Midlothian and Renfrewshire Council are now operating three new Aebi Schmidt SK600 sweepers,which are ideally suited for long distance performance on the roads of the Scottish Highlands.
Midlothian and Renfrewshire Councils in Scotland are now operating three new Aebi Schmidt SK600s on the highland roads and highways. The SK600 mountable sweeper is especially designed for cleaning municipal streets and country roads where quick returns to the depot are more difficult due to distance.
From an operational perspective a larger hopper was required (6M3) for this sweeper. Midlothian and Renfrewshire's roads have changed significantly over the last 10-15 years, and the capabilities of the equipment and vehicles required to manage these the roads need to match them.
Midlothian Council's Transport Manager, Trevor Docherty commented: “Our new Aebi Schmidt SK600 sweepers represent a significant, but value-for-money investment, confirming the council's commitment to keeping the streets clean. The new sweepers will increase our ability and efficiency to deal with dirt and grime on our streets, pedestrian zones, roundabouts and roads of our county.”
Midlothian's street cleansing team is now scheduling an intensive programme of work in the coming months to ensure maximum benefit is gained from the new SK600s in keeping the borough clean and pleasant for both locals and visitors alike.
“The special sweeping technology of mounted sweepers ensure rapid and high performance cleaning operations over long distances,” points out Aebi Schmidt's Scotland Area Sales Manager David Carswell. “Reliability and performance are always key and the SK600 has a sweeping width of 2,300mm that is entirely mechanically swept. The debris is fed from the channel brush and centre mounted roller brush into the V-shaped suction nozzle.
The special shape ensures that debris enters the hopper at an accelerated speed and that blockages do not occur. The suction shaft is 550mm wide and is tapered to a diameter of 250mm at the point of connection with the suction hose. The debris is thus transported into the hopper without damaging the suction hose.”
David Carswell explained: “The SK mountable sweeper is suitable for use on truck chassis with a permissible total weight of 15 to18 tonnes. The hopper has a stainless steel base pan. The 1,200 litre water tank is made of glass fibre-reinforced plastic and is noncorrosive.”
One difficulty faced by councils and contractors across the UK is the fact that the best time to clean is at night time when the roads are free from traffic. However, the noise of the conventional road sweepers often makes it impractical to clean and sweep roads later in the day because of the noise and disturbance it causes to residents and householders.
David concluded: “The SK600 can be used for cleaning at night thanks to its noise suppression package. Furthermore, the SK600 fulfils the regulations for dust, and bears the PM10 certification, which means that they are capable of collecting and holding particulate matter sized less than 10 micrometers.
The SK600 has three options for powering the fan and static hydraulics; a diesel powered auxiliary engine; the vehicle's auxiliary drive system (PTO); and a hydrostatic drive can be used for operating the sweeper up to a travelling speed of 40 km/h. The sweeping speed is infinitely variable up to 20kph.”
