Only 7.44 m (24’5”) long and rated at a GCW of 200 metric tons (440,925 lbs). Rensink’s 750 hp Volvo is a downright beast and a perfect specimen of a modern, European heavy haulage tractor. These are rolling on normal-sized tires and are not wider, taller or longer than any other top segment on-highway truck or tractor.
Back in 1987, Volvo surprised the trucking business with the introduction of a brand new, massive 16 liter inline-six turbodiesel. Initially with 470 hp, it evolved into an engine with a maximum power output of 750 DIN-hp later on. Just as impressive as its sheer power is the maximum torque output of 3,550 Nm~2,618 lb-ft @ 1,050 rpm.
No wonder this is the preferred choice of diesel locomotive for many heavy haulage specialists.
The usual tractor configuration in this type of road transport is a close-packed 8×4 chassis with a liftable and steering pusher axle. The Volvo’s curb weight is 13,360 kg (29,454 lbs). Such tractors never come light-footed.
Some other features are the I-Shift automated manual transmission with heavy haulage software and crawler gears and Volvo’s Work Remote (remote control for the air suspension, engine and PTOs).
Until the nineties, powerful tractors in this specific line of business were mostly supplied by small, specialized truck makers, like FTF (Detroit Diesel two-stroke powered, see fine examples above), Faun and Titan.
But then the big manufacturers started to take over that segment too, especially Mercedes-Benz, MAN, Volvo and Scania. The Germans went beyond the 600 hp mark years ago, while the Swedes have been operating north of (quite literally) 700 hp for quite some time now.
When thundering down the road while towing 100 to 200 tons, you’d better carry along a decent quantity of diesel fuel. And a foldable garden chair was never on Volvo’s option list.
A small collection of pictures from Rensink’s Facebook site, showing the Volvo at work. The company is specialized in the (dis)assembly and trans-European transport of industrial machinery and equipment.
There was a whole cluster of similar Volvo FH16 8×4 tractors at a truck show in the spring of 2017.
The 16 liter engine is offered in all Volvo FH chassis configurations. If you want a 750 hp 4×2 tractor to tow a curtainside semi-trailer, you can have one, no problem. To fly over the Alps. Or just for prestige.
BIGtruck online magazine posted this driving impression of the latest edition of Volvo’s factory FH16 heavy haulage tractor on YouTube.
The truck maker offers this line of 8×4 tractors up to 325 tons (716,500 lbs) GCWR. “I roll”. If necessary, even at a speed as low as 0.5 km/h.
Related articles (when a factory 8×4 is not enough):
2017 Volvo FH16-750 10×4 tractor
Another 2017 Volvo FH16-750 10×4 tractor, with a low roof sleeper cab
Great shots of the big boys. What torque, 2,618 lb-ft @ 1,050 rpm, the drivers here were always complaining about lack of horsepower, it was a lack of torque. With this torque the snow wouldn’t stand a chance.
Ive driven 700hp Volvos yes they pull very well the 750 is only available thru load sensing software it isnt a constant rating Kenworth uses a similar technology and with the digital dash in them you can bring the relevant gauges up and watch in in action, just aim 58 tonnes uphill on cruise control and watch the ecu increase boost torque and fuel consumption, somewhere in dash of a Volvo will be a similar system in the adaptive cruise program which has several setting points depending on how heavy its loaded the most recent one I drove was 49,000kg loaded but only a 500hp Btrain tanker but thats ample power for the weight.
In Australia and NZ, Volvo’s 16 liter engine is also offered by Mack, renamed as the Mack MP10 engine. No surprise, as Volvo Trucks owns Mack.
Yes the company Im at currently has several of those Molvos ( Mack Granite) poorly configured dashboards in them the transmission control buttons are almost on the passenger side but they seem popular with the drivers but as usual uncomfortable on rough highways.
Im driving a classic 8×4 Sterling with 8 wheel trailer, thats 28 tyres, detroit power AMT eaton 18sp twin stax and very loud jakes and the worst lights yet invented.
i salute your refusal to punctuate never cared for rules myself
It’s impressive to see these up close here, and even more impressive to see the video, watching the dynamic steering, especially in conjunction with a trailer with 20 steering axles!
Too bad though that the small, specialized manufacturers got pushed out of the market, but I guess that’s not surprising seeing how expensive these trucks must be to develop. Looks like FTF is gone, and Faun retreated to other specialty markets.
Yes, FTF is history, the production ceased in the mid-nineties. Floor trailers and semi-trailers are still being made (FTF = Floor Truck Fabriek), but not as an independent company any longer.
Putting Thor’s hammer to the floor with that much torque you can’t tell if your rig is moving or the earth’s rotation.
Dear Johannes, what is the typical gallonage or litre capacity ordered with these trucks? As such, what is the typical distance that these trucks haul a load? Great article, too! Tom
Thomas, just a rough estimation from my side: say the diesel tank is 2.00 m x 0.80 m x 0.60 m. That’s 0.96 m³. In other words, 960 liter. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s a 1,000 liter tank.
There’s no typical distance for these guys, as they cover the entire European continent. But if you look at the pictures, a fill-up at a gas station alongside the freeway wouldn’t be a problem.
Wow, 750 hp and 2600 ft lbs of torque….now that is impressive..
And….it’s a Volvo, Jim!
Starting off on the grade in the video was interesting, you could see the front end lift a bit but minimal or no lateral torque twisting of the chassis. Would love to see the gradeability charts for this one.
A hill start is deceptively easy for the Volvo driver they have and electronic parking brake, simply put the truck in D the truck selects the appropriate gear itself and press the accelerator the brake releases automatically and off you go,
Awesome trucks to drive
I didn’t realize truck engines were still available so big today, as i thought they all topped out about the 12 litre mark. At 16 litres and six cylinders, the crank must be an impressive-looking thing on this.
85kmh with hundreds of tons aboard! Though that itself is pretty astounding, the fact it can stop before running out of enough Holland to do so is equally impressive.
Watching that video and the aerial shot of the trailer turning, I’m curious to ask the truckies here, do you need extra training to drive a highly-steerable trailer? I can only imagine it changes entirely the angles/physics/expectations of what you’re used to, but is that so?
The biggest on-highway truck diesel (as far as I know) is the 16.4 liter Scania V8, 770 hp for the most powerful version. Mercedes-Benz and MAN offer large displacement engines too, 15.6 and 15.2 liter, respectively (both inline-six).
But indeed, somewhere between 12 and 13 liter displacement is the most common for heavy trucks and tractors.
Justy you need to watch a vid of the Volvo doing an emergency stop from 90kmh the computer does it and it just stops no muss no fuss then you get to peel the driver off the windscreen, part of the adaptive cruise program. modern trucks are very interesting vehicles to operate and are getting very sophisticated to go with the big horsepower they produce
Over dimension loads require pilot vehicles front and back over here to warn other drivers especially other trucks and direct the driver as to what his trailer is doing. houses are frequent overdimension loads here and theres also a crew with them that cuts down road signs in the way then re-erects them after the load has passed, it doesnt seem to matter just what has to be moved somebody out there has the knowhow and gear to do it.
What are the round objects above the storage lockers in the second photo? It seems like there are too many to be air tanks and the wrong shape and location to be lights?
Air tanks.
Thank you Johannes for these articles. The engineering in these vehicles is so impressive – not just the tractor units but the trailer units. How far you can go, is there ever going to be a need to have more than 750hp?
I have always been appreciative of the drivers of this kind of vehicle, it cannot be as easy as they make it look! I expect it is a big problem if you get it wrong though.
The horsepower-battle has been a Swedish thing for quite some years now. Scania vs Volvo.
Keep in mind that their GCWR exceeds 70 metric tons, all that combined with harsh conditions (terrain- and climate-wise).