This is BIG!

[Gary_C]

I just got one of those truck magazines that had an article about some large semi trucks that were modified for special service. It is a 2004 Kenworth and here is the description of the Engine/Drivetrain:

Caterpillar, modified to 1,500 hp with turbos, timing computers, manifolds, and air-to-air coolers, 18-speed transmission with 2,150-lb-ft torque and 3,500-lb-ft torque clutch.
And I thought 500 hp engines were overkill in semis but 1500 hp? WOW!  The truck is used in the rocky mountain area and probably can go to the top of any mountain without shifting down. He is hauling those windmill blades that can be as long as 165 feet. They probably had to supersize the fuel tanks too.

I guess my 330 hp semi is for flatlands only. It does struggle pulling 85,000 lbs up these hills in SE MN.

[Ironwood]

best not miss a shift?

Ironwood

[zopi]

Best Like buying U-joints too...

I though the 400 HP in my Ram 2500 was overkill...Got to pull a semi with it once...big honkin' tow strap..didn't even grunt...

Wonder That big Cat would max at if metered propane injection? Right before the pistons melted that is..

[stonebroke]

I don't think it is for hauling windmill blades, They are long but they are not very heavy         ( 14,000 lbs) I think.

Stonebroke

[james]

probably the generators 200000 lbs or so  on a13 axle lowboy
james

[Ironwood]

I recall someone stating 80 tons. They have put ALOT of turbines on our ridges in western Pa..  I love to see those. We photographed some blades driving past our NAPA one day, fortunately my 7 year old was w/ me. 95'ers.

Ironwood

[barbender]

Gary- if you get a three axle permit where your running 100,000 lbs in the winter, you come to appreciate that extra power real fast. I notice it most on the woods roads, gets you out of trouble when your not in quite the right gear, etc. Now 1500 horsepower, that would really be something.

[Gary_C]

Gary- if you get a three axle permit where your running 100,000 lbs in the winter, you come to appreciate that extra power real fast.

It doesn't do us any good here to get a 100,000 lb permit cause they will not let us go on the interstates with it. And we cannot get around the interstates for our longer hauls to the mills. Just when you need the higher load weights.  :

Plus all the counties around here are posting their secondary roads with 9 ton axle limits. You can't go anywhere even at 80,000 lbs with out being a criminal any more.

Then if I have to cross the river into WI you have a whole nother set of rules to follow. Just can't seem to make any money any more without being a criminal. 

[motohed]

I wonder if they upgraded the drive train , I can't see it standing up to that much power and torque . I drove a 700 hp for a guy and he had to up grade to much heavier drive shafts and U joints . He still had a couple of problem with rearends .

[chevytaHOE5674]

Then if I have to cross the river into WI you have a whole nother set of rules to follow.

Seems nobody likes trucking into WI...

[stonebroke]

Then if I have to cross the river into WI you have a whole nother set of rules to follow. Just can't seem to make any money any more without being a criminal. 

Joel Salatin ( pastured poutry farmer ) just wrote a book whose title is" Everything I want to do is Illegal)

Stonebroke

[maple flats]

A local windmill fell over a few days ago. The paper said the blades were 14,000# each (but this paper is famous for misprints). They are trying to decide why it fell. I'll bet the power head is real heavy. My 6500 watt diesel weighs over 400# and the windmills around here are 3,000,000 watts each.

[stonebroke]

Thats where I got the 14,000 lbs but I still think they are not that heavy, made of basal wood and fiberglass.

Stonebroke

[barbender]

Gary- I forgot, you probably run I-35 up to Sappi? I usually come across 210 go right past 35 into carlton then on up to the mill. I hauled into NewPage in duluth last winter a little, had to run down the hill from 2 on I 35, about 5 miles maybe. Boss told me to just sneak in. Overall, up here, the heavy permits are pretty worthwile I think. Most county roads are 10 ton, and with all the 80-100 mile hauls, it helps to be able to maximize the payload.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

We've had them for years down here we call em Mine spec tri drive pulling triple roadtrains with 200 to 300 ton payloads  in the WA and Qld mainly ore in wa and coal in old doing hauls of upto 300 miles round trip on company roads  ;) they usually runn at around the 900 to 1400hp range and are custom built by Kenworth Australia weve even sent some over your way over the years  ;)

asfar as an everyday hiway truck the biggest one ive seen for Hp is Seattle Star a Heavly modifyd  65 mod S900 Kw that was built up from the rails in a shed about 20 miles away from home here by Mick gardener in the late 70s and is fitted with an 18 speed ,100mph diffs and Get This a 12V71 tta detroit rated at 750hp plus  out of a euclid dumptruck she was and is still one of the quickest hill climbers ive ever seen it use to make my uncles 500 8v92 ta look like it was standing still he just use to put the boot in and pull past us those motors have a hell of alot of touque  ;) she mainly gets used for local work and as a show truck these days  ;)

You can see some pics of it at www.kws900.com Its the metallic blue one with a 60" sleeper and the eagle and the red ,orange and yellow lines on the cab not bad for a 45 year old truck  ;) ;D ;D 8) 8) 8)

Regards Chris

[Ianab]

A lot of trucking compaies here run 500+hp trucks because the roads are so hilly and winding

A 300 hp truck can sit on 60mph on flat ground, but when your throw in some hills and 30mph corners then a 600 mile trip takes 10 hours.

Give them a 500hp truck and it takes 8 hours. Same top speed, but they can hold it better on the hills, and they can pick up speed better out of the corners

When you go crazy hauiling something up a steep graval road,. crazy HP is the thing

Passed a few of those 2mw generators on the road. they are BIG

Ian

[stonebroke]

A 300 hp truck can sit on 60mph on flat ground, but when your throw in some hills and 30mph corners then a 600 mile trip takes 10 hours.

Give them a 500hp truck and it takes 8 hours.

Ian

600 miles divided by 10 is a sixty mph average, 600 divided by 8 is 75 mph. So you must really be hauling on the flat ground

Stonebroke

[sprucebunny]

This is 10 feet wide with a 600 HP engine.
They were using it to move a 550,000 pound transformer.

On the north slope in Alaska they have 12 foot wide trucks that haul doubled up widthwise  trailers to move big stuff.
Some of the really big stuff up there like drill rigs have their own electrically powered wheels.

[Meadows Miller]

The autocars where a great truck but theres only a couple i know of still on the road here  ;) :( there use to be alot of 10' wide special kw's built in bayswater but most blokes are specing them in 8's now as driveline components have come along way in that width  ;)

Spruce I wouldnt wanna be the one changing a flat on that float  ;) :D :D :D :D

Ive seen and know blokes who coverd the 550mi from Syd to Melb on the Hume (aka Sesami st where the big kids come out to play at night  ;) ) in 6hrs thats hikeing  ;) ;D ;D

Regards Chris

[Gary_C]

I looked back at that article on the 1,500 hp truck and it says that the guy has a truck fleet of 18 trucks and they travel all over the country picking up and delivering windmill parts and the trailer for the blades can carry two blades at a time. It also says:

"Because wind farms are often situated in high places, delivery means treking long distances off-road, often up steep mountain inclines. Some places they have to hook onto us with bulldozers just to get up there."

So I suspect, since this truck is 1 of 18, it's as much for show and publicity as anything. Although it sounds like it is on the road, it probably is just used for the large center section of the windmills. It did win a prize at a truck show and that is the reason for the story.

Some years ago I was staying just south of Duluth, MN and met a guy with a large semi tractor/wrecker that had an 18 speed transmission. He told me about being hired to assist a heavy haul trucker to move a big turbine generator part from a ship in the harbor in Duluth. The part was over 150,000 lbs and 16 feet wide and they had to go up the hill out of Duluth. They did the hauling at 3 AM as the police had to close the road. He said they had to coordinate their shifts on the CB as they both could not shift at the same time or the load would pull them backwards. And backwards down that hill is a lot of cold water. 

[stonebroke]

GE moves transformers and turbines to the port of Albany with two tractors , one on either end.This provides steering on both ends. One poor guy gets to back up for about eighteen miles.

Stonebroke