 
Bradley Municpal Vehicles Ltd. (BMV)
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
BMV COMM-SITA 6000
Another licensee of the SITA 6000 system was the U.K. firm of R. Bradley Municipal Vehicles, who began production the Comm-Sita 6000 in 1974. This 16 cubic metre packer was sold as a completed vehicle, matched to a Seddon Municipal chassis with seven-man crew cab. The Bradley version featured the automatic tailgate locks, and the continuous packer featured pump protection by way of a magnetic clutch which disengaged if the engine exceeded 1,400 R.P.M.
The SITA 6000 packer system is one of the simplest ever designed, of robust construction with very few moving parts. The breakout at the right of the cut-away drawing shows the heavy-duty roller bearings that support the paddle pivot shaft.
The model 6000R (at left) was outfitted to handle the round Palladin bins. Hand-loading of smaller bins could be done on either side of the lift mechanism. Rectangular bins of up to 1.3 cbm called for the 6000S (right). This lift folded under the hopper lip when not in use, allowing crews unobstructed hand-loading access.
Later Bradley versions were sold as the BMV 6000, and the firm went on to build a conventional slide-sweep rear loader until being absorbed by Incomol around 1990. Continuous rear-loading packers were making their last stand about this time, and the Sita 6000 was itself replaced by a slide-sweep design. Though no longer produced, its novel packing mechanism was destined to find a new life as it has been incorporated into many automated side loader (ASL) designs, most notably by Rapid Rail/Heil in the USA, and MacDonald-Johnston in Australia. In this respect, the System 6000 still lives on.
Above: Bradley BMV 6000
Bradley / VDK Rear Loaders
By the late 1970s or early 1980s, Bradley switched to a slide-sweep rear loader made by VDK of Belgium, and marketed in England as the BMV600. The 15-cubic meter body was typically mounted on Seddon-Atkinson chassis. Only one slide and one sweep cylinder were used on the packer. The 8-series were perhaps the last of the Bradleys, and were also of VDK origin. They were called "The Equaliser", which may have referred to the fact the packer now had a more robust four-cylinder packer layout.
Rear view of the BMV600
The 8-Series "Equaliser"
7/4/11 (revised 10/25/15)
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Photos from factory brochures/advertisements except as noted
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