Increasingly recognised for its versatility and functionality, Whale Tankers' GULLYWhale family is certainly established in the municipal market, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Scotland.
Attracting attention from municipal operators in particular, one of the latest Scottish councils to specify the latest generation GULLYWhale from the Midlands-based manufacturer of specialist equipment for the waste and cleaning industries is Inverclyde Council.
Joining Inverclyde's 180-strong fleet as a replacement vehicle, the council and its operatives are already benefitting from the host of improved operational and health and safety related features that Whale has introduced across the five-model GULLYWhale range.
As Inverclyde Council's Convener of Safe & Sustainable Communities, Councillor Robert Moran comments: "As an existing Whale customer, we continue to be impressed with the reliability of the GULLYWhale and were particularly impressed by the latest improvements that Whale has introduced as they are important to municipal operators such as Inverclyde Council. In addition to providing good quality vehicles, they also have the back-up infrastructure within Scotland to support the product."
Specified as part of the Scotland Excel procurement contract, Inverclyde's GULLYWhale MVC features DAF's LF 55.220 18-tonne 4 x 2 day cab chassis.
Featuring a twin compartment body - 800 gallon capacity dedicated to clean water for jetting and a 1000 gallon debris/sludge tank - the Chapter 8 compliant GULLYWhale MVC incorporates a number of innovative features, all of which have positive operational and health and safety benefits. Included within the vehicle specification for Inverclyde Council is Whale's anti-vibration gully boom control unit - developed in-house as a means of reducing health and safety concerns surrounding hand-arm (HAV) vibration.
The GULLYWhale MVC also features an ORCA 240 high pressure jetting unit. The main and secondary reels have their own dedicated pressure control switches which, with the addition of a heavy-duty unloader valve, allows for much more responsive jetting control. Additionally, when using a jetting nozzle, a 'safe start' mode ensures that the jetting pressure reverts to zero after each operation, and then increases as required.
Furthermore, for hand-lance jetting, a 'soft start' facility allows for the jetting pressure to start at a more manageable 25 Bar, before automatically ramping up to the desired pressure.
The GULLYWhale MVC also features the 'Pulse Jetting' option that enhances the jetting performance for certain applications by introducing a pulse into the flow, thereby allowing more stubborn obstructions to be broken down, whilst also allowing for longer hose runs to be used.
Also featured relating to jetting is a 'hose meter'. Operating via sensors located outside the reel housing, tolerant to its working environment, a digital display provides the operator with two read outs; one showing how much hose remains on the reel at any given time, the other an incremental measurement of the length deployed down a drain. Mounted on the reel frame itself, the unit - suitable for retrofitting - is simple, robust and easy to operate.
Vacuum performance of the GULLYWhale comes from the tried and tested Mistral 402 series exhauster/compressor, specified by many customers due to its proven performance and reliability.