Herkules, Koloss, Goliath, Gigant. FAUN’s Fabulous Four of yore. Capable of moving a mountain, up to a weight of 500 tonnes anyway. Originally known as the modular HZ-series of heavy haulage tractors, introduced in 1974. Back then, the German manufacturer had already ended the production of standard-size (though heavy), on-highway trucks and tractors.
The steel brutes were offered with a Mercedes-Benz, Deutz (air-cooled), Cummins or Detroit Diesel (two-stroke) engine. The transmissions were sourced from ZF and Allison.
In January 1989, three new and identical Goliaths started their career in the UK. In 2010, they were sent to work in South Africa. This is one of them, based in the UK again, recently restored. Now live on stage in the livery of ALE (Abnormal Load Engineering, taken over by Mammoet in January 2020).
The machine’s hidden hardware: an 18.9 liter, Cummins KT19-450 inline-six, an Allison six-speed Powershift CL(B)T 5962 transmission, an Allison TC-680 torque converter and a Kessler two-speed transfer case. Quite a line-up.
The tractor’s complete frame and the four planetary drive axles with longitudinal differential locks are in-house FAUN products.
A ready-for-action Goliath weighs around 48 tonnes, approx. 30 tonnes of ballast (for optimal traction) included. During its working life, the gross combination weight rating was 300 tonnes/660,000 lbs.
All aboard! Truck maker Magirus-Deutz supplied the cabs for the FAUN diesel locomotives. Fahrzeugfabriken Ansbach und Nürnberg AG never built these for rail transport though.
Teamwork at its best! Better not try to count the number of wheels.
Two of the ALE-Goliaths at work in the UK, back in September 2009. One pulling, the other pushing. Now that’s a parade I would like to watch (video by Tom Evans).
Brochure Cummins powered Goliath
Brochure Deutz powered Goliath
More information, specs and images can be found in the factory brochures, as posted on this page of public.fotki.com.
And that was another item I can cross off my Creatures-To-See list. And thank you guys from the UK for bringing Goliath over!
When I saw the headline, guess what I thought the story would be about? Yup!
The pic with 3 of these beasts pulling God knows what…..wow!!
Three Goliaths are pulling and another duo of ballast tractors is pushing.
They seem to be FAUN SLT-50 Elefant 8×8 (former) battle tank transporters in ALE livery:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SLT_50_Elefant
Wow. Perfect for all of ones Abnormal hauling needs.
Great post to show a powerful heavy hauler.
Bet Western Star could have configured a 6900XD back in the day to match the Faun Goliath!
HOLY MOLY! On a side note: When they train finally arrived at the power plant, the plant manager looked at his watch, “You’re five minutes late!”
Great information. Thanks, Johannes.
A 115 km (71.5 m) trip could take 4 days, that’s what I’ve read here:
https://magazine.bigtruck.nl/bigtruck-editie-02-2021/faun-in-britse-dienst/
Same UK Faun-crew (in an other color scheme and livery though). Never mind the text, the pictures are great.
Actual big gear.
Those are amazing! Thank you for the pictures.
A somewhat similar North American Truck Maker is TOR truck, which is still in business, though having been passed around a few different investment companies. Here is their current website:
https://camioncrs.com/en/
TOR builds interesting vehicles, I had never heard of them, thanks!
In Europe, the heydays of dedicated specialists are over, many are history by now. Nowadays, start with a factory heavy haulage tractor from Volvo, Scania, Mercedes-Benz or MAN and after the required conversions by a specialist you can end up with something like the tractor below. A Mercedes-Benz Arocs 8×6 with a legally approved towing capacity of 1,000 tonnes (!!).
Such tractors mostly operate in teams (pullers and pushers), as also pictured in the article.
Source and more images:
https://bigtruck.nl/nieuws/arocs-4463-8×6-goed-voor-1000-ton-trekgewicht
That’s a pretty interesting rig. It seems that Western Star recently discontinued the 6900 series, so the only extra-heavy truck like the old Hayes or Pacifics or still in semi-regular production in North America (apart from TOR) is the Kenworth C500.
That is correct..
The Kenworth C500 stands alone now as a custom extreme duty chassis from any of the established class 8 North American truck builders.
I believe Oshkosh ended up with the Western Star Constellation cab and chassis tooling, which was pretty well worn out. Door fit was terrible on Constellation cabs leading up to the current X series offerings.
Great trucks, though. Miss the simplicity and ruggedness of the XD Western Stars along with the customization.
Time marches on and the X series along with the Freightliner SD+ will lead Daimler to a position of dominance in North American vocational market share like they have accomplished with the Freightliner highway and medium duty products.