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23-660: Dragon Wagon may refer to: M25 tank transporter , tractor-trailer combination built by Paccar and used in World War II Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck , an American military transport vehicle Heavy Equipment Transport System , a military logistics vehicle Dragon Wagon (Indiana Beach) , a roller coaster at the Indiana Beach amusement park See also [ edit ] Crescent Dragonwagon , an American writer Topics referred to by

46-506: A ballast, saving a lot of space on the trailer itself for the loads and most important avoid application of extra tractors. Mammoet and Scheuerle (Member of the TII Group) have proved this configuration in 2019 on a difficult terrain in Norway . Almost all HMT manufacturers have their own variant of power booster. Drawbar coupling is a special tow hitch mounted on the front end or rear end of

69-452: 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,

92-437: A regular tractor to a ballast tractor may require some modifications like chassis alteration, extra axle, larger tires, ballast box, and a heavy-duty gearbox so that it can handle the extra weight. The heavy-duty tractors which are usually converted into ballast tractors have 6x4, 8x6 axle configuration, hub reduction, better suspension and a powerful engine ranging from 300 to 1000hp. A purpose built ballast tractor tends to be

115-451: A short wheelbase 4×2 ballast tractor. Increasingly, remote-controlled, self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT) are being employed in traditional ballast tractor/trailer roles. The ballast tractor's name derives from the nautical term “ sailing ballast ” describing heavy material added to a vessel to improve stability. For a ballast tractor, ballast is added over the driving wheels to maximize traction . The additional weight increases

138-567: 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

161-449: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages M25 tank transporter The M25 tank transporter ( G160 ) was a combination 6x6 M26 armored heavy tank transporter / tank recovery tractor and companion 40-ton M15 trailer introduced into US Army service in Europe in 1944–45. Manufactured by Pacific Car & Foundry Co. , it

184-514: Is required to both support the extra ballast weight and pulling forces transmitted by the drawbar. A reinforced chassis also allows multiple tractors to be coupled together to maximize power and traction. Heavy-duty versions of commercial tractor units may be fitted with a ballast box and suitable draw gear, or a ballast tractor may be purpose-built. Ballast is placed above the driving axle, or spread out over multiple driving axles to maximize traction on each and evenly distribute its load. Conversion from

207-423: Is the ability to push-steer a trailer around a corner. A girder trailer, for example, is double-articulated, so the front tractor can pull the load around a corner while the rear tractor pushes it through, thereby making the load more manoeuvrable than a simple towing configuration. Use of a following tractor also can increase control and brake force descending an incline. The ballast box is a metal box installed on

230-757: The Diamond T tractor unit. Designed by the Fruehauf Trailer Company of Detroit , Michigan, it was heavier than the Diamond T could manage. A companion M26 tractor was designed by the San Francisco-based Knuckey Truck Company . When it could not keep up with the Army's demands, production was awarded to the Pacific Car & Foundry Co. of Seattle, Washington. Designated TR-1 by Pacific Car,

253-455: The chain-driven 12-ton 6x6 M26 tractor was powered by a Hall-Scott 440 1,090 cu in (17.9 L) 6-cylinder gasoline engine developing 240 hp (180 kW) at 2000 rpm and 810 lbf⋅ft (1,098 N⋅m) at 1200 rpm. Developed for the M26, it was used to uprate the Diamond T . Some 2,100 Type 440s were built. Baxter notes "over 1,300" M26 and M26A1 being built. Unusually,

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276-424: The drawbar only transmits a horizontal force. High inertia is encountered when starting to move a heavy load. To overcome this, ballast tractors tend to have high-powered, low geared engines that provide substantial torque , especially at low speeds. Additionally, ballast tractors are often fitted with heavy-duty hub reduction axles , a combination resulting in exceptionally low maximum speeds. A strong chassis

299-411: The friction between the tyres and the road surface, allowing the tractor to overcome the inertia and friction of moving a heavy trailed load. Without it, there would be unproductive wheelspin . With a semi-trailer, ballast is added in the form of the weight of the attached trailer pressing down upon the tractor's fifth wheel . Since the load is separate from a ballast tractor, it provides no ballast:

322-529: The heaviest class of on-road trucks. In some cases, its kerb weight can be greater than their axle configuration's legal Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW) permits, requiring special permission to use public roads. Some nations have categorized these tractors in a different category than conventional tractors because of higher GVW permits and HMT configuration. Typical ballast tractor configurations employ an independent drawbar trailer, hydraulic modular trailer , or dolly trailer . An advantage of using ballast tractors

345-546: The parent) to be converted into a special heavy-duty version. Most heavy haulage and heavy lift engineering firms employ heavy duty tractor-unit models that can accommodate a ballast box. Countries where modernization is taking place, such as regions of the Middle East and South Africa and Asia, operate larger number of ballast tractors due to the greater frequency of heavy loads (such as power station components) and infrastructure projects. Apart from being used by fairgrounds as

368-405: The rear chassis of the tractor instead of the fifth wheel coupling. Earlier heavy haulers unmounted the fifth wheel and used merely a piece or two of heavy rocks , stones or concrete blocks which weighted enough to avoid wheel spin, later builders and heavy haulers developed metal boxes of different designs to match the tractor layout. These boxes were filled with concrete or steel to increase

391-405: The regional guidelines, these tractors units do not have fifth wheel and drive out from the factory with a ballast box. Heavy haul operators convert heavy-duty tractors to ballast tractors with an aftermarket ballast box built by a builder or by themselves. New age power boosters which are external engine an accessory of hydraulic modular trailer can also be mounted on the tractor chassis to act as

414-421: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Dragon Wagon . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dragon_Wagon&oldid=1240036504 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

437-423: The tractor for push or pull applications. Some manufacturers also provide tractors with drawbar coupling fitted from the factory. Only a handful of manufacturers produce dedicated ballast tractors. Most high-volume manufacturers offer heavy-duty chassis versions of certain tractor units, which enable a ballast box to be fitted. In Europe, manufacturers tend to send some of their products to another company (owned by

460-725: The tractor unit was fitted with both an armored cab and two winches with a combined pull of 60 tons, allowing it to do light battlefield recovery work . A later unarmored version of the M26 tractor was designated the M26A1 . An experimental ballast tractor conversion was evaluated by the British Fighting Vehicle Proving Establishment After the war, some of them (both armored and unarmored) were bought as surplus and used to carry oversize loads such as transformers , locomotives and heavy equipment. Ballast tractor A ballast tractor

483-517: The tractor, sometimes both, it connects the HMT to the ballast tractor. Earlier coupling consisted of in house made metal hitch which had loops to lock drawbar eyes with a pin. Later fifth wheel manufacturers like Jost Rockinger and Ringfeder developed heavy-duty drawbar couplings with a 50 mm loop, drawbars and drawbar eyes which were built with higher quality and standards this increase the safety significantly. These couplings can be mounted on both ends of

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506-504: The weight of the tractor. The problem with ballast tractors was the weight of ballast itself weighted over 10, 20 or even 40 tons in some scenarios. Other designs also included sleeping cabins in the ballast for the drivers and the crew for longer journeys and harsh weather conditions, This made the height of the tractors increase significantly, these units are still used today in the gulf area due to extreme heat. Some units have factory fitted ballast box with appropriate weight to meet with

529-528: Was a substantial upgrade over the Diamond T M19 transporter/trailer duo introduced in 1940. Nicknamed the Dragon Wagon , it was replaced by the 10 ton 6x6 M123 semi-tractor beginning in 1955. In 1942 a new 40 ton semi-trailer tank transporter was needed with better off-road performance than the M9 24 small-wheel trailer, and greater capacity than the 30 ton 8 large-wheel Shelvoke and Drewry semi-trailers used by

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