This last round of my harmless, late March walk-by shooting starts with a trio of Scania R-series 4×2 tractors. The one at work is a 2008 R500 V8, towing a 2008 Estepe tridem axle semi-trailer. The combination is moving away from the owner’s hometown, so the other two tractors must have been sold. Trading used commercial vehicles, that’s Harry’s business alright.
A 2018 Volvo FH tractor with a tandem axle curtainsider. Just visible, the truck mounted forklift.
A MAN TGS 10×4 concrete mixer truck. The fifth axle is an add-on, the starting point was a factory 8×4 truck chassis. I’m almost certain the aftermarket job was done by the Dutch WVT company, as they are specialized in MAN trucks.
A warm welcome to this visitor from Mexico the UK! Lots of pictures and videos of the 2019 Scania “Mexicano” tractor can be found on the interwebs. It says S580 on its license plate, so I just assume the Coles & Sons tractor is powered by a 16.4 liter V8, good for 580 DIN-hp.
Here’s a 2019 Scania P320 XT container carrier with a tandem axle trailer. The truck carries two empty containers. Scania’s XT-series is aimed at the market for heavy construction vehicles, where things can get a bit rougher and tougher. This one is powered by a 9.3 liter, inline-five engine.
The common Dutch name for such a vehicle is a portaalauto. That’s a truck with a so called portal arm system, here’s another example.
Also owned by M&M Containerservice, a 2019 Scania P410 XT with a hooklift system and tridem axle set-up. Both the truck’s pusher and tag axle are liftable (obviously) and steerable. The front axle is rated at an axle load of 10 metric tons, which is as far as you can go with a non-drive axle.
It’s worth mentioning that the driver visibility from such a low, cabover day cab can’t be beaten by any other type of heavy vehicle. Convenient, when you have to deliver a container deep into a town or city center. And collect it when it’s loaded.
A 2019 Volvo FH tractor with a dry bulk tank semi-trailer. The tractor’s 12.8 liter engine is running on LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) and has a maximum power output of 428 DIN-hp. LNG engines are becoming more and more common in heavy-duty vehicles.
Hailing from Belgium, this Mercedes-Benz Actros tractor with a curtainside semi-trailer.
You can tell by the steel rollers underneath the bed (on the left and right side) that this truck is equipped with a hooklift system. The dump bed -an open top container, actually- is fully covered. The truck is a stout, 2019 MAN TGS 8×4.
The Bavarian truck maker has an excellent, long-standing reputation in the construction and on-/off-road trucking business. Factory 4×4, 6×6 and 8×8 chassis are on the menu, as they have been for ages.
Exactly the same configuration as the blue MAN, the 2009 Volvo FH 8×4 pictured here. Such factory chassis are rated at a gross vehicle weight of 37 metric tons (81,571 lbs). So you can imagine that the extra weight of a robust hooklift system is only considered as a side issue, given the versatility bonus.
Verploegen’s livery is uncomplicated yet outstanding. And I’m a fan of painted, two-tone rims, so this 2016 Scania R450 tractor with a 2014 Pacton curtainsider and Moffett truck mounted forklift just looks perfect to me.
Such a tanker semi-trailer is used to transport all kinds of slurry, like liquid manure. It’s coupled to a 2015 DAF XF 460 FT tractor.
A 2019 Scania R450 with a curtainsider. Gulden Draak (Golden Dragon) is a beer brand from the Belgian Van Steenberge brewery. Bottoms up, you can’t go wrong with beer Made in Belgium.
UN number 1090 on the orange sign refers to acetone. Better watch out then. The tanker is towed by a 2017 DAF XF 460 FT tractor.
A 2016 DAF XF 510 FT, directly followed by a 2018 Audi A5 Sportback 2.0 TFSI MHEV. The car’s model designation is as long as the semi.
Downsizing now, a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter flatbed truck with a tandem axle low bed trailer, carrying a small tractor.
I don’t know about all other drivers, but this last one must be a happy camper for sure. It was kind of hard to decipher the license plate, but after some trial-and-error combinations of digits and letters, our vehicle registration website came up with a 1978 Ford F-250 Custom, powered by the 460 cid V8. I’m certain the CC pickup crowd can elaborate on this.
Cool product movers, Johannes! Thanks.
The camper on the F250 appears to be an Alaskan Camper of the same or very similar vintage as the truck. Most of the later models I’ve seen were designed to be used w/o the tailgate, being a few inches longer.
https://thisoldcamper.com/1978-alaskan/
From their Website
“Since the early 1950’s Alaskan Camper has been building the only hard-sided, telescopic truck camper. The original idea was to give campers the comforts of home, protection from the elements and a low-profile for a safer, more comfortable driving experience along with better gas mileage. The early Alaskan Campers were raised with a manual hydraulic hand pump.”
My buddy had one on his F100, with the 300-6 and 4sp combination. We did stick an Add-A-Leaf on it so that it sat more or less level with it installed. He took that combo all around the western US as a Deadhead. The manual Hydraulics were getting a bit iffy at that point and it needed some help to expand w/o binding as they didn’t seem to lift at exactly the same rate.
Right, thanks! I couldn’t read what it said on the back and side of the camper unit, sadly the picture just wasn’t sharp enough. But when zooming in on my original photo, it definitely seems to say Alaskan.
Thank you! Love to see Moffetts and V8 powered tractors. One often seen here in the US and the other never.I was a trainer on Moffetts. They are a hoot to operate!
The whole country here is littered with Moffetts 🙂 (and V8 Scanias too, for that matter).
A truck mounted forklift is called a “meeneemheftruck” here. Translated, a forklift that you take with you. They form an ideal combination with a flatbed-curtainside truck/trailer/semi-trailer.
Just the other day, a 50-tons semi stopped at my neighbor’s driveway across the street to deliver a few big bags of mulch. An effortless and efficient operation, thanks to the meeneemheftruck…
Well thats different just spent 12 hours in a R500 Scania manual and I find them plastered on my laptop now, not a fan of them underpowered with zero low down torque and horrible shift pattern, lower case h with 12 speeds,
Thanks Dutch for the tour of the other side.
In the States, driveway combination seen in picture #1 might be three units being delivered via “piggy back” with temporary kingpins bolted to the steer axles of the #2 and #3 trucks. Driver leaves all three and hitchhikes home. No “dead head” run on the way home.
A newer method utilizes a wheeled tow-bar/trailer. Two heavy units are delivered and a light pickup rides atop the tow-bar. After the two heavies are delivered the pickup is used to pull the tow-bar (and driver) home.
The nice thing about the combination in picture #1 is that with the dedicated trailer and lead tractor are probably of known reliable condition so there aren’t the risks of using unproven equipment out on the road.
Have a look here, a photo collection on the website of a specialist in hauling all kinds of rolling machinery:
https://www.brink-transport.nl/impressie/
LNG engines are becoming more and more common in heavy-duty vehicles.
Spark ignition or compression?
Volvo: compression.