here are the new made in France, operated in South Africa Nicolas Tractomas TR88 D75

Rotran of ZA has received 5 of these new units. they already own 4 TRL1010 D100 10x10 tractors with 912 hp and three TR88 DRK D75 8x8 tractors with 760hp engines

these below can be recognized by their new cab design. These TR88 D75 feature a Caterpillar C27 engine with 950 hp making them the current record holder for the most poneys under a on-road HH truck hood

one truck is 3m30 wide, 4m30 high and weighs a whopping 75 metric tons ballasted.

all pictures are under the copyright of Mr. Dennis Child from Rotran. posted with permission

©Dennis Child / Rotran




as you know the history of Nicolas Tractomas trucks since their first appearance in 1979 is one of my hobbies i can let you know that with the delivery of these 5 babies the total count of Tractomas documented goes up to 97. I am very sure the number goes over 100 during 2009 ;)

sorry i was not able to find the corresponding Tractomas thread again here in this forum due to the damn ever-non-working search function.

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ROTRAN: now it's a very impressive fleet with their several Tractomas and Pacific P12 rebuilding !!

You say in your title : "the world most powerful on road heavy haulage trucks ", yes except the Kenworth 1000 H.P made by fontaine in Alabama for Heavy Moving & Rigging Co, powered with Caterpillar engine V12 twin turbo 1000 hp

Someone needs to put this under the hood of a truck!!!

http://www.dieselpowermag.com/features/trucks/0706dp_marnie_diesel_engines/photo_12.html

1800 hp marine cat....

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The beatings will continue until Morale improves......

yes of course

its a normal type that you can order from Nicolas like that. and they are made in series. Rotran has eight 8x8 and four 10x10 already, with more to come. similar 8x8 Tractomas are working at LEMTC Guangzhou and Gujarat Power Energy Company in China

of course its not RVI and not produced in thousands, but its definately a regular Nicolas series product.

the truck you mentioned below and the Pete 379 i wrote are trucks that were modified by their owners, and absolute one-offs, which to me make a significant difference.

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Fontaine: trailer manufacturer who customized one of his Kenworth trucks.
Nicolas: trailer AND heavy tractor manufacturer where everybody can order a heavy haulage truck. the don´t use it for themselves, they build for others.

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Christian, how do those Titans that haul the nuclear waste in France compare, in horsepower and torque?

first one 560 hp Mack/RVI V8 engine, the other 3 at around 700 hp now (even though they played around with components like turbos a bit. mechanics says they tested one on the bank with over 900 hp once but had to reduce power again.

i don´t know the torque but i´d say roughly about a third of the Rotran tractomas who push their power through Renk and Clark automatic gearboxes.

i have yet to see a current regular truck on the road (with a registered license plate) who gives over 9000 Nm of torque comparable to the Tractomas. HP alone does not make it, its the whole drivetrain that counts.

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thats exactly what i am saying. Fontaine rig is a modified W900.
the Tractomas are not modified. Nicolas builds them like that. Nicolas makes trailers, but Nicolas also builds these trucks. they have Cat engines and Clark gearboxes, but its a Nicolas product. you know that Pat, come on!

Kenworth --> Fontaine modification --> customer
Nicolas --> customer

the TR88 has been on the Nicolas catalogue since 1979 and has been built in vsarious configs. the current version TRL88 D75 is the last one and has been made in a series of 5 after Rotran already uses 3. if in the size class of these trucks thats not a series, then i really don´t know what is. Rotran now uses 12 (!) tractomas of this kind, with other having been built by Nicolas as well and used worldwide.

no modifications!!!! Nicolas regular products!!!! no custom job!!!!

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Great thread...fascinating subject.