A ballast tractor is a specially weighted tractor unit of a heavy hauler combination. It is designed to utilize a drawbar to pull or push heavy or exceptionally large trailer loads which are loaded in a hydraulic modular trailer. When feasible, lowboy-style semi-trailers are used to minimize the height of a load's center of mass. Typical drivetrains are 6×4 and 6×6, but 8×6 and 8×8 are also available. Typical ballast tractor loads include oil rig modules, bridge sections, buildings, ship sections, and industrial machinery such as generators and turbines.
Only a handful of manufacturers produce dedicated ballast tractors. Extra-heavy-duty chassis versions of mass-production tractor units are fitted with drawbar hitches and a separate ballast box as an alternative. These units are classified as N3 Category of large goods vehicle. Ballast tractors can be traced back to the 1940s when heavy haulers from the UK started employing purpose-built Scammell Showtracs, a short wheelbase 4×2 ballast tractor.[1][2]
Increasingly, remote-controlled, self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT) are being employed in traditional ballast tractor/trailer roles.
^"Roll up, roll up... | 7th June 2012 | The Commercial Motor Archive". archive.commercialmotor.com. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
A ballasttractor is a specially weighted tractor unit of a heavy hauler combination. It is designed to utilize a drawbar to pull or push heavy or exceptionally...
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was only built as a ballasttractor for Dyson FV3601 tank transporting trailer. They can be identified by having a steel ballast body. 8 Mk1s were also...
the help of one or more ballasttractors which push and pull these units via drawbar or gooseneck this combination of tractor and trailer is also termed...
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work. A later unarmored version of the M26 tractor was designated the M26A1. An experimental ballasttractor conversion was evaluated by the British Fighting...
escort and special permit. A heavy hauler typically consists of a BallastTractor and a hydraulic modular trailer. Some trailers may have independently...
exceptionally large off-road dump truck, common in mining operations Ballasttractor, a very heavy weight power source for towing and pulling exceptional...
crossmember on the rear of the vehicle. This could be on the rear of a ballasttractor, rigid truck, prime mover or trailer. This mount also includes air...
extreme are extremely heavy duty tank recovery vehicles, and enormous ballasttractors involved in heavy hauling towing loads stretching into the millions...
and gas producing companies. As a part of this, there are heavy-duty ballasttractors that are used for aerodrome-towing aircraft weighing up to 200 tonnes...
artillery rather than that obtainable with wheeled prime movers or ballasttractors. The models considered in the series included: 7 ton, 13 ton, 18 ton...
and on road tipper trucks and FM available in tractor as FM420 4x2 and FM500 Puller 6x4 as ballasttractor, replacing the outgoing FH520 Puller 6x4 in the...
Weighing System Kursk submarine disaster Ring cranes SPMT Heavy hauler BallastTractor Hydraulic modular trailer "Website". "Mammoet to acquire ALE". American...
transmission with a gross weight of 52 tons including the ballast box. The ballasttractors are capable of towing 400 tons of load with a suitable hydraulic...
transportation of heavy tanks on rough train. Can be coupled with ballasttractor via drawbar coupling. In 2014, BEML made headlines when former army...
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