<EM>> you can't see where the driver sits and he can't see where you sit.</EM>

Yeah, but look at the clearance on that puppy. All you have to do is duck a little bit and it'd go right over you!



<SMALL>(I know, I know... I'm kidding, okay?)</SMALL>

you go first.

Many years ago I worked in Conshohocken. My route to work took me through a large stone quarry.

They had these trucks.

They were a sight to see, indeed.

There was one crossing where you had to stop and make sure that none of these things were intending to cross ... they have about the same ability to stop on a dime that a freight train does.

Re: Re: electric motors
 

All modern diesel locomotives work this way. The diesel generates electricity and the wheels are actually turned by electric motors. (Which is one of the reasons why Westinghouse is a major manufacturer)

According to howstuffworks.com:

"The five- or six-speed transmission on most cars allows them to go 110 mph (177 kph) or faster with an engine-speed range of 500 to 6,000 rpm. The engine on our diesel locomotive has a much smaller speed range. Its idle speed is around 269 rpm, and its maximum speed is only 904 rpm. With a speed range like this, a locomotive would need 20 or 30 gears to make it up to 110 mph (177 kph).

A gearbox like this would be huge (it would have to handle 3,200 horsepower), complicated and inefficient. It would also have to provide power to four sets of wheels, which would add to the complexity.

By going with a hybrid setup, the main diesel engine can run at a constant speed, turning an electrical generator. The generator sends electrical power to a traction motor at each axle, which powers the wheels. The traction motors can produce adequate torque at any speed, from a full stop to 110 mph (177 kph), without needing to change gears."

So if one of those wheels happened to roll over you, I imagine you would be dead as a doornail, but would you be as flat as a pancake?

i wonder if they get a tax deduction like the H2 does.
pretty soon everybody's gonna want one!
"I got one because I wanted to be sure I would come out on top in an accident with an H2"

Yes.;)

This big truck reminded me of the big crawler NASA uses to move around the space shuttle. Looking up info on it, I found that they are no longer the biggest vehicles around. There is a monster called the Bagger 288 German excavator.

It looks like a Fortress Maximus with a spinning blade of death attachment:

http://www.wisoveg.de/rheinbraun/rb-bg-17022001lnk.html

thats not street legal...

Neither is that truck.:)

Pelican
 

The Boeing Pelican aircraft would weigh more than that truck.

I'm waiting for that truck to show up in some redneck front yard, up on (big) blocks and having a huge blue tarp in the bed , filled with water, acting as a temporary swimming pool that is in defiance of zoning regulations.

Anyone have Photoshop and can make that pic happen? I don't have the skilz.

Sorry, Bruce .. in my neck of the woods, those trucks ARE street legal ... :D

http://www.users.bigpond.com/car/barbera.html

Click on 'next' at the bottom RH corner of the page, for the full sequence of pics ....
Then .. ask me to show you the size of the HOLE, they work these trucks in .... :eek:

That is mighty cool. One of the greatest things about iotd is when people respond with actual knowledge and further info about the picture or its subject. Thanks onetrack!

Waste is a relative term. While I'm sure it uses quite a bit of fuel, but seperating the motor from the wheels, it can run in it's most efficient power range.

Tell me which is more efficient:

Moving 45 people in a Honda insight that gets 60 mpg, or

Moving 45 people all at once in a Bus that gets 8 mpg?