axles all the
steer
T
he Drake Group stepped up its Brisbane Truck Show display yet again, this year opting to outdo its usual two-up trailer installation, by stacking three trailers on top of each other!
All axles on the Steerable Deck Widener turn, providing up to 35 degrees of additional manoeuvrability
The aim of this, beyond of course showing how tough its trailers are, was to show off the latest Drake and O’Phee innovations – a result of the combined 100 years of trailer building experience the two brands share. There were plenty of firsts at the show for the Drake Group, as well as some of its tried and tested staples – with Drake continuing to push the envelope in the heavy haulage space. Deck widener evolution Drake Trailers has successfully merged cutting-edge technology with its rugged, robust range of trailers. A first for Drake, and a game changer in the heavy haulage space, is its latest Steerable Deck Widener. This in-house designed and built Steerable
Widener features Drake’s own ‘Active Steer’, which allows up to 35 degrees of additional maneuverability. “We’re calling it Active Steer because it’s basically steered off the skid plate to the turntable, with a mechanical link that steers the trailer as you corner,” explains Drake Trailers’ head of technical sales, Byron Foss. “All the axles steer on this trailer, not just the self-tracking on the rear axle, and what’s unique is we have the ability to disconnect the skid plate and steer it via a radio remote control. If you want to crab the trailer for example, if you want more steering angle than what you could do with your prime mover, you can use the remote control and turn that steering even further,” he says. In addition to the Active Steer, the Steerable Deck Widener features Drake hydraulic suspension, lay-flat ramps to reduce wind drag and increase fuel economy, and a 30,000-pound (13,608kg) hydraulic winch that is also controlled remotely. With a payload of 33-tonnes or 47-tonnes
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