A new company has been launched which specialises in fitting tipper bodies to pickup trucks without the need for adapting the body. Mule Tippers shapes the tipper body around the load bed of a pickup and they are priced from £2,695 plus VAT.
The company was formed by three friends earlier in 2016, and they’ve been busy exhibiting the new product at farming shows across the country. The three friends, who previously worked in Formula One, metal structural construction and hydraulics respectively, saw similar products on a visit to the US, and wanted to bring the product over to Europe.
Working together, they developed a number of prototypes before deciding on the product which we see today. It’s a one-size-fits-all solution but they can be customised to include headboards, ladder racks and greedy boards to extend the height of the side walls.
One clear advantage of the Mule Tipper is the loading capacity. The combined weight of the tipping gear, battery and bed only totals around 128kg which, given the average double-cab payload of around 1,050kg, means there should be well over 900kg left for materials and equipment in the back.
Installation requires removing the tailgate before the Mule is simply dropped into the load area. It’s secured through to the chassis and the power cable is wired directly to the vehicle’s main battery. A master cut-off switch is positioned inside the cab and operation of the tipper is via a wireless controller.
The Mule Tipper is targeted at the construction and landscaping sectors, but it may also appeal to those involved in agriculture, forestry and local authorities. Because of the one-size-fits-all design, the body can easily be taken off when it comes to selling the vehicle, and refitted to the newly acquired vehicle.
