Classic Refuse Trucks HEIL

Heil Half/Pack Front Loader
Early Version

The extremely-rare Heil 42-yard first-generation Half/Pack
    When Heil introduced their first front loader in 1969, it was still very much "eastern" in design, with heavy body construction and a full-travel telescopic packer. That design lasted through the early 1980s, when it was re-named the Formula 8000, but had changed very little during its lifetime. The overhaul of the Heil product line that began in 1979 would eventually reach the front loader, which was an all-important market segment that a leading manufacturer could not ignore. The detachable-container, commercial collection market was also increasingly dominated by large national companies such as BFI and Waste Management, which accounted for a large portion of front loader purchases.

    The Heil Company was familiar with trends in refuse handling in the western states, having worked with the S.Vincen Bowles Company, the major independent Los Angeles builder as far back as 1968. Heil sold the Bowles transfer trailers and equipment nationally, and had considered building one of their front-load bodies at that time. By the 1980s, Heil was looking to produce a light-weight front loader design, and again turned to the west coast. Manuel Castillo, a former manager at Bemars, had started making his own front loaders under the name M.G. Welding. In an interview with front loader historian Zachary Geroux, Castillo noted that Heil had once bought one of his front loaders and shipped it back east where the engineers studied the feasibility of incorporating west-coast building practices into their own product. This "western" school of thought generally dictated a large capacity body of light weight construction, with simple partial-packing blades and discharge by the tilt-to dump method.

    As a result, Heil became the first major national builder to sell a "western" type front loader, the Heil Half/Pack, which entered production no later than 1983 or 1984. This was a completely different packer than the well-known Half/Pack models which went on sale by 1985. The first models, serial numbers 001-999, were of a distinctly west-coast design; a 42-cubic yard partial-packer with twin vertically-mounted cylinders, tilt-to-dump unloading and manually-opened barn doors at the rear. The bodywork on these early units so closely resembles the west-coast look that these could easily be mistaken for a 1970s Bemars-Maxon, or any number of indie bodies built in the Los Angeles area.

    These early Half/Pack models do not appear to have been widely advertised, but are still listed in Heil service publications along side the second-generation models. However, for historical purposes they must be considered as a unique model, since none of the packer body parts interchange. Only the loader arms were shared by the early and late model Half/Packs. It is possible that these were made for a specific user, perhaps certain west-coast Waste Management divisions, since the only known photograph shows a truck with the distinct WMI striping. A front pump mounting kit for the Peterbilt 310/Kenworth Hustler was offered only these early-serial number versions. Inasmuch as the 310 Pete was a popular west-coast chassis, this lends more credence to the possibility of a California connection.

    Heil Company has been around so long and built many well-known refuse bodies, that it often taken for granted that their history is thoroughly documented. However, there are a few mysterious and short-lived models such as the Conveyo-Pak, early Colectomatic, Pak-o-Matic and LP-900 of which far less is known. Half/Packs (serial numbers 001-999) should be considered among this group. If Heil used consecutive serial numbering, then a fair number of these bodies were built. Truck hunters and classic refuse enthusiasts should be on the lookout for them in the back of fleet yards, scrap yards or possibly still in service, with preservation of paramount importance.

Comparison of the original 42-yard Heil Half/Pack (top) and the second generation 40-yard model built 1985 & up:
Original version was a true "California" front loader, and only the loader arms were shared by both units

Original 42-yard body was taller and had barn doors, a common feature of west-coast front loaders

First-generation Heil Half/Pack was based on this body, built by M.G. Welding of Montebello, CA

REFERENCES

Zachary Geroux: interview with Manuel Castillo, 2013

5/29/17