Similar to the Randwick SL31 video I posted 2 years ago, in this upload I bring a detailed look at another workhorse I was assigned to. I kicked off employment at Cleanaway in April 2016, spending about 8 months floating through a number of council contracts, in various trucks, doing different collections. Following a few months of collecting green waste in The Hills, I chose to pursue a certain gig which would provide me with job consistency and priceless experience. Before I even started at Cleanaway, I told myself if I was to score a fulltime truck/run, I would want it to be on Hornsby green waste... and this is exactly how it worked out! A few runs came up for grabs beforehand, but I looked away purely so I could broaden my knowledge and see many corners and edges of this particular workplace. However, the right time came around in late 2016, seeing me jump aboard the Hornsby greens team in December. Initially I spent a fortnight in 641 to cover for holidays, followed by a requested temporary spot in 640, then the allocated driver of 642 took off at the start of January, opening up a spot for me to become the assigned operator.
I spent hours over a couple of days getting my new workmate tidied and organised for all the shifts to be spent together, then we were into it for the rest of the hot, heavy, brutal, summer green waste season. Hornsby is one of those northern Sydney areas where vegetation is very abundant, so residents clean a lot up and chuck a lot out. Many houses have 2 bins which are put out, some have triples, even get lunatics who have 4 or 5 bins presented regardless of summer or winter. Next thing you’ve got a full truck and you’re hauling three loads to Kimbriki tip, being the worst periods of the shift - a long, hazardous and time consuming journey through lots of morning, daytime and afternoon traffic. I don’t miss the travel side of things at all! I also found myself refining my ways at Cleanaway as a side loader driver, more so during my Hornsby time, just trying to be softer on the truck where I could and being more consistent with bin presentation - might even notice I leave the lids shut nowadays! It was epic seeing almost every residential street in Hornsby Shire too, what a nice location to collect garbage in, with the quiet and tucked away suburb of Westleigh being a memorable favourite!
The heavy equipment at play is a 2009 Iveco ACCO with a 2010 Compaction Systems Sidepak unit. I’m told the Hornsby Sidepaks were some of the last ever built, and were deployed so they could simply get used, soon to be the last of their kind doing residential collections in NSW. The thing with these models is that they’ve become obsolete and spare parts ran out, so it’s been hard to source replacements, requiring critical components to be fabricated from scratch, or improvisation. It was interesting figuring out how this product works and learning about it - has pros and cons like any garbage truck, but the Sidepaks can perform and do the job just fine. I particularly love the short lifter rotation radius, reducing your clearance needs, but the shallow hopper could prove to be a downside. You could pack fiercely with the paddles... damn they could put the material away and fight against density and weight! Though due to the small body apertures and sweep volume, blockage and overpressure could be common, but you master how to avoid such incidents. The lifters also have a mighty shaking ability when used to potential, the sloppy and asymmetrical grabbers could prove beneficial as well as disadvantageous, then the governed and protected pump was different on a side loader, but something you respect and adapt to.
It’s a real treasure having your own set machine to work with, a privilege I was well and truly reminded about here. Can’t beat having that peace of mind most mornings getting in your own truck, being able to clean it up and keep it presentable, especially when you notice the public frequently stopping to check out the livery! :O Also have to give a shout out to the workshop boss for ordering a brand new visor to sit atop my front windscreen, really gave me a pride boost driving big blue 642 :D I got this one arm bandit 7 years into service, and I’ll say it went well initially, but it had mixed minor and major issues down the track, getting a new engine at one point, being demonised with a horrible exhaust leak, it copped some chassis wear and tear, the paddle set-up completely shit itself, there was hardware trouble towards the end and more. It made for a grand experience combining Hornsby greens and the Sidepaks - a year of time spent creating precious history for me =] I’ve actually since walked down the path to become a garbo at JJ Richards, helping me get substantially closer to home again with a welcomed lifestyle change. Anyway I really hope this lengthy video is appreciated and enjoyed, as it wasn’t fun and easy capturing the featured footage, plus deciding what to include/cut.