Trucking Milestones: 1979 – a precision job in the 2632

Series: Trucking milestones

Impossible? Not quite.

Because the main through-road of a town is too narrow, a heavy-duty transport truck resorts to special methods in Tyrol.


The problem was 4.80 metres across and was in the small village of Sellrain in Austria. The village’s main through-road wasn’t exactly wide. Obviously no one had considered that an abnormal load would ever have to pass through here when it was built. In 1979 the village was a challenge for the load’s drivers – their tractor/trailer combination was 7.20 metres wide and 9.20 metres long.

The freight was a turbine wheel housing for a power station that was to be delivered from Baden‑Württemberg’s Heidenheim to Kühtai in Austria. The transportation professionals from the Viktor Baumann haulage company were on the job with several Mercedes‑Benz trucks. A 2632 AK was equipped with a particularly powerful drive system. The 6×6 truck operated with a twelve-cylinder OM 404 engine with a nominal output of 311 kW (422 hp).



75 tonnes across twelve axles.

However, even the best semitrailer truck couldn’t solve the problems caused by the narrow through-road. The solution was a construction that was mounted on a twelve-axle low-loader vehicle with 96 wheels. It comprised a rotating/positioning frame, in which, with the help of a hydraulic cylinder, the freight could be put almost into a vertical position. Stabilisers on the low loader prevented the vehicle from tipping over during this operation.

Thus the load was 4.30 metres wide. One centimetre at a time, the truck with its 75-tonne freight rolled through the idyllic village. Once it had left the village, the housing was lowered again. And the team and villagers – who would talk about the operation for a long time to come – breathed a huge sigh of relief.


Photos: Daimler AG

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