When it comes to transporting large construction machines, such as excavators or wheel loaders, the transport height is also of great importance. If the height exceeds four meters, special permits are necessary – which in turn involves bureaucracy, longer planning, and costs.
Staying below the maximum height
Therefore, the construction machinery company Bode decided on a three-axle low-bed X-semitrailer from Doll with the pendulum axle Doll tera. According to the company, even excavators can be transported with a transport height of up to 3,700 millimeters within the legally prescribed maximum height.
"When transporting the large JCB excavators, the height of the excavator arm is the limiting factor," explains Michael Schneider, Transport Manager at Bode Bautechnik. "With the wide excavator trough of the new low-loader, we can lay the arm deeper and stay below four meters in height."
Technical features
Another advantage lies in handling: Thanks to electronic assistance systems, the driver can control all central trailer
functions from the driver's seat in the truck.
Bode Bautechnik has been active in the sale and rental of construction machinery of various sizes for 35 years – from vibrating plates to a 37-ton crawler excavator. The payload of up to 45 tons also played a role in selecting the trailer, according to the information.
The special design of the tera pendulum axle allows the rear axle undercarriage to provide space for a continuous trough with a width of up to 900 millimeters and a depth of 550 millimeters.
According to Schneider, who transports large construction machines across Germany, through narrow city centers, along country roads, and up steep construction site entrances to the respective locations, every centimeter counts: "The Doll tera pendulum axle offers a stroke of 600 millimeters, providing sufficient ground clearance even in difficult areas with large height differences," he explains.
Loading
A safe and almost level loading process from the front is
provided by the hydraulically lowerable gooseneck. Additionally, the vehicle can be loaded with smaller construction machines via the aluminum ramps at the rear.
According to Schneider, the low-bed is so low that it is even possible to drive up from the side with the excavator – although this requires some finesse and experience. An integrated reversing camera is intended to provide additional safety when maneuvering on the construction site.
"If the loaded excavator is three meters wide, you practically have no visibility to the rear. The reversing camera is not an extra for me but a real safety feature – especially on unclear construction sites," says Schneider.
Doll control
Operating the trailer is supposed to be simplified by the control system Doll control. The driver receives an overview of tire pressure, weight distribution, load positioning, or the position of the support cylinders via a 7-inch color display. All functions can also be controlled via the Doll
connect remote control, the information states.
According to Schneider, with the old trailer, he had to get out to manually steer and connect a cable remote control at the rear of the vehicle. Now, he can adjust the driving level or interfere with the steering from the cab.
If you want to realign after manual steering, a button press on the remote control is possible, and the electronic realignment (EEP) automatically calculates the correct steering angle of the axles.
Various applications
Since Bode Bautechnik is also involved in special civil engineering alongside the sale and rental of construction machinery, the new vehicle must also be suitable for transporting long sheet piles and steel beams.
"With the adjustable support block, an even loading area can be created with just a few adjustments," Schneider explains and adds: "Moreover, the loading area can be telescoped by up to 5,700 millimeters if needed. In this way, we can also safely
