Jack Allen Motor Bodies
Birmingham, England
by Brian Carpenter
THE JACK ALLEN COLECTOMATIC
Jack Allen based in Buckingham Street, Birmingham in the heart of the West Midlands, were commercial vehicle body builders and repairers who, in 1965, had been appointed distributors for Dennis in the Midlands. Two years later, Municipal Vehicle Hire Ltd. (MVH) was formed. This made vehicles available on hire to councils when their vehicles were off the road for any reason. The concept proved to be popular and John Allen, son of the firm's founder, and the Managing Director at the time, became aware that both the S&D and Dennis compression compaction vehicles required quite a considerable amount of maintenance of the compression mechanism. Seeking a solution to this problem, he searched for information at the American Embassy in London and found the Heil Company. He then went to the Netherlands to witness the Heil Colectomatic Mark III in service. After this initial demonstration, John was convinced that the Heil system was superior to the U.K. designs.
John Allen ordered a Heil body from the U.S.A., and mounted it on a Dennis chassis. The vehicle was loaned to Nottingham City Council with instructions to "try to break it." Nottingham Council were so impressed with the vehicle that after six months they placed an order for six.
Early JA Colectomatic with tailgate raised showing the Duo-Press compaction-ejection blade
Dennis were naturally unhappy with this development, and John Allen realised he had to find another chassis supplier. He turned to Seddon Motors and in 1971 ordered one hundred Seddon 13 Four chassis. Jack Allen took delivery of all these in 1971. A Perkins 6354/2 diesel engine was specified, and the vehicles marketed as the Seddon Allen Municipal (SAM) Colectomatic using the American Heil intermittent loader system.
Important changes were made in 1974 with the introduction of the 'Lowline' model. The rear axle was moved 14 inches backwards to allow a two-door cab in place of the previous awkward three-door version. Accessibility was greatly improved. Headroom in the cab was increased by using a fibre glass roof. The Colectomatic was offered in four sizes: 13 ton/52 cubic yard, 16 ton/64 cu.yd., 20 ton/80 cu.yd. and the six-wheeled 25 ton/100 cu.yd. The Colectomatic had a rave height of 3 feet 10 inches.
In the mid-1970s, the Jack Allen Colectomatic received the new "3000" body, which had supplanted the Mark III models in America. The new body is easily identified by its vertical reinforcing braces. The most successful year for the JA Colectomatic was in 1979-80, when 358 units were sold.
Left: Complete vehicles (consisting of a Jack Allen Colectomatic body mounted on a Seddon Atkinson chassis) were badged as Seddon Allen Municipals (SAM) with the familiar smiling dustman logo featured prominently on the grille (photo courtesy of Jaap Mikkers). Right: a promotional button with the dustman, probably from the 1970s
With its hinged-hopper design, the Colectomatic was never well suited for bulk refuse duty. However, Jack Allen did build a few examples which featured a extra-tall rave extension and a shroud added to the upper end of the hopper opening
COLECTOMATIC VIDEO
This Jack Allen Colectomatic was filmed on Malta in 2003, still on its rounds. Video courtesy of Michel Ferro and Jaap Mikkers
JACK ALLEN BIG BITE
In 1973, Heil set up their own body manufacturing plant in Hillend in Scotland, (Hillend Environmental Industries Ltd., or HEIL) so that the bodies no longer had to be imported. This was in accordance with an agreement that when Jack Allen had sold 100 Heil units, an assembly plant to supply Jack Allen and the rest of Europe would be set up.
In 1974 Jack Allen introduced the Big Bite. This consisted of a hoist system so that a complete skip could be emptied into the vehicle hopper, removing the need to transport the skip to a tip. The Big Bite packer was a re-badged Heil Mark V, initially manufactured in America but later built at Heil's Scottish plant.
LATER YEARS
The next development was a Front End Loader, which came in 1980. In 1984 the all new Britannia range of trucks was launched as a 24 ton six-wheeler or a 16 ton four-wheeler with the added option of a narrow form. The tilt cab was of moulded glass fibre/carbon fibre and the crew's door had jack-knife type folding doors. During its first production run almost 1,000 Britannia vehicles were produced. Jack Allen also developed bin lifting equipment under the Waste Hoists Ltd. banner to complement the JA Eurohoist range.
Jack Allen front loaders mirrored those of Heil, and by the mid 1990's had adopted curved body panels
In 1997, seventy years after Jack Allen formed the company, the 'Leader' was announced, in conjunction with Seddon Atkinson. This incorporated a centre steer cab/chassis with the driver at a low level in the centre of the cab for improved all round visibility. The Managing Director at that time was Jonathan Allen, the grandson of the founder and his father, John, was Chairman of the Jack Allen Group. The company had come a long way since its early days as a body builder and repairer.
Eventually the agreement between Jack Allen and Heil was terminated, and Jack Allen was bought by Dennis-Eagle in 2000. Heil units continue to be manufactured at Hillend in Scotland, and are currently marketed under the Heil Europe marque.
MISCELLANEOUS JACK ALLEN BODIES
The Jack Allen Little Gem compact rear loader
Powerlink is a swing-link packer very similar to the Dempster Route King. This model is still carried in the Heil Europe product line
The Swinglink was an Italian design, the Bergomi/Brivio Bi-Pac, brought in after the break with Heil.
For a description of the Bi-Pac mechanism, see Bergomi
