Classic Refuse Trucks

Tippax and Vulture Tippers

Dennis also produced the Tippax, which was of the "Fore & Aft" type tipper design. Basically, this is an enclosed, non-compacting body that is first filled with refuse through a rear aperture. The body is periodically tipped forward on its front edge to a vertical position, to consolidate the load towards the front. This tipping/consolidating action was also utilized to empty large bins, which were coupled to the rear opening and simultaneously emptied as the body was tipped forward. Discharge of the load was through the end gate by tipping the body rearward in the conventional manner.

The Vulture was built in the mid 1950's, and this strange looking vehicle might also have been aptly named the "Aardvark" or perhaps the "Half-Paxit" ! As the illustration at right shows, the single panel compression mechanism (highlighted in red) was located at the front of the vehicle, sharing space with the one-man cab. The upper drawing shows the packer panel in both its forward (idle) and rearward (compressing) positions. The lower drawing shows the removable front panel which allowed access for service and to periodically remove any refuse that had fallen behind the packer panel. Discharge of the load was by gravity dump, with barn doors located at the rear. A sheltered enclosure formed into rear doors, appears to have been designed for the loaders to ride during transport.

As can be seen by the lower drawing, the Vulture was not a continuous loader, lacking the box-like packing panel and suitable hopper depth of the Paxit. Each load of refuse would have to be digested before the operator could add more refuse.

It is probably safe to say that not to many of these were built, but at least two municipalities, Surbiton and Stoke-on-Trent employed them. The Vulture was the creation of Tom Tillson*, who would later design for Shelvoke & Drewry (SD). A good photo of the vulture may be seen in the book Municipal Refuse Collection Vehicles (Barrie C. Woods, Trans-Pennine 1999) on page 31.

*An article about Tom Tillson may be viewed by clicking here, which links to the Unofficial Shelvoke & Drewry site.

6/4/05