Marshall Trailers

What are the benefits of the Marshall Vesuvius Vantage pushing ram design and why are Marshall Trailers the only manufacturer to use it?

Simply the pushing ram system in a Vesuvius Vantage is a patented design that cannot be copied by any other manufacturer. It is a revolutionary concept that provides huge benefits over the traditional floor chain design. The simple design means there is very little that can go wrong and results in the Vantage being an extremely reliable spreader. In addition there is virtually no maintenance; the operator merely has to grease the bearings on the rotor and drive shaft and keep the gearbox full of oil. The removal of the floor chains means that the spreader can have a deeper box, lowering its of gravity and making it more stable. Finally there is no need for a gearbox to drive any floor chains, which allows the rear axle to be moved further back; reducing weight transfer beyond the axle during spreading.

These are only some of the benefits that the Marshall Vesuvius Vantage has, for more information please refer to our VES1500, VES2000 & VES2500 pages.

What are the current regulations on agricultural trailer brakes?

The law currently states that trailers travelling below 25mph have to have a braking efficiency of at least 25% (UK Road Vehicle Construction & Use Regulations). Above this speed it is unclear exactly what requirements an agricultural trailer has to meet, whether it is commercial braking requirements or still simply a 25% braking efficiency.

There is currently EU legislation under discussion which would implement a 50% braking efficiency for agricultural trailers, but this has been already been debated for a number of years without it becoming law. It seems unlikely that it will be implemented within the next few years, if ever, since this would impose higher braking standards than required on commercial vehicles.

Marshall products are fitted with hydraulic brakes as standard and on average provide a braking efficiency of 35%, which exceeds the current legal requirements. This impressive baseline performance is achieved by fitting high quality axles supplied by the world’s leading axle manufacturer, combined with enlarged 25mm brake cylinders and durable 2 wire hoses.

Take time to examine the specifications of our models and take note of the brake sizes and axles sizes. In particular notice we fit commercial 420 x 180 10 stud axles as standard on our QM/14, QM/16, QM/1600 and QM1800 models; not 10 stud industrial axles, which provide significantly reduced performance. The way to tell the difference between these axles is a commercial axle uses an S-cam brake rode while an industrial axle uses a flat-cam brake rod.

If a customer requires enhanced braking performance we also offer air brakes with loading sensing, full ABS systems and a number of axle upgrades. This guarantees a Marshall trailer can meet current legal requirements now and any EU legislation that could potentially be introduced in the future.