Traditionally, the Mercedes-Benz Arocs has been aimed more at the European ‘vocational’ market – construction, mining, concrete mixing and the like.

But in its latest, fifth-generation guise the model’s scope has been broadened. It now has variants that cover roles as diverse as urban delivery through to the most brutal of off-road work. As a corollary, that has left the heavier Actros to be aimed more at the higher-power, long-distance aspects of road transport. 

This month’s New Zealand Truck & Driver Big Test Arocs fits into a quite specialised category, that of ground spreading. The 1835 AK/39 4x4 model is one of around a dozen spreaders operated by mid-Canterbury’s Ellesmere Transport. It features the Mercedes-Benz 7.7-litre OM936 Euro 6 six-cylinder, rated at 350hp, along with selectable all-wheel drive, handled via its 8-speed G140 PowerShift 3 AMT and a single-range transfer case.

The new Arocs has picked up the advanced safety and driver assist features introduced over the past couple of years in the Actros, chief among them being Merc’s distinctive MirrorCam. We’ve already been impressed at how it works in road applications, but how does it handle the hurly-burly of off-road driving, we wonder? 

There’s no better time of the year to travel the Canterbury Plains than the early winter. Any day with a half-decent weather window gives a driver one of the best views out the front window that New Zealand can offer. And if you are heading in the opposite direction the view is in the mirrors - or in this case on the screens attached to the A-pillars.

We have come to Dunsandel to catch up with Ellesmere Transport’s fifth generation Mercedes-Benz Arocs 4x4 spreader. I have tested the MirrorCam set up and enjoyed it in previous tests, but I do still hear the odd negative comment about the system, so I thought we better test the system in a truly Kiwi environment.

It’s early morning mid-June when we catch up with regular driver John at the Ellesmere yard in Dunsandel for a day of spreading lime not far from the yard. In saying that we do have to go out to Springfield Lime Company to collect our load.

Once fully loaded (add weight and product here) I take over the driving back to the farm.