A market leader in transporting large and extra heavy-duty parts and equipment, Megatranz Transportes has added two Allison transmission-equipped Kenworth C500 trucks to its fleet.
Featuring the Allison 6000 Series transmission, the trucks were imported from the US when no domestic options were available that met all of the specific requirements to transport extra heavy cargo.
“We had capacity to transport cargo up to 1,000 tons,” said Renato Zuppardo, director of operations for Megatranz. “However, we didn’t have the right truck to pull it safely. One of our main requirements was an automatic transmission because of the torque converter and its ability to multiply the engine torque, a vital factor for our type of application.”
Choosing Allison Automatics was also important as its no-clutch system results in less wear. Another important requirement was a high multiplication rear axle for more traction ability and low speed. To meet that challenge, a military tank rear axle had to be adopted, with a 70 cm diameter differential, which took six months to be manufactured. The Allison transmission was connected to a transfer case, enabling the truck to develop maximum speed of 40 km/h (25 mph) and 20 km/h (12.5 mph) cruise speed with extreme traction power.
The Kenworth C500 has 6×4 traction and 600 hp. In the US, it is approved for 500 tons on a track with 3 per cent incline. In Brazil, with approval made on flat land (zero incline), it could pull up to 1,000 tons. The truck’s weight alone reaches 72 tons with a counterbalance box ballast required to give the wheels more friction on the ground and prevent the truck from losing traction while in transit.
“An Allison transmission was essential,” said Zuppardo. “It is important for our type of transportation, as it provides continuous acceleration without losing power during shifting like a manual transmission. It will also be of great help to maneuver irregular terrain, as will be the case of its debut, when it will carry over 300 tons on dirt roads.”
The first job for the extra heavy-duty truck will be transporting a rotor and a transformer to the São Manoel hydroelectric power plant, located on the border of the states of Mato Grosso and Pará. On that route, up to three heavy trucks connected through a push-pull system will pull the 192-tire trailer. From there to the worksite, the three trucks will be replaced by the Kenworth tractor, which will pull the trailer to cover the remaining 100 kilometers (60 miles) of dirt road to the power plant. Under ideal conditions, it should take the truck two days to travel the road with incline varying from 15 to 17 per cent.