Some Australian pumpers combine thinking from Britain and America in interesting ways - even if they are on Mercedes (or Scania) chassis!
Mounting the hose reels at the rear makes their deployment together on the same side of the truck quicker and easier, and rear mounted reels were quite common in the US back in the days before most departments dropped them altogether. Almost all pumpers, however, only mounted a single one.
The other American idea is to have preconnected flaked hose accessible at the rear. With a mid mounted pump, you can create a lot of space for hose, but on this rig the hoses are limited to what will fit in the two lockers. Still, enough for a shortish attack line and/or a speedy hydrant hookup.
What I do find a bit goofy is hanging the BA sets on the back like this. Must be because there is simply nowhere else to put them, I guess...
Mounting the hose reels at the rear makes their deployment together on the same side of the truck quicker and easier, and rear mounted reels were quite common in the US back in the days before most departments dropped them altogether. Almost all pumpers, however, only mounted a single one.
The other American idea is to have preconnected flaked hose accessible at the rear. With a mid mounted pump, you can create a lot of space for hose, but on this rig the hoses are limited to what will fit in the two lockers. Still, enough for a shortish attack line and/or a speedy hydrant hookup.
What I do find a bit goofy is hanging the BA sets on the back like this. Must be because there is simply nowhere else to put them, I guess...
Added by Rob Johnson on 27 August 2017.