A MURWILLUMBAH man's world-first invention of a combination tilt-tray and tip truck is now being used in councils around Australia with his next goal to crack the overseas market.

Tony Hall said his unique Tiltip unit could not only save tens of thousands of dollars, but it could also save lives.

"It's a safer way of loading machinery on the back of a truck because the rear tray goes all the way down to the ground at a slight angle so it allows you to drive your machinery on and off without ramps," the 43-year-old said.

"Then there's a mechanism underneath the body of the truck that by switching a switch on the truck dashboard, it locks the system from one mode to another and allows it to become a tip truck."

He said it could save councils from having to buy additional trucks or a tip-truck/trailer combination and/or a tip-truck ramp.

It took Mr Hall a year and $200,000 to develop the prototype, which won him a grant from the Federal Government to pay for the world-wide patent.

He said they had been able to self-fund the rest of the development of the product through pre-sales.

His Quarry Rd workshop started out producing one unit a year in 2007 which has now grown to up to 12.

Cowra council was the first to snap up the Tiltip, followed by the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Melbourne and Western Australia.

Mr Hall employs five people directly but also sub-contracts to local metal pressing, metal hydraulics and auto-electrical companies.

He also has franchisors in Sydney and Melbourne.