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F oden's Alpha 3000 Series, comprising three and four-axle rigid chassis
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as well as two and threeaxled tractive units, was announced in the spring of 1998 giving a choice of Cummins and Caterpillar engines. One thing they all had in common was the all-new welded wedge-shaped steel cab manufactured in Westerlo, Belgium, by Daf. Foden's European stablemate within the Paccar organisation, After years of using GRP cabs, Foden was keen to project its reputation for durability and backed the steel product with a fiveyear anti-corrosion warranty.
Externally it bore a strong resemblance to the Daf 85 Series cab but, with a new grille, corner wind deflectors, composite moulded wheel arches and a new version of the Foden kite on the front, it established an identity of its own. The option of a full air management kit incorporating side extenders, to close the gap between the unit and the trailer, completed the package. Inside, the design maximised the available space by including use ful stowage compartments in the doors, the centre of the dash, above the screen and under the bunk. Like the Daf an optional storage compartment could also be installed on the engine tunnel. Two tones of blue were used for the interior while the seats were trimmed in velour. As standard the driver was provided with an air-suspended seat incorporating the seat belts. Leather trim was an optional extra, but the radio-cassette player and passenger side electric window were both included as standard.
A new charge-cooler and radiator package paved the way for increases in power, while employing a crankshaft-driven fan allowed the engine to be mounted well forward to give a clean back-of-cab profile. Both the Cummins I o.8-litre Mu i engine and the Cat 10.3-litre Cro were offered at 340hp and 38ohp while the Cummins engine was also available at 4o5hp. The standard transmission in all Alpha 3000 Series tractive units was the Eaton RTSO 14316 16-speed synchromesh unit. It incorporated the Powershift system, which made for light, quick gear changes and 0
* Peter McLaren operates four trucks out of Kincardine on the Firth of Forth about 25 miles north of Glasgow. It's mostly a tipping operation but the Foden 6x4 also operates with a tanker delivering agricultural fertiliser. "Some of the sites are a bit sticky so we have always run one 64 tractive unit," he says. "At the moment I have one Scania, a Daf and two Fodens with another one on order. We took the present Foden 6x4 430 on last October. It replaced a 38ohp model we had for three years
before that. I have always run a Foden since I started about to years ago. They are lightweight, fairly reliable and suit our job fine. I also have a 6x2 tag lift unit and the double-drive unit is only about 350kg heavier than that, which surprised us.
"The 6x4 is specified with the 43ohp Caterpillar engine for 44tonne operation. The one on order is rated at 45ohp, as we need the power in this area. All of our vehicles are 400hp plus. It helps to minimise journey times as we mainly operate within a 6o to 70-mile radius and the terrain is pretty hilly. Other manufacturers will build a 6x4 to special order but they tend to be heavier.
"Our Foden is plated at 65 tonnes, which is a low-cost option when it's coming down the line, and it's a feature that will make it more saleable at the end of the day. It covers about 140,000lcm a year and we aim to keep them for three to four years. It keeps the fleet reasonably modem and the truck still has some value, which makes it much easier to sell than a five or six-year-old model. We sell locally and there is always someone who wants a 64. It makes a good buy for plant hauliers who don't always have the volume of work to justify a new truck "We run with the short tandem tanker trailer at 38 tonnes, which is ideal for getting into con fined farmyards. That gives us just under 25 tonnes payload filled to capacity but with the bulk tipper at 44 tonnes gross we get 29.5 tonnes payload. We increased our operational weight at the first opportu nity. Tyre wear on the trailers has increased by as much as 25% as a result of the increased load. We seem to take the outside edges off the tyres. It is especially noticeable on the near side. The tractor tyre wear is quite acceptable to my standards. We use 297 Bridgestones on the steer axle and 7295 on the bogie. They last better than most. We have fitted Michelins in the past and they didn't do so well on the front axle. The 64 does tend to scrub the front tyres. We have just replaced them at 70,000km. On the rearmost axle we get up to rio,000km and up to 170,000lcm on the middle axle.
"We took out a five-year extended warranty on both the 4.4.ohp Cummins and on the Caterpillar engine we have in the double drive. They are transferable, which makes a big difference when it's time to sell.
"On the outward run it is fairly severe terrain up into the hills to the farms. Loaded to 44 tonnes the 64 returns about 6.0 mpg. It does a lot of short runs of around 25 miles round trip so we are never going to get a good return on journeys like that. Over its life it's averaged about 6.2mpg. The Euro-3 Cummins 420 6xz does longer trips of about 5o miles and returns about 7.0mpg when loaded and is very economical by comparison. We specify the