Hamilton's Western Star and Lusty EMS combo

Name: Hamilton's Western Star and Lusty EMS combo
Brand: Western Star

The good looks of Hamilton Contracting's Western Star has won some awards, however it’s the Lusty-EMS lead slider and tip-over axle combination that’s reaping the rewards in terms of payload

Increased regulation and a tough economy have taken a toll on the nation’s bulk haulage operators in recent years. Not to mention New South Wales’s extreme weather conditions from devastating floods to snap droughts which have forced many small transport owners out the of the bulk grain market.

Finding the balance between meeting stricter regulations and maintaining some form of profitability is something that Jerilderie based Hamilton Contracting takes very seriously and not so long ago they purchased a versatile Lusty EMS B-double-road train trailer combination to go behind their Detroit powered 4900 Western Star to reap the rewards of increased payloads.

That decision was well founded with bumper crops predicted for the forthcoming harvest.

Hamilton Contracting in its present form was established in 2000, however the Hamilton family’s association with both Logistics and Primary Production spans back some 60 years and three generations.

Like many great Australian family companies, the Hamilton’s family business has a riveting history founded on the back of hard work and good old fashion quality service. Interestingly, it came to fruition after a neighbour approached them to do some header contacting. This led to more harvest work and they realised that there was a market for quality machinery with experienced operators in the Southern Riverina area.

As their reputation has developed, the services which they offer have also expanded to meet the needs of their existing and new clientele.

Today they run a full range of farming equipment complemented by a fleet of B-double and road train grain tippers servicing farmers in not only their local area but right across the Eastern Seaboard.

Hamilton’s Mitch McLennan added that they’ve set their standard of service very high with a company culture that is projected by: “We pride ourselves in doing the job better than anyone else”.

Wind the clock forward to the end of the second week of this year and GrainCorp announced its harvest receivals reached 12 million tonnes, with record or near-record receivals at 26 of its country silos across Queensland, New South wales and Victoria.

Nigel Lotz, General Manager of Operations for Storage and Logistics, said it had been a massive operation: “This is the biggest winter harvest since 2010/2011, where our network received 12.3 million tonnes by the same time.

“It’s really exciting to see some areas achieve high yields after extended drought, particularly in north western NSW and western Victoria. Grain quality has also been good, especially across canola and wheat,” he added.

The decision to purchase the Lusty EMS tipper combination was not taken lightly, and it was one that took a lot of planning. Yet it wasn’t until the opening up of new road-train routes through NSW that real gains in this combination could be gleaned.

“Over the past decade, sharp rises in truck registration, insurance and fuel mean that maintaining some form of profitability has been a real challenge for smaller fleets like ours,” Mitch McLennan said.

Mitch is quick to point out that the backbone of their operation is having good drivers who appreciate and can operate good equipment.

“Being on time every time and getting the loads delivered safely is paramount,” Mitch, said. “It is as simple as doing what you say when you say you’re going to do it, that’s my philosophy.”

“How we do that is by having the best gear,” Mitch continued. “We spent a lot of time with Lusty EMS in Brisbane planning the specifications of the trailer combination to ensure that we could take advantage of payload increases in all the areas we travel.

“We very rarely run our units as single trailers other than when we are running dog trailers to set up a road train. We either have them set up as a B-double or road train and we average a healthy 56 tonne payload with the new Lusty EMS combination,” Mitch said.

“The trailers and dolly are fitted with what we consider to be the best running gear on the market, for maximum reliability,” Mitch said.

Each unit has BPW axles, ABS disc brakes, Edbro tipping hoists and heavy-duty Ringfeder couplings. Both trailers have an automatic lift on the first axle for more savings when the trailers are empty.

“We are probably not the cheapest carriers in the business, but we pride ourselves on being one of the most reliable. There is no argument that you can’t beat reliable service. Our customers expect us to be reliable and in turn we expect reliability from our suppliers,” Mitch said.

“That’s why we go the extra mile and spend a few extra dollars to get the best gear. After all, this unit is a long term investment. It’s a matter of getting equipment that you can rely on to get you through week in, week out and using the best components available like the BPW axles and Edbro hoists ensures the equipment will live up to our expectations.

The key to the versatility of this combination is the Lusty EMS lead slider trailer, which enables Mitch slide the tipper bin forward to reveal a turntable mounted over the tri-axle suspension. In this setup he can connect it up to the rear tip-over-axle trailer and use it as a B-double. Conversely when he is running on road train routes he simply slides the turntable under the lead trailer’s bin and connects the trailers as a traditional road train.

The Lead Slider trailer also features a second drop-in kingpin, which ensures correct carrying capacities are achieved in road train and B-double applications.

The trailers and dolly also feature LED lights as standard, providing long and reliable life and adapting automatically to varying voltages in truck power supplies.

“The finish of the Lusty EMS trailers is first class,” Mitch said. “It’s all the little things that really make these trailers the best in their class. They come standard with corner cleaners and grain chutes all mounted on the chassis. Importantly the quality of workmanship is second to none and there are no sharp edges anywhere. I was really impressed when I picked them up in Brisbane as to how well they’d come up. Both trailers have stainless steel toolboxes and water tanks.”

The Western Star 4900 is understandably Mitch’s pride and joy. He has won a couple ‘Trucks of the Show’ with it and reckons it’s real head turner. Under the hood is the latest Detroit DD15 with 550 horsepower and 1850 lb/ft for torque. The transmission is Eaton’s RTLO20918B with Meritor RT46-160 GP that have cross locks in both axles.

“I prefer the rear of chassis connection for the hydraulic lines and air-electrical hoses,” Mitch added. “It’s more of a personal choice, but I don’t like climbing up on the chassis to disconnect them in the dark, it’s easier to see what you’re doing with all the taillights and if you’re already on the ground you can’t fall and hurt yourself. As well as that, I think the unit looks a lot neater with the hoses out of the way.”

“Most weeks I average 5000 kilometers,” Mitch said. “I’m very happy with new Detroit DD15 too, especially its performance and economy. One thing I do notice is the turbo lag is virtually non-existent with the DD15. It spools up to full boost in about 1.5 seconds, compared to three or four seconds on other engines I’ve driven. You barely hear the turbo whine at all.”

What that means for Mitch is that after an upshift, with the rpm down around 1000-1100 rpm, the engine comes up to 90 percent of peak torque before the throttle is halfway to the floor. The pull is there immediately.

“Yeah we do get a lot of compliments about the Kingbars Warrego bullbar,” Mitch revealed. “We do a lot of night running and there is no shortage of wildlife including larges horses all through this area and you’d be crazy to run up here without a descent bulbar. I’ve hit my fair share of big kangaroos and they haven’t even marked this Warrego bar,” Mitch added.

“This unit including the trailers and dolly they’ve travelled over 150,000 kilometers and we haven’t had one issue and they still look as good as the day we picked them up,” Mitch concluded. “But importantly, we’re reaping the rewards of the increased payload in a record harvest.”

Truck Specs:

Make: Western Star

Model: 4900 6x4

Engine: Detroit DD15

Horsepower: 550hp (298)kw @1600rpm

Torque: 1300lb/ft (1760Nm) @ 1100rpm

Gearbox: Eaton RTLO20918B 18-speed

Front Axle: Meritor FG-941 6.5T

Front Suspension: Taper leaf 7.5T

Steering: TWR TA85

Rear Axles: Meritor RT-46-160GP

Rear Axle Ratio: 4.11