The need to purchase a specific truck was felt in Liberty Ostrava in early 2020, when the decision was made to move the final processing of threaded rods from Luxembourg to Ostrava.
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“The bars are being rolled in our medium-rolling mill, and now we will also be processing them further in our threaded bar service center. For their transport between the two operations, we ordered a unique reconstruction of the Tatra, “explained Pavel Suchánek, head of the Liberty Ostrava threaded rod center.
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Photo: Pavel Karban, Právo
For the transport of poles along a route of about two kilometers, classic trucks and the use of railways were out of the question. “The trucks will carry poles with a maximum length of 13.6 meters and the wagons cannot be used because the curves on our track are small.”
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The smelter therefore agreed with Tatra Trucks on the production of a special, the modification of which was carried out by the company Partner-Ipex from Frenštát pod Radhoštěm.
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Photo: Pavel Karban, Právo
The Tatra Force model equipped with a Tatra engine with a power of 300 kilowatts and an Allison automatic transmission was used to produce the unique. Axle drive is 14×8.
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“They had to reduce the cab and move it in front of the front axle, thus putting the engine behind the cab. The loading area is above the cab, which unfortunately would not be possible when using a standard vehicle, “outlined the sales director of Partner-Ipex, Vojtěch Svoboda.
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Photo: Pavel Karban, Právo
He pointed out that from a technical point of view it was a relatively simple contract. “It was difficult at what time we did the project,” he said of the car, which would carry a load weighing up to 48.5 tons.
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“It all took 10 months from the signing of the contract, and given the period in which the vehicle was built and what accompanied the automotive segment due to the covid-19, it was the most difficult to organize the whole thing to meet the deadline,” added Svoboda.
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Photo: Pavel Karban, Právo
Liberty Ostrava has been looking for a driver who will ride a unique Tatra for half a year.
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Eventually she found him in Jiří Soldán, who in the past worked as a driver of special army vehicles, and when he left the army, he wanted to join the smelter as a driver. He liked the offer to sit behind the wheel of the unusually long Tatras.
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Photo: Pavel Karban, Právo
“It’s a challenge to drive such a car. I have traveled the area several times to check where I can get without any problems. It’s like a classic truck. The only difference is that the vehicle is much longer, “said Soldán.
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“It is equipped with an automatic transmission, so it is not a problem to control it, it has a power steering, five swivel axles,” he described, adding that the only complications are sometimes poorly parked drivers.
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Photo: Pavel Karban, Právo
“If that happens, we have to wait until the driver stops the car and we can continue,” he concluded.
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