WALKER BROTHERS - PAGEFIELD IRON WORKS
(PAGEFIELD & PALADIN)
Wigan, England
Founded as an iron works in 1866, Walker Brothers began producing motor trucks under the Pagefield name around 1908. By the early 1920s, the company developed a winched container exchange system for horse-drawn containers at Southport, and then later used with Pagefield tipper lorries. The horse-drawn carts were loaded by winch for transport and dumping at the disposal site. Thus, the company pioneered not only satellite refuse collection vehicles, but also one of the first Roll-off systems
Developments in the 1920s in 1930s included various complete refuse collection vehicles powered by gasoline and then diesel engines. Perhaps the most important was the 1937 Pagefield Paladin, which featured what was probably the worlds first detachable container system for a rear-loading refuse body. Large, circular bins would be placed at apartment buildings, and then wheeled by trolly to the Paladin truck, which used a hydraulic hoist to up-end and empty the contents into the body. This groundbreaking design outlived the company that spawned it, and the circular bins became known as "Paladins" long after Walker Brothers ceased operations.
WALKERS REFUSE VEHICLES
1946 Prodigy was Walker's entry for the barrier-loader market
Crew entered body using steps, emptying bins in front of a barrier inside body.
As the space was filled, the barrier was manually moved rearward until it reached back of body.
The filled body was emptied by tipping.
The groundbreaking Paladin container system, here under the banner of Walkers & County Cars Ltd. as the result of a 1948 merger.
This advert shows the large cylindrical container being lifted (left), and two smaller bins together at right
WALKERS JEKTA SYSTEM
"Jekta" was the trade name for Walker's telescopic body, which was also sold in open-type versions for hauling coal, dirt etc. Enclosed versions were used on the Pagefield Paladin and similar bulk container loaders discussed in the previous section. In the 1950s, a hand-loaded refuse collector with an enclosed body was later added, riding atop a Thames chassis.
Jekta dump truck body shown in the extended and retraced positions
The refuse version featured enclosed bodywork over the entire mechanism, and was taller to accommodate bulkier nature of domestic rubbish.
Inside views of the rear-loaded refuse collector illustrate the "telescopic" body principle, in which multiple sections collapse within each other, with the front section having a vertical bulkhead. A hydraulic ram pushes the bulkhead section which progressively slides into the rear sections, effecting ejection discharge. In the opposite direction, the bulkhead could be positioned near the loading opening at the beginning of the route, and moved forward (towards the cab), dragging refuse into the body as the loading area became filled.
An alliance with Northern Coachbuilders produced the Walker-N.C.B. range of electric-powered refuse collection vehicles.
Massive Walkers MPL (Maximum Pay Load) transfer body on a Foden twin-steer (Phil Clifford)
VIDEO:VARIOUS REFUSE BODIES EQUIPPED WITH PALADIN-TYPE BINLIFT
Courtesy of Michel Ferro
Even after the demise of Walkers & County Cars Ltd. in 1966, the round bin continued to be a popular method of bulk refuse collection. The rights to the trade name "Paladin" for Walker's refuse collection truck and lift were acquired by Eagle Engineering. However, the name was eventually to become part of the lexicon to describe the round bins themselves. Devices for lifting these common containers were fitted to many other makes of refuse collection bodies.
