Weight savings tip the scales in cylinder choice

An Edbro product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 12, 2006

Jimmy Kelly Truck and Trailer Bodies uses CS series hydraulic cylinders to help save weight on its latest vehicle designs.

Jimmy Kelly Truck and Trailer Bodies has gone from success to success since its foundation in 1999.

The secret of this success is a strategy that provides customers with truck and trailer bodies that are specific to their needs, and as lightweight and versatile as possible without compromising performance or safety.

A key element of this strategy is a supply partnership with Edbro for its new generation CS tipping cylinders.

These provide the ideal combination of lightweight, strength and reliability required by Jimmy Kelly TTB designs.

Based in Castledermot, Ireland, Jimmy Kelly Truck and Trailer employs a variety of materials to produce competitive and practical products to suit all loads in alloy and steel.

"We have always been dedicated to reducing the weight of our bodies to maximise payload, without compromising quality or performance", said Jimmy Kelly.

"The advent of the new Euro-4 directive, and the added weight of Adblue tanks, pumps and SCR catalysts makes this more difficult".

"However, as a company we are renowned for our innovative thinking, and we are already coming up with solutions to maximise payloads, despite the weight penalty imposed by Euro-4".

One of these solutions is based on the use of alloy and steel.

Jimmy Kelly TTB has designed and launched a new trailer body manufactured from the material, which he had to import specially.

The result is a product that reduces weight but is every bit as reliable as any other body.

"Although our designs vary considerably to meet customer specifications, one common thread is the use of Edbro tipping cylinders", said Kelly.

"They play a major role in our weight saving strategy, and also provide us with the high levels of reliability that are demanded both by ourselves and by our customers".

"As a company, Jimmy Kelly TTB is dedicated to safety in all of its operations, and that's another reason why we use Edbro".

"Every one of their tipping cylinders will lift the legal body and payload of multi-wheeled vehicles with a 1.5 factor of safety".

"I don't know of any other tipping cylinders on the market that can provide the same margin of safety".

Key to the safe performance of CS series cylinder design is Edbro's special one-piece tube construction, which is laser welded to ensure the required levels of tube concentricity and high quality welds demanded by the compact design.

The construction maximises cylinder strength at the top of each extended stage to resist side loads induced by the body during tipping.

It also provides maximum cylinder stiffness at full extension.

Jimmy Kelly TTB's latest project using Edbro is a demountable system for rigid trucks, and a weight saving composite body.

Comprising a tipping body, a block body and a cement bottle, the demountable system is ingenious; it means that instead of having to purchase different trucks, customers get one truck with two or three interchangeable bodies.

With one chassis being modified to accommodate all, capital costs are reduced significantly.

Jimmy Kelly can modify many existing chassis types to suit the demount system and provide a broad range of bodies.

The new composite body is designed to provide a further increase in payload; it consists of a lightweight hardox floor and aluminium sides.

Aware of the problems that other companies have encountered with dissimilar metals, Jimmy Kelly TTB is busy finalising a novel system that will join the two metals together for the first time, offering a product that is both light and durable.