Bellemare moves a Schmidt

Heavy and oversize specialists Transport Bellemare had an interesting load out of Halifax today - a Schmidt TJS-C630 airport jet sweeper. 

Bellemare used a Western Star with a tag axle to pull a tri-axle Manac goose neck trailer rated at 40 tonnes.

AEBI Schmidt of Burgdorf, Switzerland builds a range of snow clearing vehicles. This one is an articulated rig with a 6.3 meter wide broom. The powered cab unit pulls the unpowered trailer. 

 

The rear mounted engine drives the rotating brush and the jet that blows clear the last of the snow.

 

Some airport will be receiving this unit just in time for the winter season.

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Epiroc

 Mining equipment arrives in Halifax by ship, moslty from the Sandvik company from Sweden. However that is not the only Swedish manufacturer. I have now noted a mine truck built by Epiroc.

 It is a MT42 model, an articulated Mine Truck with a 42 tonne capacity. Full specs are available here: Epiroc MT 42

Epiroc was spun off from the Atlas Copco company as of January 1, 2018 and is now a stand alone, offering a full range of mining equipment and operates world wide. 

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More Wheels

 If you need to haul big, you need more wheels. That is certainly the motto of Atlantic Tiltload Ltd, when they had a Terex Finlay J-1175 Tracked Jaw Crusher to transport.

The Western Star, fleet number 78, had a spare axle not in use, but the Trail King trailer rig had all its wheels on the ground, including a three axle jeep and two axle booster. According to the Finlay web site, the operating weight of a J-1175 rock crusher is 113,096 lbs / 51,300 kg. I expect shipping weight might be a little bit less.

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RVs keep on rolling

 European RVs are rolling in to Halifax in record numbers. Whether it is arriving en route to spend the winter in the warmer part of the continent or heading back to Europe after a summer of roving, it is hard to tell, sincd I rarely see any people nearby. Here is a sampling of this week's crop:

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Linde goes gas with Volvo

 Linde Canada Inc, the large industrial gas distributor, has entered into a one-time pilot program with Volvo North America to operate five LNG powered trucks. I was a little surprised to see that the truck model they will be using is the European built Volvo FH 460, a standard LNG powered vehicle, but perhaps built to Canadian (North American) standards. The five tractors arrived in Halifax by ship last week.

The trucks are rated for 60 tonnes GCW with up to 500 hp and a 1,000 km range. The high-pressure direct injection LNG system is reported to provide performance similar to conventional diesels, but the use of LNG reduces CO2 emissions considerably.

Expect to see these on the road somewhere near where they can refuel. 

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Plane Part

 Total Transport and Rigging's HX model Navistar International hauled an aircraft tail section out of the PSA Fairview Cove terminal today (October 4). The extra-wide component had a red and white painted steel guard around the overhang, and was followed by an escort pickup truck.

Normally these European built components, destined for a Bombardier assembly plant, are hauled by trucks from the Quebec based Transport Watson heavy haul specialists. The TTL rig looked more than capable, so it may be going the distance this time.

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The Heavies Keep Rolling

 Within less than an hour I clocked about a dozen trucks, most of them heavy, either coming out of PSA's Fairview Cove terminal or from the port's other Roll On Roll Off pier in the Richmond Terminal - and that was just the loads, there were numerous barebacks arrriving for loads too. Here's a sampling:

Yes Atlantic Tiltload does have a tri-axle Freightliner. Fleet number 49 picked up this Rottne F15E (15 tonne capacity) timber forwarder.

The company also has a similar tandem axle F'liner (sorry I missed the number) that picked up a flatrack container with some extra wide crates.
 

TDR Transportation (trucking division of Municipal Contracting) was moving some crane components for J.D.Irving Ltd. They had a Navistar International with mid-rise sleeper on the job:

J.D.Irving Ltd, for their part, had an interesting Western Star equipped with a beefy Manitex TM 200 20 ton crane to lift off the counterweights and other gear.

Back to the heavies:

Killingeck Transport of Selby, ON (northeast of Kingston) had this Kenworth T680 to haul a piece of Sandvik drilling equipment:

Also carrying Sandvik machinery, Earl Paddock from Stoney Creek, ON had their Kenworth number 546 with a LH410 model underground loader:

 We used to see Earl Paddock trucks frequently carrying military vehicles for export from General Dynamics in London, ON. But the Saudi Arabian shipping company moved its operations to Saint John so that I could not photograph them.

D.Dumais et Fils trucks (from way up in Dolbeau-Mistassini, QC) are regulars in Halifax hauling away forestry equipment. Their Kenwoth number 53 had a Komatsu 901 harvester this time:

Closer to home Valley Flatbed of Aylesford, NS had two rigs for similar loads. First was a flashy red Peterbilt with flat top sleeper.:

and second was a plain vanilla Peterbilt with a low rise sleeper:

Each had the Mercedes Arocs tractor portions of a pair of Øveraasen airport runway snow sweepers that arrived last week from Norway (via Sweden) on the ship Don Carlos.

Unlike some similar (but red painted) units that arrived a few weeks ago (see August 7, 2023 post) these yellow rigs were not marked with an airport code. Perhaps they are headed for the Canadian military base in Greenwood, NS - close to Valley Flatbed's home.

There is no end to the odd looking loads coming out of the port. Brookville Carriers Flatbed from Truro, NS had these rubber ship fenders. Although not especially heavy, they do require some good lashing (not sure why they need blue protective pads) . Commonly called Yokohama fenders, after the Yokohma Rubber Co which first built these low pressure "cushions", that is a trade name however and several other companies manufacture similar products under their own names. The Port of Halifax has many of these in service to protect ships from scraping and damage when tied up alongside. Cruise ships are particular about the condition of their hull paint, and they require several of these fenders for protection. 

The Navistar International LT features red fuel tanks.

 JDI Logistics had an unusual looking 20 foot Ritzy International Transportation tanktainer on a long chassis (for protection?)  marked for tetrafluroethane (HazMat code 3159) - a non flammable (but hazardous) refrigerant gas.

The blue whale on the tank appears to be trying to escape from something...

And finally CFL Heavy Haul of Milton, ON was not hauling anything heavy when it passed my position and its step deck trailer appeared better suited to extra high container hauling, but I liked the look of the Kenworth T680 with high rise sleeper even if it was a stark refrigerator white. (The driver was headed for the container terminal but had apparently taken a wrong turn somehwere.)

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More Euros

 The European RVs keep rolling through the Port of Halifax. A couple of interesting ones showed up today.

This big Merc has some extra Rally lights and dual rear tires. The RV unit is from Neismann + Bischoff's Clou line.  Access through the side door may be a little awkward parked that close to a light pole, but it has a walk though cab.

 The German plate "PB" is from Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia.

The name badge on this unit says Bürstner, with the model being IXEO:

The chassis and running gear is likely FIAT as far as I can tell.

The "E" plate is a license from Spain (España), but I don't know which city code MCD stands for.

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American LaFrance revisited

 On this day, September 6, 1980 I happened to be passing through Caribou, Maine on my way back to Halifax from Quebec. The Caribou Fire Department had their all American LaFrance fleet out on the apron, and I was lucky enough to get the following photos:

No.1

No.2

No.3

No.4

No.8

pump panel for No.3

Some departments were still running open top "bathtub" cab LaFrances in those days, but Maine's winters likely discouraged that practice. The 'sedan cab" was a rarity by the 1980s. The long hood, with bell mount, covered a straight eight gasoline engine.

No.3

Biggest yet

There have been some pretty big European RVs in Halifax recently - usually the off road types on a MAN chassis /cab. Today's catch however is a real rarity - a Volvo FH sleeper, long wheelbase with tandem rears (one may be a tag, but is not a lift axle). This would be a typical long haul transport on European roads (and the rest of the world too - except North America), but would not be an expected choice for an RV.

Carrying Austrian plates, (from the State of Carinthia) it does appear to have some miles on it, judging by the paint wear and the number of stickers it has accumulated.

There is a flush fitting side door access to the RV unit, on the curb side, just above a section of checker plate.

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RVs again

 I can't keep up with the continuing flood of European RVs, so can only post from time to time as I see something unusual. Today (August 17) definitely qualifies as 6X6 wheel arrangements are quite rare in the RV world. Also the Bucher name is not well known here as a truck manufacturer.

Bucher Municipal is a Swiss truck builder that specializes in what we would call "vocational" vehicles such as street sweepers, refuse, construction, ready-mix, winter maintenance and others. Bucher builds the complete truck, not just the chassis. They are also hydraulics specialists, so many of these trucks use hydraulic systems.

Bucher was a partner in the development of the Mowag Duro (DUrable, RObust) military vehicles used by many European countries.

Today's "catch" certainly has a military look - especially the colour of the wheel rims. 

I would say physical agility is a necessity - that step ladder access to the body is stowed in an exterior compartment (right side rear) so exiting would be only via the cab until the ladder can be rigged.

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Watson Triple Header

 Transport Watson of Beloeil, QC, the over size specialists are well known in Halifax as regular loaders of airplane componenents that arrive from Europe by ship. Their trucks had a distinctive red colour scheme with "Watson" in blue, but that has changed a bit in the last year or so since the company was taken over by QSL (Quebec Stevedoring Ltd). They are now just plain red, but even so are usually very clean looking.

Today there were three Watson trucks in Halifax and they were unsual in a couple of respects. First, and most obvious, was that they were Freightliner COEs - a rare sight these days as engine forward trucks are the norm. In fact Freightliner has not produced COEs, (called the Argosy model) officially, since 2020 and even then they sold only glider kits for North America. The customer had to supply and install the engine and drivetrain.

The second point was that the trucks were transporting long steel tubular shapes. I don't say pipes, because they may be structural components for wind turbine towers or some other use. Watson has often carried components to the cement plant in Port Daniel - Gascons, QC.

 

Leading the parade was Watson W6883 with two tubes on an extended flat deck.

The trucks had some nice features, including fairings over the fuel tanks and "low rise" roof.

Next was W6881:

A nearly identical unit, it had a different arrangement of clearance lights on the windshield visor. It was hauling two tubes as far as I could see. 

Third in line was W6884, with three tubes on its extended flatdeck.

I guess because they were not over wide, they were able to exit the Fairvew Cove container terminal and head straight for the highway, without pilot cars. With the COEs they were under the 75 foot length limit - hard to tell...