Semi trucks moving a large transformer - GIF

Semi trucks moving a large transformer.

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Previously:

https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...248#post211339
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...727#post212939
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...283#post185013
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...052#post191368
https://www.homemadetools.net/forum/...182#post172540

That is amazing.

When I see things like this I ask myself how are we going to get anything done when all of the trucks have to be electric? Will the next brilliant idea be to make all of the construction equipment electric also?

There is a precedent for electric equipment. (Edited from wikipedia)
Big Muskie was the world’s largest electric shovel, used for strip mining coal in Ohio. It was the only machine of its kind and was so massive; it could remove 240 tons of coal in a single scoop. It was powered by electricity supplied at 13,800 volts via a trailing cable, which had its own transporter/coiling units to move it.[1] The electricity powered the main drives, eighteen 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) and ten 625 horsepower (466 kW) DC electric motors. Some systems in Big Muskie were electro-hydraulic, but the main drives were all electric.[3] While working, Big Muskie used the equivalent of the power for 27,500 homes, costing tens of thousands of dollars an hour just in power costs and necessitating special agreements with local Ohio power companies to accommodate the extra load. The machine had a crew of five, and worked around the clock, with special emphasis on night work since the per kilowatt-hour rate was much cheaper.

There is no way we have the generation capacity now or in the near future to power all of this stuff.

Sorry, I get side traced sometimes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hemmjo

That is amazing.

When I see things like this I ask myself how are we going to get anything done when all of the trucks have to be electric? Will the next brilliant idea be to make all of the construction equipment electric also?

There is a precedent for electric equipment. (Edited from wikipedia)
Big Muskie was the world’s largest electric shovel, used for strip mining coal in Ohio. It was the only machine of its kind and was so massive; it could remove 240 tons of coal in a single scoop. It was powered by electricity supplied at 13,800 volts via a trailing cable, which had its own transporter/coiling units to move it.[1] The electricity powered the main drives, eighteen 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) and ten 625 horsepower (466 kW) DC electric motors. Some systems in Big Muskie were electro-hydraulic, but the main drives were all electric.[3] While working, Big Muskie used the equivalent of the power for 27,500 homes, costing tens of thousands of dollars an hour just in power costs and necessitating special agreements with local Ohio power companies to accommodate the extra load. The machine had a crew of five, and worked around the clock, with special emphasis on night work since the per kilowatt-hour rate was much cheaper.

There is no way we have the generation capacity now or in the near future to power all of this stuff.

Sorry, I get side traced sometimes.

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Don't apologize! Side tracks are like candy for those who like to learn new things.

Big Muskie was doing it's thing not too far from here and I had the opportunity to see it working before they shut it down. It sounded like Godzilla and had a crew of welders working to hold it together. The power cable was huge. Sadly, the only thing left of it it now is the bucket.

So...why? Is that transformer so riculously heavy that it couldn't be transported on a heavy-duty flatbed trailer? Is the green framework part of its final resting place, or is that just the way to move bigheavythings now? I mean, I can't imagine that box weighs much more than a D-10 dozer. I have so many questions!

Unlike the video link, Semi trucks transporting bulldozer, at the beginning of this thread, more often when BIG equipment is moved, it is disassembled. The specifications of a D-10 make it impossible to move on an heavy duty flat bed.

Notice the specifications are even stated as "Transport sizes".
Weight 
64.1*t, 
Transport length 
9.26*m 30.38 ft, 
Transport width
 3.7*m. 12.1 ft,
 Transport height
 4.34*m 14.29 ft, 
Track width
 710*mm 2.33 ft
, Front blade width 
5.26*m 17.26 ft


The blade, rippers, track and carriage assemblies would be removed and shipped on separate trucks.

In addition, as big as a D-10 is there is a lot of AIR included within a dozer. There is space within that massive machine that contains nothing. It may seen insignificant, but when you put air where there would be iron, it makes a difference. Think about all of the empty space that weights nothing; operator space, cylinders, fuel and hydraulic tanks, oil pan and galleries inside the engine, coolant passages, many more empty spaces within the envelope of the dozer.

The electrical transformer on the other hand is solid, there is no empty space. It is solid iron and copper, with a bit of insulation on the windings. Many transformers are even wound with wire having a square cross section to allow higher magnetic density. There is some space for cooling oil, but not much at all.

Also consider that the extravagant "trailer" shown in the video is as much to protect the roadway as to carry the weight of the load. You could put all of those tires much closer together and haul the same load IF the road could handle it.

Maximum take of weight for a Boeing 777 is 775,000 lb. 385 Tons. That is carried on only 14 tires. BUT airport runways are built and maintained totally different than common roads.

I counted 88 tires on that transformer rig, including the tractors. That is all to save the roads

I would also add that the trailer configuration allows for sharper corners as long as the side of the road is not too high.

But is it Megatron or Optimus Prime? It's hard to tell from the video.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hoosiersmoker

But is it Megatron or Optimus Prime? It's hard to tell from the video.

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Hard to say, looks like satin hunter green . . .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hemmjo

Unlike the video link, [COLOR="#0000FF"] <<<snipped>>>
Maximum take of weight for a Boeing 777 is 775,000 lb. 385 Tons. That is carried on only 14 tires. BUT airport runways are built and maintained totally different than common roads.

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Our local Air National Guard, a tactical airlift wing, the runways appear at least 3 feet thick. There are several assigned C-130's, C-17's fly in regularly, dwarfing the 130's. Until a C-5 joins the runway.
C-5 takeoff max weight is 840,000 pounds; 270,000 pounds cargo + 332,500 pounds fuel; after being refueled in flight. C-5s have weighed 920,836 pounds, on twenty-eight wheels. Good deal, anticipating potential of 460 tons!
Runway, it seems well prepared, has survived two significant floods of Missouri River, western boundary between states Missouri and Kansas.
Attachment 45256

My count of tires was a tad more than 88 there are 22 on the 2 tractors alone and if you notice those axles on the jeeps and bogie units are side by sides which would mean 8 tires across per axle spacing That type of trailer unit would have the same number of axles in the rear as you can see in the front or 32 axles in all for a total number of tires on the ground assuming there is not another tractor pushing in the rear 150. Now it gets interesting some states will allow special permits of 22,000 per axle when the tandems have enough spacing between them. other states cap the weight at 20,000 permitted per axle. A standard Semi tractor trailer combo of 5 axles is 34+34+12 or 80,000 lbs. When considering a move of this nature the State board of Highway engineers are involved for which ever state or states the move is to be transported. Assuming they were only allowed 34,000 lbs per tandem set having 8 tires on the trailer combination that would be 544,000 add another 100,000 for the tractors with the concrete blocks we get 644,000 but could be as high as 768,000 if the respective states would allow it but we are looking at 2 heavy duty tractors That Brockway in front is obviously a heavy built tractor with those planetary drive axles The KW would be slouch either. say 40K for the trucks those Mafia blocks weigh between 2800 and 3600 each depending on their size, and I counted 20 on the lead truck That trailer combo would be around 200,000 bare, but more probably closer to 250K, another 72,000 for concrete and before the load is even lowered onto the rig there is between 312and 330,000 lbs of hog iron to move. A modular platform trailer and 2 trucks would be a weight savings of at least 1/3 to 1/2. The problem with a modular platform unit would be the overall height with the transformer on it, and some states are reluctant to consider issuing permits for them because of bureaucratic nonsense.
If only we would learn how to build roads like Israel built their highway from Televi to Haifa you can land and take off with a fully loaded cargo plane on any stretch of it

Per Frank S, after a dive into tire count; "NOW, it gets interesting . . .".

Or is it just me?

Over in the Middle East I saw 200-ton complete drill rigs moved across the hard pan of the desert on a few as 6 very large earth moving equipment tires and hardly even leave a trail where they traveled. In the mines where those 300 yon capacity dump trucks are used when it becomes time to mine the haul road the ground has to be broken up with a ripper before a D11 can even scrape away the over burden.
When President Eisenhour proposed the Interstate highway network they were originally supposed to be designed to carry heavy military equipment across the country. But I have seen gravel roads that would hold up to overloading better than many of the highways.

Now I want to see it make a turn.

Thank you, hemmjo! That clears up a lot of questions. I had no idea about the contents of that big grey box. Square wire..who'da thunk it?

OOPs I did miss a few tires!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hemmjo

OOPs I did miss a few tires!

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https://ifunny.co/picture/im-here-fo...2lxiXwlGA?s=cl

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ralphxyz

Now I want to see it make a turn.

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Ralph; steering one of these units takes a bit of skill, as you can imagine. Different rigs are done much differently. back in the early 1990s A close friend and customer of mine had a 13 axle rig called 3+3+3+4 rig which meant a 4-axle tractor with lift axle in front of the drive axles a 3 axle long neck Jeep the unit right behind the tractor. on the jeep under the 5th wheel for the trailer was connected was a hydraulic tower that I made so the front of the trailer could be raised on in another case a bolster was connected to carry the load, when the trailer deck and neck were not used. the 3 axle group in the rear of the trailer deck was detachable so the deck or bed of the trailer could be removed behind that was called the stinger the 3rd 3 axle group which articulated from the trailer axles. Near the articulation point was where I made another hydraulic elevating tower which could be added when required. It had another pivoting bolster on it I custom made hydraulic cylinders and attached them to the 2 3axle groups to force the articulation think of an articulating rubber tired payloader's movement. With the load on the bolster the back end could be steered to swing out wide turning left to go right type of action. On the very back of everything I mounted a platform with safety railing for a guy to ride back there when steering around corners was required. It is slow going when the rear needs to be steered because any wrong or fast movement becomes disastrous &" RIGHT NOW". Later on when he bought an 18-axle unit, I modified that unit so he could steer the rear groups from the cab of his truck. Truck drivers who specialize in hauling the supersize Class L loads are the best of the best in the business or they may as well be classed as a kid in a Miata distracted by their cell phone while jamming to loud music. He kept his rigs parked on the lot at my shop and one time he called me to bring the 18-axle unit to him in Houston with the 33 ft extension beams installed making the rig 150 feet long end to end. It was a driving experience because even without a load to worry about there is a lot going on when navigating even the gentler curves. I was sure thankful for having made it cab rear steer capable.