Titan power thai fits the bil
Page 24
Page 25
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Sunter Bros of Northallerton says the Mercedes-based Titan comes close to bein the ideal heavy haulage tractive unit. Tim Blakemore investigates
INTRARY TO popular belief, erating engineers and menuturing engineers are not alys at each other's throats, ned respectively with torque enches and slide rules. Bring accountant wielding a refore;t into a discussion with either J you have a volatile mixture, t when the men (or women) werned with the nuts and Its of vehicles put their heads pether, from whichever side of the industry they come, the result stands a very good chance of being a success.
The Titan heavy haulage vehicle is a good example of just such successful co-operation. Based on Mercedes-Benz chassis, cabs and running gear, Titans are built in Appenweier in West Germany to a design drawn up jointly by Dr Herion, president of Titan (Special Purpose Vehicles) Ltd and Heinrich Schiltz, an established West German heavy haulage operator.
More of the Titan development story later. But first
let's get back to this country and how the Titan measures up to the needs of British heavy haulage operators.
Sunter Brothers of Northallerton has two of the six-wheeled German machines in its fleet of nine heavyweight motive units.
Why were the Titans chosen? Henry Wood, Sunter's general manager, gave me the answer, "We were looking for a medium weight vehicle." ("Medium weight" to Sunters means a gross train weight of 190 tons or thereabouts), "that could work either as a tractive unit or a ballasted tractor.
"It had to be compact, that is not more than 2.5 metres wide, and have good manoeuvrabil so that it was suitable for s work. In power output, transm sion, cab design and price, t Titan also fitted the bill nicely us."
Sunter's first Titan went in service in 1978 and was a 6: version. Like the majority British heavy haulage operato Sunter saw no need for the s wheel drive favoured by his GI man counterparts. Ironically t only problem of any seriousne om which this vehicle has sufned has been caused by the pecification of four-wheel drive. Quite early in its life, an unleasant vibration developed. he cause was diagnosed as beig the propshaft universal )ints working at too great an ngle. The solution was to raise le front of the engine and conequently lower the rear of the earbox, reducing the angle beomen it and the rear bogie.
Roy Pickard, Sunter's rorkshop foreman, reckons that s the mountings settle with age iere is a chance of the vibration eturning but a change of lountings would soon solve 'at and he can live with it. Titan o longer builds 6x4 chassis, all s six-wheeled vehicles are now x6 and Sunter's has bowed to le seemingly inevitable: its econd Titan, six-wheel drive, of ourse, was delivered last year By its very nature heavy aulage requires specialised quipment but it is significant
-let in common with so many eneral hauliers, Henry Wood
as "reliability" at the top of his st of requirements for any tracye unit. The cost and incon enience of a breakdown during 100-ton-plus load-moving Iperation does not bear thinking bout.
"Good vision from the driver's eat is another important con ideration," he told me, "and rne that too few vehicle menuacturers take into account. Most if our heavy vehicles are leftland drive primarily so that the 'rivers have a clearer view of the nost important part of the road, lamely the kerb."
Henry Wood cited "a poor ield of vision" as being one of he disadvantages of the latest vhicle to enter the Sunters fleet Tractomas, This French six-wheeler has in excellent pedigree. It is built )y Nicolas, the renowned heavy iaulage trailer manufacturer, ising the company's own chas is, a Renault cab the same as itted to Ford's Transcontinenal), Cummins 450 KT, an 18.9itre engine and Clark torque :onverter and manual gearbox.
Its lhd, of course, but the poor ield of vision stems from the vidth of the steel skirt above vhich the cab is mounted; )erched seems to be a more ac :urate discription when one first ;ees the beast. That skirt makes he vehicle's width 3.0 metres 9ft 10in).
Sunter has its Tractomas balasted with 20 tons of concrete, naking its unladen weight just )ver 39 tons. Clearly it is going o be used for the heaviest jobs. Henry Wood is concerned at the apparent decline in interest from established vehicle manufacturers in the heaviest end of the market. Hybrids like the Tractomes are expensive and, not being home built, parts availability is a potential problem.
If cost was not a consideration and he were given carte blanche to build his ideal heavy haulage motive unit, Henry's specification would be something like the chassis and "back end" from Scammell, the engine and gearbox from Tractornas and the cab from Scania or Mercedes.
It was Heinrech Schatz's frustration at the inability to buy exactly what he wanted that led to the development of the Titan. The Schatz fleet pre-1977 was exclusively Faun. Neither that company nor any other large manufacturer was interested in Herr Schatz's ideas. The numbers were just too small.
Then Heinrich Schatz met Dr Herion, president of Titan GmbH, which at that time was making only specialised vehicles for forestry work, fire fighting and the like.
Titan had the spare capacity and Schutz had ideas aplenty. Moreover, Schutz's engineering ideas were in complete harmony with Dr Herion's own. It was not long before the first Titan heavy haulage vehicle was in service in the Schatz fleet.
Now it is claimed that German hauliers are "queuing up to buy Titans". A total of 165 have been sold to date and are in operation throughout Europe and the Middle East.
Titan GmbH buys standard,. production-line chassis from Mercedes-Benz and then strengthens the chassis frame and axles. The original V10 engine is replaced by a more powerful one, most of the vehicles so far sold being fitted with the naturally aspirated 204kW (394hp) MB OM 404 V12.
It seems a little odd, to say the least, that Titan should have to buy a chassis from Mercedes fitted with one engine, take that out and sell it, and then replace it with another engine, also bought from Mercedes.
Unfortunately, Daimler-Benz will not agree to a less profitable (for them) deal such as selling Titan rolling chassis (ie minus engines) which would allow the final price of each vehicle to be reduced significantly.
The latest news from Titer that as from June this year a tons gtw vehicle fitted witt turbo-charged V12 3921 (525hp) engine is part of the p duction programme. Also nev an 8x8 tractive unit which ( be ballasted up to 48 tons.
The UK importer of Titans Titan (Special Purpose Vehicl Ltd, of Sutton Coldfield. Man ing director Douglas Hird is ci fident that the simmering terest in the Titan currer being shown by many Brit heavy haulage operators, inch ing Sunters, will begin to boil soon as the economic recessi which has affected this part the industry more than othE shows signs of beginning end.