A tipper is a heavy duty truck chassis fitted with an open-top body, used for carrying aggregate, crushed rock, soil and other bulk materials to and from construction sites. The body tips up to deposit material, and the hinged tailgate is either one-piece (on aggregate/muckaway tippers) or two-piece (on asphalt tippers). The asphalt tippers have a two-piece tailgate to help control the dropping of asphalt into an asphalt paver hopper, and make sure the remaining asphalt in the body does not cool. The two-piece tailgate is often opened by an air cylinder so the driver does not have to leave his cab on the dangerous construction site.
In the UK tipper trucks are usually 3 or 4 axles. A 4 axle tipper has a total transport weight of 32 tons, and can generally carry about 20tons of soil or stone. The front two axles are steering, and use a different tyre pattern than the rear two axles, which are driving. When purchasing tyres make sure that you get the right tyre tread pattern to get the best performance from your tyres.
Both rear axles are driven to provide better grip on construction sites and off-road areas. This is needed as tipper trucks are often driven up to where excavators or wheel loaders are working, to be loaded, before carrying their load away. MAN Diesel tipper trucks and Mercedes tippers are both popular makes of tipper. For purely off-road use, articulated dumpers give much more performance, as they can carry up to 40tons and all axles are powered to increase traction.
Tipper trucks can also be referred to as ‘dump trucks’ and ‘tip lorries’.
Here are two featured used tipper trucks.
Hino 3212 Tipper Truck
8 x 4 tipper width, vertical exhaust and autogreaser.
Scania P420 Tipper Truck
Split tailgate, analogue tachograph and insulated tipping bed.