AussieGarbo
Pendulum Packer
When I was exploring the former Bega Valley fleet midway last year, part of the exploring involved climbing all over the trucks. I took a number of hopper pictures with the group of the side loaders as it started to get dark and came out with some successful shots, this one being the best and sharpest. What we’re looking down on in this snap is what’s known as the pendulum packer, which is a popular find in side loaders and is interestingly found in a particular FL body built in Europe.
This design simply swings up and down to receive and pack material. It is seen in the close to fully extended position as if it was pushing garbage through the body; once pulled back it allows material to fall down into the path of the blade for the next sweep. One side of the pendulum features a blunt edge which enables the mechanism to move under garbage waiting to be packed while retracting. The other side of the pendulum features a flat rectangular face which makes contact with the material during the downswing to feed the garbage. The packer blade itself is supported by two hinged “arms” which are part seen hanging out the bottom of the steel plates on both the left and right of the picture. Twin hydraulic cylinders on each side of the hopper provide power to these arms, retracting to pull the pendulum upwards and extending to let the pendulum swing down and feed the garbage.
Pendulum Packer
When I was exploring the former Bega Valley fleet midway last year, part of the exploring involved climbing all over the trucks. I took a number of hopper pictures with the group of the side loaders as it started to get dark and came out with some successful shots, this one being the best and sharpest. What we’re looking down on in this snap is what’s known as the pendulum packer, which is a popular find in side loaders and is interestingly found in a particular FL body built in Europe.
This design simply swings up and down to receive and pack material. It is seen in the close to fully extended position as if it was pushing garbage through the body; once pulled back it allows material to fall down into the path of the blade for the next sweep. One side of the pendulum features a blunt edge which enables the mechanism to move under garbage waiting to be packed while retracting. The other side of the pendulum features a flat rectangular face which makes contact with the material during the downswing to feed the garbage. The packer blade itself is supported by two hinged “arms” which are part seen hanging out the bottom of the steel plates on both the left and right of the picture. Twin hydraulic cylinders on each side of the hopper provide power to these arms, retracting to pull the pendulum upwards and extending to let the pendulum swing down and feed the garbage.