Packed up and ready to go, this Volvo FH tractor with Kennis semi-trailer. This is a typical Dutch rig for hauling bricks, tiles, concrete sewer pipes and other heavy building materials. The tractor has a steerable pusher axle, the second and thirth axle of the semi-trailer are also steerable. The crane is self propelled, it’s powered by a diesel engine. A rig like this has a legal GVWR of 50,000 kg (110,000 lbs), but you can imagine it’s a bit more now and then…
What’s the turning circle on something like this?
Here’s the idea, this is a similar combination: the tractor turns to the right, the rear end of the semi-trailer swings out to the left. The semi-trailer doesn’t take a short-cut, this works especially well on narrow roads with tight corners.
Like a dog chasing its tail. Hehehe
Looks like it would work better than the closely-coupled triaxle trailers we have, that damage bitumen roads on tight turns to the extent that in some places the authorities have given up trying to have lane markings etc, they get scrubbed off so quickly. Also the bitumen gets pushed around on hot days.
Apart from the axles the trailer looks like what is used here too, although I think it would be more common to see an all-terrain 3-wheel fork loader hung off the rear but I am thinking more of palletised cargo rather than large pipes like this.
Quite right, another advantage of all those steerable axles is less pavement damage when cornering.
Those self-propelled cranes are only used in hauling building materials. Also for the palletised cargo, like bricks and tiles. You can see the crane in action further down below.
Also, longer tyre life.
Unusual to see a layout like that in the UK, though steering axles on trailers and 3 axles coaches are becoming more common
Certainly. The biggest “toys for boys” right now are what we call LZVs.
Max 25.25 m. long, 60,000 kg GVWR. Only allowed on the main routes, they’ve become quite common in the past decade.
Not allowed in the UK, as far as I know.
Ive towed self steering semi trailers usually here four axle setups with the rear axle self steering on our two lane blacktop highways the trailer tracks neatly behind the tractor following nearly in its wheeltracks, A far cry from my current job hauling tomatoes from field to cannery with a classic 95 ERF four axle twin steer rigid truck pulling three axle drawbar trailers usual gross is approx 42 tonnes lovely truck though it drives beautifully 500hp Cummins and 15 speed RR only need the clutch to take off at intersections we have two four axle Nissan 380 Mikados on the same job the ERF is far superior.
The biggest Japanese diesel trucks we ever had here were trucks like the Toyota Dyna, Mitsubishi Canter and Isuzu N-series. The light-duty short distance cabover trucks.
Heavy-duty UK trucks in the top segment ? Just a handful, at best. I never saw a Foden, Scammell of ERF with Dutch plates.
Building, selling and maintaining big (long distance) diesel trucks is an entirely different cup of tea than the passenger car business. Or light truck business, for that matter. As Ford found out with their big Transcontinental COE-truck.
The brands in our heavy-duty segment right now:
DAF
Iveco
MAN
Mercedes-Benz
Renault (owned by Volvo)
Scania
Volvo
That’s it.
MAN and Scania are both owned by VW.
Is your tomato hauler like this?
A bit of a surprise that a 6X2 tractor is used at that high a GCW with the possibility of having to go off pavement at a construction site. 6X2’s are making a comeback here in the states for highway service, but this application does seem to warrant a twin-screw tractor.
What you also see is a 4×2 tractor towing a semi-trailer with 4 axles, same GVWR. See Benz tractor below.
Actually, most tractors are 4×2, even in the 500+ hp segment. 6×2 tractors and trucks often have a liftable tag axle with dual rear wheels. 6×4 is only used in heavy-haulage and off-roading.
As far as I know the Scandinavians even use high-power (600-750 hp) 6×2 trucks in logging. Maybe one of them can confirm. Or contradict.