IVECO S-Way 8×4 Powers Vacvator’s New NDD Vacuum Truck
As Euro 6 reshapes the heavy-vehicle landscape, Vacvator has turned to the IVECO S-Way 8×4 to underpin its latest high-spec HD 8-90 vacuum excavation truck.
The IVECO S-Way 460 AD 8×4 provides the platform for Vacvator’s latest HD 8-90 NDD vacuum truck.
Goulburn-based Vacvator has matched its latest 8×4 NDD vacuum body with IVECO’s S-Way platform, using payload, PTO performance and Euro 6 readiness to deliver a smarter heavy-duty hydrovac truck.
In the world of hydrovac excavation and non-destructive digging (NDD), a good vacuum truck is a highly specialised piece of engineering. It needs a healthy payload, power, water capacity, spoil capacity, noise control, regulatory compliance and an ability to work all day in tight urban environments without making life miserable for everyone within earshot.
That is where Goulburn, NSW-based Vacvator has put IVECO’s latest S-Way 460 AD 8×4 platform to work.
Premium Vacuum Trucks
Vacvator specialises in the design and manufacture of premium vacuum trucks for the hydrovac excavation and non-destructive digging industries. With new Euro 6 emission requirements now reshaping the heavy vehicle sector, particularly for body builders working with complex equipment, the company took a fresh look at its truck platform options for its latest heavy-duty body.
The result is the new HD 8-90 NDD vacuum truck, built on the IVECO S-Way 460 AD 8×4.
Built for hydrovac excavation and non-destructive digging work, the IVECO S-Way and Vacvator body combination brings European truck engineering to a specialised Australian application.
According to Vacvator General Manager, Con Alvanos, the decision came after a broad evaluation of available truck platforms.
“We extensively evaluated other European brands, Japanese and North American brands, but none could offer the complete package we were after like the IVECO S-Way could,” Con said.
For Vacvator, the truck had to satisfy several important requirements. It needed strong legal payload, good weight distribution, generous horsepower, straightforward body integration and a cost-effective operating package.
That might sound simple enough, in the same way that building a piano in a garden shed sounds simple if you have never tried it. In practice, matching a large vacuum body to a cab chassis is a far more delicate exercise than merely finding a truck with long enough rails behind the cab and hoping for the best.
The Vacvator control box gives operators clear access to the key body functions required during vacuum excavation work.
Industry-Leading Legal Payload
“The S-Way 8×4 platform gives us an industry-leading legal payload of over 10 tonnes, with compliant weight distribution both over the steer axles and rear axles,” Con said. “So, our customers and end users can rest assured that they’re not falling foul of regulations.”
That legal payload figure is one of the major attractions of the S-Way platform for Vacvator’s HD 8-90 NDD body. The new unit carries a 9,000-litre spoil tank and 4,000 litres of onboard water, giving operators more working capacity and more time on site before returning to empty or refill.
In hydrovac and NDD work, that fact is important. The less time spent leaving the job, the more productive the truck becomes. It is not simply a question of tank size; it is about keeping the machine working where it earns its keep.
The new HD 8-90 NDD body took around 18 months to move from concept to the delivery of the first completed unit, which has gone to Queensland-based Dynamic Hydro Excavations.
The body was designed from the ground up to take advantage of the S-Way’s payload and chassis characteristics. It is fitted with a powerful 5,000 CFM Jurop Helix blower and a bespoke silencer developed by Vacvator’s engineering team. That combination allows the truck to operate at under 82 dB, making it well suited to residential work where noise control is increasingly important.
That is a useful achievement. A truck with this sort of capability can never be completely discreet. It is, after all, a very large machine designed to excavate with high-pressure water and suck material into a tank. But reducing noise to a more civilised level is a clear advantage when the job involves working around suburban streets, service corridors, footpaths and sensitive sites.
The Vacvator hose reel package is designed for practical operation in demanding hydrovac and non-destructive digging environments.
Non-Destructive Digging System
The HD 8-90 NDD also features a twin high-volume, high-pressure non-destructive digging system, delivering 32 litres per minute at 3,600 psi. This allows two technicians to work at the same time, increasing productivity on site.
Onboard weighing is also integrated into the system, with the scales designed to shut down the blower as the truck approaches its maximum legal weight. That is a practical safety and compliance feature, especially in an application where the weight of spoil being collected can vary significantly depending on the material.
One of the most important technical advantages of the IVECO platform is its sandwich PTO.
Unlike a traditional transmission-mounted PTO, the sandwich PTO sits directly between the engine flywheel and transmission. This arrangement allows more of the truck’s available power and torque to be used to drive the body equipment.
In the case of the S-Way 460 AD, that means access to the full 460 hp and 2,150 Nm of torque.
The Sandwich PTO
That is not a minor detail. Vacuum trucks ask a great deal of their PTO systems. The body is not an afterthought bolted to a truck for decoration. It is the working heart of the machine, and it needs consistent, reliable power.
The sandwich PTO also reduces the need for the transmission to be constantly operating while the body is in use, helping reduce wear and tear. For body builders, the location of the PTO at the rear of the cab also simplifies installation and integration.
“The sandwich PTO was a major attraction for us,” Con said. “Previously we would have manufactured around the transmission PTO with a split shaft drive system, which is more complex and requires more work.”
In other words, the S-Way made the engineering job cleaner. And when building a specialised truck that already contains tanks, pumps, blowers, water systems, control screens, hydraulics, safety systems and enough plumbing to make a council depot look under-equipped, cleaner integration is a very good thing indeed.
Vacvator has also carried across familiar operating and maintenance systems from its smaller 6×4 vacuum bodies, helping operators move into the larger HD 8-90 NDD without needing to relearn the machine from scratch.
The new model features a larger, easier-to-read control screen, while operators can now start and stop the truck from the body controls rather than having to return to the cab. That may sound like a small detail, but anyone who has spent a long day climbing in and out of a truck on a job site will understand the appeal.
Con said IVECO’s support through the development process was a key part of bringing the new unit together.
“The service and support from IVECO from introduction to delivery of the final product was world-class; I can’t fault them,” he said.
“Their support through the development process was strong; they took time to understand the challenges and what we wanted to achieve in building this truck — they had buy-in.
“They were also very forthcoming with the information and technical data we needed for the build; the process was seamless.”
For IVECO, the timing is significant. As Euro 6 requirements become more important across the heavy vehicle industry, early availability of compliant vocational platforms gives body builders greater certainty when planning future products.
Vacvator selected the IVECO S-Way 8×4 for its payload, weight distribution and suitability for complex vacuum body applications.
Specialised Sectors
That is particularly relevant in specialised sectors such as vacuum excavation, where the truck is only one part of the total machine. The cab chassis has to support the body, the drivetrain has to drive the equipment, the axle configuration has to satisfy payload and mass requirements, and the finished product has to make commercial sense for the end user.
The first S-Way-based HD 8-90 NDD is now complete, with Vacvator already developing further 8×4 vacuum truck variants on the same platform. The HD 8-90 NDD model has been completed, while the HD 8-90 NDD-DRY variant is already well under development.
For Vacvator, the S-Way appears to have solved several problems at once. It delivers Euro 6 compliance, legal payload, strong PTO performance, straightforward integration and enough power to make the body work as intended.
Which, in the case of a vacuum truck, is rather the point.
After all, this is a machine designed to fill a tank by emptying the ground. It is an odd sort of logic, but in the world of non-destructive digging hydrovac excavation, it makes perfect sense.
