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trailer world Issue One 2014

Reportage 26      Issue One 2014 riculture. Stapel GmbH is a specialist in the agricultural machinery and environmental technology sector, and has been manufac- turing vehicles for both these applications for several years now. With the AgroTruck, the company has designed a solution which meets all requirements: Stapel combines the technology of a mass-production truck with the kind of equipment that makes it possible to drive across farm fields. What’s special about it is that the AgroTruck is not registered as a truck, but as a tractor, which means it can be driven on a T-class driving licence – by people of 18 years and older. It is subject to the same legal regulations as a tractor. In addition, farmers benefit from the use of agricultural diesel. To ensure that the maximum speed for this classification is not exceeded, the technicians at Stapel have restricted the machine to 60 km/h – a speed that is optimum for use on country roads in view of the large tonnages involved. New running gear systems make agriculture more mobile Until now, speeds of this kind were out of reach for vehicles used in agriculture. This changed when BPW undertook further de- velopment of its running gear systems that the company produces specifically for agri- cultural applications; it designed them for speeds up to 80 km/h and equipped then with a new steering system. Bernd Stapel trained as an agricultural machinery me- chanic, has national qualifications in the technology of machine building as well as being an environmental protection tech- nician. For him, this news was like firing a starting pistol: “We have long since been waiting for the opportunities that are now opening up.” The agricultural machinery builders from Albersloh were also the first to install the new running gear systems in their trailers in 2013. And they are satisfied: “The axles have been built strong enough for the tough conditions and are extremely relia- ble,” says Bernd Stapel. Stapel GmbH has been relying almost exclusively on BPW axles since 2001. The new running gear systems now enable the company to take a further step. The AgroTruck uses MAN trucks from the TGS series for pulling it. This delivers a power of up to 530 PS off-road or on- road. The payload is 25 tonnes, and the total weight of the tractor/trailer combi- nation up to 40 tonnes. Bernd Stapel and his companion Thomas Suntrup adapt- ed the truck in several respects for use in agriculture. For example, the towing ve- hicle can be equipped with high-volume low-pressure wheels if required (diame- ter: 1.33 metres). The tyres of the semitrailer, which usu- ally has pneumatic or hydraulic suspension, can be up to 1.60 metres in diameter, with a width of up to 800 mm. An intelligent tyre pressure control system enables the driv- er to reduce the tyre pressure when driv- ing off-road, thereby increasing the con- tact area. As a result, the vehicle achieves much better traction on uneven field sur- faces, while the power steering provides extreme manoeuvrability. An adaptation in the CAN bus controller ensures addi- tional safety: it prevents driving too fast at low tyre pressures. In the tractor vehi- cle, the air hoses for increasing and reduc- ing the tyre pressure are routed through an external linkage, although this is not necessary in the semitrailer: the BPW ax- les have prepared holes to accommodate the hoses. High-performance load-sensing hydraulics not only supply the tyre pressure control system but also the ancillary units – such as the pump which pumps the sub- strate onto the field, the trailer body or the semitrailer. Furthermore, a ball joint cou- pling irons out uneven ground. 150 new vehicles every year Construction of the AgroTruck is fol- lowing the tradition of many new develop- ments that Stapel has come up with over the past 150 years. The village smithy operated by the Stapel family was a point of contact Photos:SörenMünzer

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