Following a very successful launch earlier this year, Shorts-TrueGrit, is growing its gritting service by purchasing a further five Broadwood SnowEx V-Maxx salt and sand spreaders. Shorts-TrueGrit is expanding its network of depots throughout the UK by signing territory agreements with agricultural companies whose vehicles are normally laid up in the winter months and who have the facilities to stock pile and handle large quantities of salt.
Operating in a similar way as a franchise, under the Shorts-TrueGrit banner, the agricultural companies are utilising the SnowEx V-Maxx together with Broadwood's newly launched chassis trailers and their own 4x4 vehicles and telehandlers. The company is offering its gritting services to a wide spectrum of companies and institutions including industrial parks, trading estates, office car parks, schools and private property and roads.
The Shorts-TrueGrit service is providing businesses and organisations with a highly cost effective solution to meet current health & safety legislation on minimising risk from snow and ice. Initially rolled out throughout the South, Shorts-TrueGrit will now open depots in other parts of the UK.
"The SnowEx V-Maxx is central to the development of this new service", says Dominic Robertson a Director of Shorts-TrueGrit. "Not only is it low maintenance being made from heavy-duty polyethylene rather than steel, it is also easily and quickly coupled onto 4x4 vehicles and can travel faster than conventional tractor spreaders."
The SnowEx V-Maxx hopper is constructed entirely of a one-piece heavy-duty polyethylene, which makes it 60% lighter than comparable steel units. This not only enables the vehicle payload to be substantially increased but also allows for far easier removal and installation when used on a flatbed truck without the optional chassis trailer. The unit can be easily and quickly changed for spreading salt or sand thanks to an adjustable "V" interchangeable salt/sand baffle and attached vibrator, which enables it to handle non-free-flowing material such as salt/sand mix, bulk salt or moist material.
Powered by a high torque, semi-sealed, continuous duty industrial12-volt DC motor, the V-Maxx 8500 provides 1800 inch pounds of torque at the auger transmission output shaft. The unit also includes a variable pitch solid shaft feed auger and a deluxe dual controller with a built-in overload and circuit breaker protection with auto-reverse, which can be fitted into the vehicle cabin to provide on-the-move variable spread width and application rate control.
Like the other Broadwood SnowEx spreaders, the V-Maxx has been designed with the end user in mind and uses a unique auger-feed system so there are no belts, pulleys or chains to break. This not only makes the spreader easy to use but also minimises downtime for maintenance. The V-Maxx may be fitted to a flatbed truck or used together with the robustly built chassis trailer which enables the Snow-Ex V-Maxx to be towed at highway service speeds of up to 60 mph where applicable.
