Get A Work Horse In Your Garage

Most of us, at some time or another, have the need for a reliable work horse in our garages.

Consider the following 2 scenarios: Your old faithful washing machine decides to stop working after 20 years. You rush to your nearest department store to buy the latest, state of the art washing machine (which happens to be on sale!) You pay for your purchase and armed with your till slip you drive over to the "collections gate" of the apartment store… only to find that, to your embarrassment, your washing machine is indeed too big to fit into the boot of your car. If only you had a reliable work horse…

Scenario number 2: Your wife has been nagging you to do some garden work for months now! You have finally run out of excuses and decide to, for once and for all, get rid of all the dead branches (most of them of course covered in thorns!) and other nasty garden invaders! After a day's hard work in the scorching sun, you realize that you have done a fantastic job… but that there was no way that all your garden junk would fit into your garbage bin(s)! So as it turns out, your wife is still on your case, since you have only done half a job! And the only garbage removal company willing to help you out on a Saturday wants to charge you an arm and leg. Once again, you need a reliable work horse!

The good old bakkie is a favourite vehicle in South Africa, helping people transport goods from one place to another. This light motor vehicle allows for chassis flex when carrying or pulling heavy loads. Most work horses typically have either a tubular or channel rail chassis with a fully floating cab and separate cargo section to allow for chassis flex and prevent warping of the sheetmetal. The design details of such vehicles vary significantly, and different manufacturers seem to specialize in different styles and sizes of vehicles.

Work horses come in various sizes to suit the buyers' needs. Full-size bakkies are large and suitable for hauling heavy loads and performing other functions. Most full-size work horses can carry at least 450kg in the rear bed, with some capable of more than six times that much.

Mid-size bakkies are distinguished from the smaller compact vehicles which generally offer only four cylinder engines. There are also dual cabs, quad cabs, muscle bakkies and Sport Utility Trucks (SUT) which have four doors and an open bed similar to that of a standard bakkie. These SUT's are suitable for light to heavy-duty capability, depending on the vehicle.
One of the main advantages of having access to a work horse is that it just makes life so much easier! It doesn't matter if you're taking your children to school, helping a friend to move or simply going away on a camping weekend (when last have you tried to fit more than 2 camping chairs into your car's boot?) the extra space and flexibility of such a vehicle will most certainly come in handy!