The canter is a nifty truck, they are nice to drive and are half way between the size of a 24 and a QAV/traditioanl 14. Good for terrain work and where you want good crew numbers - ie in the hills however not as good in the low mallee scrub we have alot of and not as manoverable on running grass fires as the light Landcrusiers aor Patrols. The Canter stle are also great as a second appliance, where crew numbers may not be as high, or where additional equipment is required.
The new one for the Chaffey Group (Monash) will be great. Far better for the tight tracks on the river and also through the mallee parks, the pump configuration and automatic hose reels are awsome and should be very, very effective - would be great to see some more of these for the Park/Mallee areas (Upper S/E) Mallee, KI, Riverland, West Coast, Flinders etc.
I also belive this style of vehicle was through direct consultation with the brigade and group - an attempt by CFS to build an appliance to meet the needs and requests that have come in over years - also similar in size to the NPWS pigs/14s!
Hopefully someone from one of the brigades can give us some feedback after they have been used.