are travelling down a section of road with an 80km/h speed limit. You activate the personal road-speed limit switch on the right-hand spoke of the steering wheel and the truck will not travel over 80km/h. However in the real world you could find yourself cruising up behind a vehicle that is travelling at 70km/h which means it would take an extremely long time to overtake that vehicle at 80km/h. So by depressing the accelerator all the way down to the indent, it allows the truck to accelerate more quickly to execute a safe overtaking manoeuvre then, when the accelerator is released, the driver-set road-speed limit is resumed.

The park brake and trailer brake levers are located on the dash which means the engine tunnel is clean and free from the clutter of brake levers and controls.

"Keeping the DAF well maintained lifts productivity and presents a good outlook for our varied clientele," Luke revealed. "That’s why we get all our equipment regularly serviced by local PACCAR dealer CJD Equipment in Brighton.

"In addition, the unit is durable enough to endure the harsh Tasmanian environment, and reliable so it doesn’t let us down on those windy country roads out there," he adds.

"There's no question this DAF CF85 is luxurious inside and really easy to drive. Luke concluded. "Which along with its light tare weight, proven durability exceptional back up service and application flexibility are why we purchased the CF85. Certainly we’re more than happy with it," he added.