Volvo is testing hydraulic front-wheel drive on a timber truck in Sweden in a bid to improve driveability on steep and slippery forest tracks.
The test is the latest stage in the “one more pile” project, which also involves the Swedish forestry industry, hauliers and the Swedish governmental Agency for Innovation Systems.
The truck – a Volvo FH16-660 with link and trailer – is being tested hauling a 74-tonne gross weight. It is testing the possibility of feeding timber from the forest to a tractor with link and trailer and the viability of hauling the wood all the way to the sawmill and other industrial users.
“We can already see major improvements in driveability,” said Volvo project manager Lena Larsson.
Volvo said use of hydraulic drive in heavy timber haulage rigs was entirely new.
For the test, two separate hydraulic motors, one in each front wheel, have been integrated in the wheel hubs and driven by a pump coupled to the engine.
“In this way we get the possibility of driving the front wheel independently of the gearbox and can maintain drive to the front wheels even during gear-changes or when the gearbox is in neutral,” said Ms Larsson.
“On extremely steep slopes and on slippery surfaces, the truck continues making its way where it would otherwise come to a standstill.”
Analysis will continue throughout the project, which ends in 2012.
