The Mercedes-Benz/Magirus EPA (Echelle Pivotante Automobile, French acronym used for any "Rotating Ladder Truck" fire engine):







To be continued.
Guy

Other Italian model in a 1/50 scale:







Mercedes-Benz Unimog U 5000 4x4/2 truck fitted with a Camiva CCFM4 forest fire body with tank, pump and monitor nozzle (modified Bburago model),



Regards.
Guy

The Nicoletti combination carrying a Liebherr R984 excavator*:









Note *: Nicoletti had a R981 but, as Sijam and CEF only produced a 1/50 shovel version of it, Jean-Francois loaded a R984 excavator instead. The 984 is 117 tonnes in weight, far from the 65/75 tonnes of its 981 counterpart.
Limited at 20 tonnes/line on French open roads, the Nicolas modular semi-trailer can carry approx. 91 tonnes, while in closed sites, its payload increases up to 28 tonnes/line: an internal move was then selected for that 1/50 model.

Regards.
Guy

Craig,

I had a look at the Nicolas booklet I have: as per French road rules at that time, a 4-line modular semi-trailer (4-tire per axle with 2-axle/line), accepts a payload of 91 tonnes for a GVW of 115 tonnes, at 20 tonnes per line. See abstract of the Nicolas "SGT 14.650 Modular System Booklet" below:



You should note that the Nicoletti trailer was tailored by Nicolas to their customer needs (rear folding ramps, thinner intermediate bed, ...) but payload per line remained the same:



Such item is limited these days to heavy haulage tasks, where the 28 tonnes/line technical limit (stated somewhere else in the booklet) can be used. Single-tire line lowbeds (2-tire per axle with 2-axle/line) limited to 12 tonnes/line have taken-over plant equipment transport on open roads.

To answer your second question, all Nicoletti-owned SAVIEM 6x4 heavy tractors - MAN units imported in France by SAVIEM, thanks to the commercial links both companies had at that time - was designed for a 150 tonnes (and up to 250 tonnes) capacity, within the load of this combination.

Regards.
Guy

Craig,

This was built by Nicolas, a French company which specialized, from 1950s, in any sort of lowboy, modular heavy haulage set and heavy tow truck. These were sold in large numbers all over Europe and the entire world (USA included). Facing financial difficulties in the nineties, they became part of the Tii Group (with Scheuerle, Kamag and recently Tiiger in India) and closed-down around 2020.

Should you want to know more about Nicolas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Industrie and https://www.nicolas.fr/ .

I hope it helps.
Guy

A Bundeswehr combination - the West-Germany Army - in the seventies:

FAUN L 912/SA 6x6/2 tractor with winch and Blumhardt P 517/809 Variant 2 2-line low bed semi-trailer (GMTS models) loaded with a 15.6 tonnes Massey-Ferguson 450S tracked excavator (NZG model),









Regards.
Guy

DAF FX 105-T460 4x2/2 tractor and Nooteboom MCO 48-03V (VM) 3-axle extendible semi-low bed semi-trailer (WSI models), carrying two 10.01 tonnes Bobcat T40-180 SLP 4x4/4 telehandlers with tool-carrier telescopic beams (modified Bburago models) fitted with lifting forks and an access platform (Bburago elements),







Regards.
Guy

Craig,

I agree with you: these 1st Gear Ford combinations are very nicely modeled.
I only know another set which is in "Werner Enterprise" livery (below), but it is almost impossible to find in Europe these days:



Picture issued from the "Awesome Diecast" shop website.

Regards.
Guy

Craig,

Many thanks for your offer but I'll have to decline it as I use to collect no more than 1 item per type of model and I already have that Pioneer grain set, an Allis-Chalmers flatbed set and a modified other flatbed, now carrying a homemade buoy, all towed by Ford 800s:





The "Pioneer" was found for a fair price for sale in Holland sometime ago, but I had been searching for one of those for quite a long time. Some 1st Gear grain sets can be found for sale in US, but I find that cost of shipping to get them here and import taxes are way too high.

I hope it helps.
Guy

To be continued.
Guy