Scania’s Hire Calling

In-depth

8 Sept

LinCon Hire and Sales has switched to Scania all-wheel drive trucks to transport their elevating work platforms to all corners of the continent.

Whether it’s rescuing a cat from a tree or assisting in the erection of new wind turbines, Brisbane-based LinCon has a telescopic boom-mounted elevating work platform to suit, not to mention run-of-the-mill telecom tower servicing or transmission line checking or installation.

The company is the national leader in the hire, sales, servicing and repair of truck-mounted EWPs, with offices in all state capitals and around 140 vehicles on its fleet. These range from ute-based light-duty 13 m EWPs to the bespoke Palfinger 103m platform mounted to the Tadano five-axle crane carrier. LinCon is the largest Palfinger platform dealer in the southern hemisphere, while also acting as an agent for under-bridge inspection arm manufacturer Barin.

The company celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2026 and began buying Scanias in 2006. This year, the company has taken delivery of five new Scanias, with 15 further ordered this year.

The Scania P-series with its low roof is the preferred choice, available in 4x4, 6x6 or 8x8 guise, all-wheel drive vital for off-road access and traction in all conditions.

The trucks weigh in at around 36-tonnes with Palfinger lifts attached, so the six-cylinder 500 hp Scania 13-litre Super engine is the powerplant of choice for the 8x8 trucks, and the 6x6 use the 460 hp unit.

According to Technical Sales Manager, Tony Fish, a 20-year veteran of the company, excellent power and torque is high on the wish list, while the frugal fuel consumption of the Super engine range has further cemented the position of Scania in the LinCon fleet.

“We've always gone for higher horsepower engines because we do a lot of travelling and we need to get up hills easily. We need a good cooling package because the trucks are working in hot weather running the PTO hard.

“We have just taken delivery of five 64 m EWPs on Scania 6x6 chassis and there are 10 Scania 8x8s on order for delivery over the next 12 months, with 75 m lifts, and another five 8x8s with 64 m Palfingers,” Tony said.

“When the truck is built by Scania in Europe it is sent to Palfinger in Germany to have the EWP fitted, then it is shipped to Australia where we have load-sharing suspension fitted by Suspension Services, to increase our front axle limit to 16-tonnes.

All of our Barin under-bridge maintenance units are based on Scania chassis which have full airbag suspension. We dump all the air out of them when extending the arm, as the truck becomes a more rigid and stable platform.

“We’ve focussed on Scania partly because Palfinger in Germany adopted the Scania chassis for the 10x4 90 m machines they're building. They suggested we use Scania and that hasn't been a bad thing at all, especially because everybody likes them.

“After we have received a truck from Scania Richlands, it could go anywhere in Australia. We recently sent one down to Melbourne, and our manager down there put one of the drivers, Mick Stagg behind the wheel and next thing I know he is on the phone to me, and he said, ‘this truck is absolutely fantastic, mate, it’s unreal’. It’s always good to get positive feedback,” Tony said.

Aside from the all-wheel drive boom trucks, LinCon has just taken delivery of its first Scania V8, an R 660 130-tonne rated prime mover that will pull a Drake widening low-loader which will cart the 103 m Palfinger platforms mounted to five-axle Tadano crane carriers, because they aren’t road registered. These cranes work at wind farm construction sites, so the EWPs could be needed anywhere in the country.

“We have employed a driver for the R 660 but while waiting for the trailer to be commissioned, we had him drive a Scania 6x6 over to Perth from Queensland and he brought back another 6x6 from another brand. He said the Scania was just so much better on fuel than the other truck, he was amazed by the fuel saving,” Tony said.

“Aerodynamically the EWPs are a heavy brick on wheels so the fuel savings will be valuable to us. Our machines are always running fully laden, because the boom is bolted to the truck.

“When the R 660 has the 8x8 on the back together with the dolly and the float, the combination is going to be around 95-tonnes, so good fuel numbers will be a benefit.

“The Drake trailer widens out to 4.3 m however we should be able to travel at 3.5 m, and the combination is just shy of 26 m long so it can run without a pilot in most states.”

With the mining boom in Western Australia continuing it is no surprise that a good share of the company’s assets are engaged in the West.

“We have recently begun working on a project to run a power transmission line to a wind farm and a mine, about 200 km from Newman in the Pilbara. We have 10 trucks up there, with 14-15 drivers up there on rotation. They’re working long hours, so we fitted out a big ute with a trailer to carry all the service gear and parts for the trucks so we can do the servicing on site, because the project will take around two years,” Tony said.

The company is also working on the extension of a power line going down through Wagga, while work for Powerlink and Ergon in Queensland is also common, particularly when broken lines need repairing.

“Our blokes will jump in the truck and head north,” Tony says. “They’ll have six or seven repairs to do, and can be gone for a month, but sleeping in hotels. Years ago, we had a job putting in a line from Townsville to Cairns across the top of the Great Dividing Range. The trucks just pulled up every night at the top of the hill, and they sent a helicopter in to pick up the work team and take them to a hotel for the night. That job went for five or six months. But that’s why we buy all-wheel drive trucks, because we need to be able to access any terrain.

“Our machines don't do a lot of kms, but they are running the engine and the PTO a lot. The EWPs must be inspected every 90 days according to federal requirements, so, we started out doing a service on the trucks at the same time, which worked out at about 250 hours,” Tony said. “One of our oil suppliers said we should take oil samples to see how the oil is holding up at 250 hours on the Scanias. It was still like new, so we settled on oil changes at 400 hours where the oil's still fine. We're still probably way over-servicing, but oil is cheaper than a breakdown or sending another driver and a truck down to relieve a broken-down truck.”

“Scanias have been very reliable in service, they haven’t given trouble. The relationship we have with Scania Richlands is very good and very close. One of the Scania account managers, Seamus Devlin, actually came to work for us a few years ago and now he is back at Scania, and I am dealing with Mark ten Broeke who will bend over backwards for us. I know if there’s an issue or I need to know something, if I can’t get hold of Mark, I can call Seamus, and I will get an answer.

“Our all-wheel drive rigid chassis and Super 13 six-cylinder engines are the ideal workhorse for customers like LinCon, said Mark ten Broeke, Scania National Fleet Sales Manager.

“Fuel consumption even when hauling a boom truck is exceptional, and the P 500 power output and easily accessed torque makes the driver’s job so much easier and less fatiguing, which is good for the driver and for LinCon.

“Adding in our industry-leading ADAS safety package, and our unique standard fit side curtain roll over airbags, means the Scania all-wheel drive product really stacks up for operators who work off-road as much as on-road.”

About LinCon

LinCon Hire and Sales was founded in 2001 by Director Colleen Lindores, aiming to supply the Australian safe access market's unmet need for practices and technologies of a global standard. LinCon partnered with global leaders in access to meet and exceed rising standards in Australia's safe access industry across power, renewables, telecommunications, infrastructure, and mining. Today the business is run by Colleen and her son Craig.