1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182 
THE OPERATOR'S VIEW
Page 49
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
There must be something about FH12s that appeals to the speedier members of the trucking community.
Former motor cycle trials and endure star Kenny Williams, now manager of the Welsh International Six Days Endure team, runs a successful truck repair business at Llandrindod Wells.
He also operates a fleet of seven 6x4 FM and FH 12 44-tonne drawbar rigs on round timber haulage.
They range in age from a P-reg 420 CD to a brand new 460 that's currently being bodied. Even the oldest truck has never had its engine touched, despite having a creditable 900,000km on the clock. One of Williams Volvos has just had a new gearbox and diffs after 700,000km of hard forestry work; some ancillaries such as air driers, starters and compressors have needed renewal. But the most serious fault has been broken CAN-bus wiring in the passenger footwell on the newer trucks, and evidently there have been problems getting the factory wiring to work properly with extra marker lights.
Fuel consumption across the fleet is working out at an average of 5.0mog, which is good for an operation with a high proportion of off-road and crane work, while a policy of only using premium Michelin tyres seems to be paying off.
Williams concludes: 'The garage side works on all makes, but it'll be a long time before we stop running Volvos.'
Another speedy FH12 operator is the Clarke Pulling Team. The front-running European Tractor Pulling team has previously featured in these pages (CM 21 December 2006); it runs what was originally a 420, but now produces around 500hp with a bit of electronic help.
The 1998 4x2 Globetrotter XL CD was bought by the team after doing around 800,000km in its first six years, It now has a gentler life, carrying two tractors for 30,000km a year on the tractor pulling circuit in north-west Europe. And its 1,140 litres of fuel tank means it never has to fill up on overpriced UK diesel — it's easily able to do Denmark and back on a tankful.
Consumption, running at no more than 28 tonnes, is a consistent 9.25mpg. It has proved almost totally reliable; the only breakdown to date was caused when the 0-rings in the common-rail system's high-pressure fuel pump failed, but a service kit was readily available.
The fabricated steel sump needed some welding when the original spot welds starting coming apart and the starter was replaced when it started getting lazy, but that's about the extent of its unplanned replacement history.
The team's Volvo transporter replaced an old Soania 143; according to team truck and race driver Geoff Ashcroft, the only thing missing after the change is the sound of the two missing cylinders, so the team has to listen to CDs instead.
Team boss Peter Clarke says: "We like it for the cab space—there's room to stand and stretch, and the cruise control and climate control make it a nice place to sit on long journeys."