A stand-alone, flatlander’s flatbed truck was displayed at a truck show I visited in early September. To get a more complete picture of the Volvo forage hauler -its livery says it all- I turned to the owner’s company website and Facebook page, where numerous images of their big rigs have been posted over the past years.
If a straight truck has a 510 DIN-hp turbodiesel, you can bet it usually teams up with a trailer. The 27 tonnes (59,525 lbs) Volvo FH is powered by the truck maker’s 12.8 liter, D13 inline-six engine.
Long-wheelbase, 6×2 truck chassis mostly have a liftable, counter-steering tag axle these days, and this Volvo is no exception. Such a drivetrain is very useful on curvy backroads, roundabouts, and when maneuvering on yards.
Note the wheels with low-profile tires, resulting in a lower cargo bed. ‘Looking sporty’ wasn’t on the priority list.
Straw for the Dutch market is often imported from France; this set of diesel fuel tanks should prevent any form of range anxiety. The small tank on the right, with the light blue cap, contains the diesel exhaust fluid.
Powerful straight trucks for transporting voluminous goods -like forage- usually tow a close-coupled, center-axle trailer. The coupling for that type of trailer is mounted down below, behind the truck’s rear(most) axle.
Now let’s get down to business!
The Volvo’s associate is a 2015 Jumbo center-axle trailer with a counter-steering third axle, it’s rated at a gross weight of 24 tonnes (52,900 lbs). There are plentiful storage lockers for sure.
Another serious load, I think fibers of some sort. A truck-mounted forklift joined the team. Worth mentioning is that such a truck and trailer configuration has only one articulation (or pivot) point, just like a tractor with a semi-trailer.
‘Forage and Transport’, it says on the cab (Google Translate not needed). Evidently, these lowriders are also perfectly suited for transporting all kinds of machinery.
(All pictures of the Volvo with the Jumbo trailer courtesy of Maas & Waal Fourage en Transport)
Yikes! That;s a lotta straw!
Opportunity knocks to grasp at straws.
Nice rig. We see lots of hay and straw haulers here in Oregon, given that we are the grass growers for the world. It’s where older COE trucks are still being kept in service. This triple is allowed in Idaho. Oregon allows triples, but not quite that long.
Yes, I remember the western forage haulers from the Stan Holtzman books I bought many moons ago. Highly recommended, lots of fantastic pictures.
Pretty much all of them were cabover trucks with three axles, towing a full trailer with two of three axles.
These trucks remind me Australian road trains. 2 60 trailers allowed with in 100 kilometer of the coast, 3 trailers 500 kilometers, unlimited trailer over 500 kilometer.
Do these actually go in the fields? Ground clearance certainly looks very sporty, but maybe Dutch hayfields are smoother than those in the western US.
Yes, these do drive in the (often French) fields. Air suspension on all six axles. The picture below from the company’s Facebook page shows the article’s Volvo, with the trailer decoupled (and parked ‘the other way around’).
All Volvos are really nice, from the F-88s of ’89 to today.
I have a question, does Volvo still make diesel engines for trucks and buses? I know they’ve left diesel for cars.
Yes, they build turbodiesels for trucks and buses as if there’s no tomorrow, the biggest is a 17.3 liter inline-six. Note that Mack and Renault (truck) diesels are essentially Volvo engines.