Four-wheel drive from Sweden (Scania P124CB6x6HZ 360)

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Scania G480 is a Swedish company's log carrier for transporting elongated cargo (logs, pipes, poles), but most often the model is used as a timber carrier, supplemented by the CB6x6EHZ index and 6x6 wheel arrangement.

The abbreviation of the truck is deciphered as follows: C - construction equipment, E - especially difficult conditions, H - minimum ground clearance, Z - leaf spring suspension on a multi-leaf structure. The decoding speaks about the car’s ability not only to transport cargo, but also to do it off-road.

Sorting platform

At the rear there is a double-pitch tire for the rear axles to increase the supporting area. The superstructure for loading timber is made in Finland - Alucar XL3, consisting of an aluminum subframe and 4 Titan 50/70/XL bunks.

Loading onto the platform is carried out using a Palfinger Epsilion M100L97 hydraulic manipulator. There is also a hitch at the rear, allowing the machine to be used as a tractor. The hitch is complemented by an FG43 pincer gripper to automate loading and unloading operations.

The increase in the support of the CMU is carried out by hydraulic outriggers with automatic rotation of the supports by 45 or 180 degrees. The presence of a CMU facilitates the work of a crane operator, slinger, etc., but significantly reduces the load capacity, because the installation itself weighs 2 tons.

Car dimensions:

• length – 9626 mm;
• width – 2550 mm;
• height – 3950 mm;
• wheelbase between axles – 4500 mm;
• rear axle base – 1350 mm.

Cabin Scania G480 6x6

A CG19N cabin with two seats and one 70-centimeter berth is installed to the platform through the mechanics. The interior is assembled with high quality, but there is no need to use expensive materials for work, so they are not here.

There is not much free space, but there will definitely not be any discomfort. The sleeping place is also comfortable and soft, you can relax without discomfort.

The driver's hands rest on a 4-spoke steering wheel with control buttons for the audio system and cruise control. Behind the wheel there is a scattering of buttons and an instrument panel consisting of 4 dial gauges and a vertical on-board computer.

Many buttons are designed to control the audio system, climate control, cruise control, and in general everything is controlled through these keys, of which there are more than 20. There is a parking brake lever on the console. To the right of the driver are two cup holders and a shelf for documents. There is no classic gearshift lever; it is located like a steering column lever.

Four-wheel drive from Sweden (Scania P124CB6x6HZ 360)

M. Ralliev, photo by the author

Dump trucks, dump trucks and more dump trucks. The most irreplaceable, constantly needed in any construction. And that’s why the dump truck theme cannot exhaust itself. But since the dump trucks tested by our magazine did not suffer from all-wheel drive, we decided to test a vehicle with all driving wheels: a dump truck from the Swedish company Scania.

Scania P124CB6x6HZ 360 with a body of 14 m3 was provided for editorial testing by UM-25 Mosstroymekhanizatsiya No. 5, naturally, not without the assistance of the representative office of the Swedish company in Russia. Let us remind you that we have already introduced readers to the products of this company, including in the “Test” section. Last time it was a four-axle truck with an 8x4 wheel arrangement and a gross weight of about 50 tons.

This time Scania has a 6x6 wheel arrangement and its total weight is less - 34.5 tons. But the engines on both cars are the same, 360 hp. In addition, we drove the four-axle Scania in the summer, on the roads of FSUE NITSIAMT, and the three-axle one in the winter. And since all-wheel drive is mandatory, we worked on the roads of the military 21 NIII AT RF Ministry of Defense. The maximum task is to evaluate the dynamics and fuel efficiency of the car at constant speeds on asphalt roads and when simulating city traffic, as well as on dirt roads and in heavy soil conditions.

So, a Scania 6x6 dump truck with a two-seat day cab. The cabin equipment is minimal - there are no electric windows or mirror adjustments. There is no air conditioning, but ventilation is very good. During the tests, a problem arose with the heating: there was poor supply of warm air to the cabin. It turned out that the air filter was clogged. When the filter element was removed, it became so hot in the cabin that it was impossible to wear outerwear in it. In winter, when there is not much dust on construction sites, you can do without this filter, but in summer, without it, the driver will have to constantly breathe dust, as when driving domestic dump trucks. By the way, replacing the filter element is very simple: open the radiator grille, remove the old one and insert a new filter unit into the ventilation system.

In addition to good heating and ventilation of the cabin, all other conditions for comfortable work have been created for the driver. The seat has adjustable air suspension, adjustment in several planes and electric heating. The steering column is adjustable in angle and height. The steering wheel is comfortable both in diameter and in the thickness of the rim. The parking brake lever is located on the driver's right hand on the instrument panel - you don't have to reach far. There is a spacious storage compartment between the driver and passenger seats. Its lid can serve as an additional niche for documents or a desk for filling them.

The instrument cluster does not have an electronic display, but is quite informative. In any case, the driver receives sufficient information about the condition of the car. Naturally, a tachograph with replaceable daily disks is built into the instrument cluster.

The control lever for the body lifting mechanism is located between the driver's seat and the cab door, and for ease of operation in the dark, it is illuminated with a soft bluish light. The only omission of the Scania designers is the gearshift lever. It is located very close to the driver's seat and constantly rubs against the right leg, which creates some discomfort while driving.

The passenger of the Swedish dump truck is also not offended by the comfort. Its seat has all the same adjustments as the driver's. The only thing is that there is no air suspension.

The initial impression of the dump truck can be summed up in one phrase: “Everything is for the good of man!” Or the driver, as you like. Judge for yourself. In order to service the machine, it is not at all necessary to tilt the cabin. He pulled back the shelf of the lower part of the radiator grille, stood on it and wiped the entire windshield. I lifted the grille itself - added coolant, changed the heater filter, replaced the radiator protective mesh... Opened the side panel - check the oil level in the engine or top it up, it doesn’t matter, it’s still convenient. The windshield wiper mechanism needs to be serviced, please move the panel down and work to your health.

The glass washer fluid is poured into the glass washer reservoir through the neck located in the niche of the driver's door steps, and the passenger steps serve as a mount for external connection sockets for heating the engine and cabin. Even the plastic wings of the cabin are detachable. The headlight protection can also be easily removed to make cleaning them easier. In short, it’s not a cabin, but a transformer - everything opens and disassembles for convenience.

However, the Swedish all-wheel drive dump truck was a little disappointing in operation. Heating the body with exhaust gases in the Russian frost turned out to be ineffective: wet river sand, loaded as ballast, did not fall out well and stuck. What can we say then about clay? After unloading, the transported material remains on the tailgate shelf. The driver must sweep it away with a broom. If he does not do this, then in the next reset these residues will not allow the locks to open and release the tailgate. This could have been avoided if the shelf had been shaped like a trench and had holes in it for opening locks. In any case, the driver would not have to run around the car with a broom.

On the new car, the ladder on the body turned out to be short, and the driver, in order to cover the cargo, had to first step on the fuel filter, and only then on the step. Transport workers modified this place themselves. The awning of the body, along the perimeter of which there is an elastic band securing it, is also not free from shortcomings. However, it is not enough, and additional cords must be used. The cover drive handle does not have a standard lock in the extreme positions of the awning, and you have to use a homemade one - a rubber band.

It seems like little things, but how they spoil the overall impression of the car.

Now the driving characteristics of a four-wheel drive dump truck. It is equipped with a standard European 12-liter Scania DSC12 02 turbocharged diesel engine. It complies with Euro-2 standards and develops a power of 360 hp. While domestic cars traditionally have V-shaped engines, the Swedish dump truck has six cylinders lined up in a row, but equipped with separate heads. The specification states that the engine is adapted to work in difficult conditions, i.e. on a wet dirt road, both in the heat and in the bitter cold. Unfortunately, our test group was not able to verify this, since dirt roads freeze in winter, and the frost was not very severe, only about -10°C. However, it was enough so that heating the fuel tank and filter did not seem superfluous.

When driving, the Swedish all-wheel drive is easy to control, regardless of whether it is loaded or not. The car owes its good dynamics not only to the optimal selection of gear ratios in the gearbox, in particular, and the transmission in general, but also to the fact that the gear shift lever has a short stroke and precise engagement. When equipped, the Scania dump truck “doesn’t jerk” and moves very confidently. At full weight the car holds the road well. At the same time, it, of course, loses in starting dynamics, but once it accelerates it goes at cruising speed without tension in the engine.

The brakes performed very well. I especially liked the engine (mountain) brake, which is activated before turning on the working system when you press the brake pedal. How can we not mention domestic cars, in which the exhaust brake is activated by an incomprehensible “pipe” located somewhere in the floor of the cabin, which you can accidentally step on while driving.

I was pleasantly surprised by the “creeping” transmission. When loading the car, it was standing on very soft ground. When it was time to move off, it turned out that even the driving front wheels with narrow tires began to bury themselves in the sand. However, in the “creeping” gear, the car calmly, without jerking, drove onto solid ground.

All that remains is to summarize. The Swedish dump truck turned out to be a “good” guy – friendly and hard-working. It's more friendly than any domestic car, but still just a little short of being a "great" guy.

Engine and gearbox

The timber truck is driven by a DC13 101 diesel engine with 6 in-line cylinders. Direct injection and a compressor with intermediate air cooling allowed the engine to produce 480 horsepower and 2400 H*m of torque. Maximum performance is achieved at 1900 and 1000 engine speeds.

The engine accelerates the car to a maximum of 85 km/h, consuming 38 liters of fuel. The aluminum fuel tank holds 600 liters, plus is equipped with protection if necessary. The torque is distributed over all wheels of the Scania G480 CB6x6EHZ through a transfer case to the rear axle.

The engine works in conjunction with a 14-speed automated transmission Scania GR905 (12 forward gears, 2 reverse). The box is complemented by a divider, a range multiplier and two reduction gears. The main gear has an oil filter and a differential lock with a gear ratio of 1:4.27.

Dumpers: Scania conducted a large test drive in the quarry

Machines on XT construction chassis are an important part of Scanie's program. Quite recently, I tested the first dump truck using compressed methane, and now Skaniev’s team has rolled out a whole convoy of new trucks to the Mansurovsky quarry near Moscow - regular dump trucks, quarry trucks, and even a 500-horsepower log truck, in the cabin of which sat a “forest” instructor from Velsk.

Over the past year, the company sold 754 dump trucks and 172 timber trucks: these segments account for more than 35% of all sales of vehicles of this brand. Well, the Mansurovsky quarry has been working with Scania since 2004: there are examples that have traveled 2.3 million kilometers, and fresh cars have traveled 225 thousand kilometers in the quarry in a couple of years. As we are assured, there are no problems: dump trucks are purchased with a service contract, and the technical readiness coefficient tends to one.

Each of the cars could be driven: some were equipped with Opticruise “robots”, others with “mechanics”. According to Scania representatives, the “robot”/”mechanics” ratio in these segments is approximately 50/50, and manual transmissions are mainly used in dump trucks assembled in St. Petersburg and timber trucks.

You can choose not only power units, but also manufacturers of superstructures: we offer both Polish bodies Wielton and KH-Kipper, as well as our Becema near Moscow.

Among the dump trucks there was a 6x6 version with “mechanics”: for the sake of experiment, I specifically tried to land it on a sandy area, but no - it seemed to be stuck in one place, but I turned on all the locks and drove out with a rocking motion. The main principle here is “less gas!”: Scanie engines are low-speed.

It was the first time I drove a rocky Scania Hagen 8x4 with a load - it differs from conventional dump trucks in driving by a higher center of gravity and slowness: the main gears here are “quarry” ones.

And here's another thing: since all Scanias are equipped with a driving assessment system, dump trucks also have it. Several years ago, when visiting a quarry near Novosibirsk, I was surprised to see that drivers completed the route with a score of 100%, and if the score was below 98%, they would not be paid a bonus.

And now I myself have twice driven a circle of several kilometers along the quarry roads with a score of 100%: you just need to accelerate smoothly, do not brake sharply, slow down before turns and let the car roll out on long descents. Interestingly, even after my deliberate mockery of the all-terrain vehicle in the sand, the driving score still remained high - and I received a branded cap as a gift as one of the best drivers.

Hence the first conclusion: more dump trucks, good and different! By the way, the same gas Scania CNG Euro-6 that I tested in May took part in the races - and immediately after that it went to the client in a chalk quarry near Belgorod.

And the second conclusion is that drivers of dump trucks and timber trucks, like truck drivers, need to be trained: it’s not for nothing that there was an instructor in every cab. After all, a trained driver is not only a “valuable fur,” but also... But also saved fuel, brake pads, reduced breakdowns and downtime during repairs. Well, since Scanie dump trucks are as close as possible to tractors in terms of comfort, the driver is also comfortable. The main thing is that the salary matches!

Chassis

The timber truck is built on a spar frame with F958 side members. The car's suspension is fully dependent with anti-roll bars. The front axle is on parabolic and the rear axle is on multi-leaf springs.

The braking system is pneumatic with ABS on drum discs. The brake pedal does not work directly; it sends a signal to the control unit, which distributes forces across the wheels. The Opticruise technology also works with the brakes; when you pull the handbrake on a hill, the car holds on; after you release and press the gas pedal, you don’t need to do it quickly or hold the brake pedal, the system does it on its own.

The chassis carries the following load capacity:

• curb weight - 16.5 tons;
• maximum load capacity – 18 tons;
• maximum vehicle weight – 34.5 tons;
• front axle load – 8.5 tons;
• rear axle load – 26 tons.