GEC brings in heavies
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• Britain's first Faun heavy haulage tractors have gone to work for GEC Distribution Services. The three 8x8 West German tractors, which have cost GEC about £400,000, are plated at 300 tonnes and will move generating equipment around the UK.
Power is supplied by a 19litre Cummins six-cylinder engine, rated at 336kW (456hp), and producing 1,828Nm (1,3481bft) torque at 1,500rpm.
An Allison electronicallycontrolled six-speed automatic gearbox and torque converter delivers the drive to a twospeed (1:1 and 1.71:1) Kessler transfer box that drives the four Faun axles. Ballasting to 48 tonnes gives eight tonnes on the front pair of axles and 16 tonnes on the rear pair, to provide optimum traction.
Its left-hand-drive steel cab provides further seating for two passengers and is over 3.5 metres high. Overall length is 10.6 metres and its width is three metres.
The vehicles will be operated for GEC by Stafford-based heavy haulier Abnormal Loads Engineering.
The two companies devised the specification to suit access to power stations, including the possibility of using all three tractors to move a 340-tonne load on the 15% gradients, which are sometimes encountered on such sites.
With a heavy work programme planned up to 1992 and beyond, GEC decided to invest in purpose-built vehicles, rather than the modifications on standard chassis offered by other manufacturers.