The history of the E. Lafeber hauling company can be traced back to 1820. Talking about a business that has withstood the test of time. Since the eighties -fast forward to the 20th century- they rely on MAN tractors for the heaviest transport jobs. The latest entry is a 2022 TGX 41.640 8×4 tractor, rated at a gross combination weight of 250 tonnes (551,000 lbs).
Its up-to-the-task powertrain comprises a 640 hp, 15.2 liter MAN D3876 inline-six, a TipMatic automated manual transmission, a WSK torque converter and a pair of planetary drive axles.
The maximum torque output of the truck maker’s biggest and most powerful turbodiesel is 3,000 Nm (2,213 lb-ft), starting to peak @ 930 rpm. Bring it on!
Plentiful storage lockers, even between the wheels. After all, small stuff is best stored in small lockers. Retractable step ladders provide easy access to the platform above the second axle. There’s a long fuel tank filler neck between the two main, vertical storage lockers. Perfection right down to the last detail, wherever you look.
Furthermore, the MAN is equipped with a heavy-duty front and rear trailer coupling, so it can also be used as a ballast tractor. A crossbeam with twist locks -between the second and third axle, on top of the frame- secures the ballast weight.
The interior of the current TGX-series, as introduced in 2020. Thanks to the automated manual transmission, there’s no gear shift lever intruding into the cab.
Though Lafeber’s heavy haulage tractor is nicknamed ‘El Toro’, MAN’s official logo is a rather angular lion.
More precisely, a representation of the ‘Braunschweiger Löwe’, originally used by Büssing as their famous logo. In 1971, the venerable truck and bus manufacturer was taken over by MAN, back then known as M.A.N. AG (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg Aktiengesellschaft ).
These days, MAN is one of the brands of the Traton Group (Volkswagen). The others are Scania, Navistar/International and the Volkswagen trucks and buses from Brazil.
As impressive as the tractor is the modular, 2018 Scheuerle InterCombi low loader.
The Lafeber company posted this picture on their FB-site, taken shortly after they took delivery of the 3-bed-5 low loader.
At the heavy haulage event, the tridem-axle front module was detached. Note the creation of a full bed by using solid, hardwood panels.
The five-axle rear module itself is also perfectly suited to carry heavy freight.
The combination in its element, a 107 tonnes (236,000 lbs) piling rig is resting on the low loader with its tracks free-hanging. The rig’s only non-steering axles are the tractor’s drive axles.
Lafeber’s livery is distinctive and highly recognizable. Carry on, up to the next 200 years!
In the 3.5 ton range, VW and M.A.N. both offer nearly identical vehicles to one another. The major difference between both is the higher quality of interior materials in the M.A.N., as well as the M.A.N.’s overall luxurious design, contrasting against VW’s spartanism. One could say, the difference between both is comparable to the difference between VWs and Audis, within the same parent company of both:
The latest Crafter interior looks like this (without any doubt, the TGE will follow soon enough):
Comparing that with the M.A.N.’s more elegant cockpit, the VW’s seems void of art
[img]https://www.man.eu/ntg_media/media/content_medien/img/bw_master_1/truck/truck_1/tgx/fahrerfokussierung/man-lkw-tgx-instrumententafel-hotspot-16-9_width_800_height_450.jpg[/img]
Second try:
That’s the interior of the TGX, the biggest MAN, as posted in the article. You can’t compare the driver’s compartment of a full-size panel van/light truck to the cab of a top model on-highway truck/tractor. Completely different worlds.
The new Crafter/TGE interior is clearly inspired by the full-electric ID. Buzz.
“Completely different worlds” in size, maybe. But both VW and upscale M.A.N. (within the 3.5 ton class) follow their own distinct styling themes, easilly identifyable from one another, much like how Audi and VW differentate from one another, in terms of luxury and elegance, VW reliably ending up at the bottom of V.A.G’s Totem Pole
I generally prefer commercial vehicle interiors to car interiors these days.
More functional, less over-styled. And proper switches/buttons, instead of useless touch-screens.
A modern truck cab is a highly functional, comfortable, practical and ergonomic full-time workplace. Carnival rides they aren’t (or shouldn’t be).
A very big MAN with a very small knob (that silly little gearshift dial of course, now grow up).
250 tonnes! I’d imagine routes have to very carefully planned indeed.
It’s interesting that European heavy haul tractors use a high roof cab, a lot of US heavy haul tractors have flat top sleepers to provide clearance for protruding loads.
Not necessarily so.
See Volvo FM with a flattened rearmost part of the cab right here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-global-volvo-nooteboom-and-woltman-we-brake-for-nobody/
The FM is Volvo’s mid-sizer, lower than the FH top model with a standard roof.
An other option is to load the machinery ‘the other way around’, as seen in the video posted in the same article, in which case the tractor’s cab height doesn’t matter.