Скачать или смотреть Willoughby MUD Compactors

Right at the end of the SMS/Willoughby contract in mid-2013, I went down to the council area multiple times during June to get what I could of the various green and white trucks before they were pulled from 10 years of service. One fleet member I went back for numerous times during Monday and Thursday mornings was unit 611. Two MJE/Iveco rear loaders were used in this collection contract, 611 allocated to apartment bulk bins, while twin unit 604 looked after kerbside clean-up. Aside from being a regular 6x4 JP5/ACCO, the job it was assigned to was a little different and far from common in Australia, exactly the thing I was trying to document!

Trucks dedicated to multi-unit dwelling (MUD) runs is nothing unusual, nor trucks dedicated to 660L/1100L bulk containers, even rear loaders having done winched steel bins as part of domestic services. However, the different thing here is a truck doing all the aforementioned, plus emptying reinforced steel containers fed by chute compactor at high-rise buildings. I only know of two councils in the whole of Australia where this specific method was put into practice as standard for high density living, being Willoughby City and City of Sydney. Although nowadays the focus for new MUD buildings sees the roll out of plastic bins fed by modern chute compactors, the legacy system from the 1990s and 2000s for these two LGAs remains in use.

Willoughby is home to a number of different size MUD developments, plenty have 240Ls serviced by side loaders once a week, others received plastic 660L and 1100L bins, the medium to large sizes got regular 1.5m containers and the buildings reaching for the sky got the chute compactors. All unit blocks with bulk containers receive a biweekly service on either Mon/Thu or Tue/Fri, which has been the case for at least 30 years across more than 3 contract periods. The regular steel bins were already in Willoughby during the 1980s, but I believe the steel container coverage was extended and new 1.5m bins put out to all the selected premises around 1995. Since then, many steel containers have been taken out of service and replaced with plastic bins, although the high-rise ones continue.

I was determined to get some good video of this special service, being something that hasn’t been shown from Oz before... good chance many people wouldn’t even have a clue this system is around in the first place! This action shows household waste collection from a number of large buildings situated along the railway line in the Chatswood CBD. Included are some driving clips of 611 entering and exiting the loading areas, with plenty of bin lifting and packing, some shots up close and others from the background, mostly highlighting the emptying of compactor bins, but I snuck in a few plastic bin tips too. There are other videos available showing Willoughby rear loaders from the previous JJ Richards contract, and I have a couple more to post myself featuring the steel bin workload.

I really wanted to show that aggressive bouncing process to loosen and shake the waste out, which shouldn’t be necessary, but the bins would always be loaded excessively. It’s amusing how easily the reeving cylinder pulls the load, with the winch cable yanking the bins into the air like they’re a feather, but please know there is nothing light duty about this task, that cable is put under some serious strain. I wish I showed more “whole view” shots of these packer bins getting hoisted and jumped on the back, it’s entertaining to watch! I’ll also note these bins could’ve been cleared faster than shown, so sorry if the dumping of some drags out a bit – starting the pack cycle prematurely is potentially one of the most inefficient ways to operate a rear loader, it was frustrating to witness.