EUROPEAN SCENE
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by Bill Godwin
Variable wheelbase for floor-loading
7.5 tonner he German Ruthmann groundwel loading 7.5 ton load carrier, ased on' a prototype first seen at 1st year's Frankfurt Show, is now production. It is designed to rovide for a higher payload and platform width.
he Ruthmann unit icorporates a 110-bhp engined fnimog "traction head" on 12.5OX tyres although a modified lercedes-Benz normal control ,T 911 in its front-wheel-drive vise can also be specified. To allow the 2.1m wide body D be lowered to the ground dualurpose hydraulic jacks mounted t the extremity of a U-frame hassis as well as behind the cab It the entire vehicle slightly. he rear axle is unlocked from ts running position and moved orward hydraulically to a stop .nder a short, fixed-deck section at the front of the vehicle.
The 4.6m long moving body section is then lowered for "walk-in" handling of the load. The design also allows accurate lining up of the rear of the body floor with loading banks of any height up to 1.3m (4ft 3in).
Overall platform length— including the fixed forward section—is 5.98m and the wheelbase in running trim is 5m, producing an unusually large rear overhang of 2.55m. The vehicle is plated at a gross weight of 13,700kg with a carrying capacity of 7,500kg. An added refinement is the use of air suspension on the rear, sliding, axle with the air lines automatically taken up on retraction of the running gear for operatiOn of the lifting cycle.
The novel unit has already been introduced by a number of