How Much Does An 8-Wheel Grab Lorry Hold?

   24 November 2022

This is a question we get asked every day. Just to go round the houses a bit first, an 8-wheel grab lorry can - when fully loaded - weigh 32 tonnes. That’s 32 metric tonnes. No if, no buts, no exceptions, in the UK it’s 32 tonnes for an 8-wheeler. Take off the weight of the chassis, the body, the cab and the crane, and you are left with a payload of 16 tonnes.

Maybe a bit more, like 16.2 or 16.4 or something, but never 17 tonnes. Never 18 tonnes. And certainly not 20 tonnes, it’s just not possible!

 

 

We’ve been doing Grab Hire in Northamptonshire since 2008 and we own multiple 8-wheel grab lorries, including DAFs, Scanias and MANs, and the payload is always the same. 

Every now and again we’ll hear of a grab lorry company - normally a new one starting out - that claim to be able to take 18 tonnes for example. Quite often they’ll say they can take 20 tonnes, and they’ll even call their 8-wheel grab lorry a ‘20-tonner,’ but if anybody ever tells you they can take much more than 16 tonnes they are either:

1. Telling porkies

2. Overloading their lorries

3. Operating in another country where 8-wheel lorries can weigh more than 32 tonnes when fully loaded. 

 

Hiring A Grab Lorry With JW Clark

And as a reputable Grab Hire company that’s been in business for over 14 years, and which will still be in business in another 14 years, we will never tell porkies, we’re not operating in another country and we will never overload our lorries - otherwise, long term we won’t have an Operator’s Licence to run HGVs and our drivers won’t have driving licenses to drive grab lorries. If you need to hire a grab lorry we can provide assistance. 

So remember - an 8-wheel Grab Lorry can hold 16 tonnes! If you need further assistance or have other questions, we’re here to help, email us at enquiries@jwclarkltd.co.uk or telephone 01933 628273.

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