The largest project ever manufactured at Kennedy Trailers has proved a world-first solution in its capability to transport massive equipment.
Officially known as ‘heavy haulage modular platforms with bookend sets’, the trailer was specifically designed and made by the Kennedy Trailers team at Bairnsdale to carry the base of wind towers weighing an impressive 82 tonnes and measuring six metres wide by 14.5m long.
Once connected, the trailer combination, prime mover and wind tower weigh 138t and measure just over 47 metres long.
Justifiably proud of the trailers and his team, Kennedy Trailers’ chief executive officer, Cory Kennedy, said 180 tonnes of steel plate and thousands upon thousands of building time had been put into the project.
“This type of trailer isn’t manufactured anywhere else in the world,” Mr Kennedy said. “Other trailers are fixed-width whereas this one can widen and then retract in a matter of seconds. That negates the need for police escorts and pilot cars on the return trip, which saves the customer thousands.”
The towers need to be shifted from Portland to the 116-turbine Murra Warra Windfarm north of Horsham in western Victoria, the trip taking seven hours to complete with three pilot cars to block traffic.
Thanks to the dedicated team at Kennedy Trailers, it took just 14 weeks to design, build and deliver.
“It’s 100 per cent custom built down to the brake kits and the suspension modules,” Mr Kennedy said.
“We developed hydraulic suspension and steering where a second person operates the end trailer with a remote control around sharp corners.”
In an effort to explain the concept in layman’s terms, Mr Kennedy likened the modular platform bookends to a “giant Meccano set” that needs large machinery to put together.
“It’s a huge accomplishment to prove to the world we could do it. We had a lot of people watching us.
“It was a bigger job than what we gave credit for and we used half a dozen sub-contractors just to help with the hydraulics, machining and electrical side of the project.”
The Bairnsdale company started off more than 30 years ago completing repairs and maintenance and building forestry equipment. About 10 years ago it branched out into making heavy haulage trailers.
The logging trailer the company makes is also unique in that it progressively folds onto the back of the prime mover for the return trip for the next load of logs.
The company manufactures about 150 a year.
For the record, the company doesn’t make six-by-four trailers, which Mr Kennedy said was a common misconception.
“We’d like to thank our Kennedy Trailers team and the subcontractors who worked so hard on Saturdays, Sundays and nights to get the job done,” Mr Kennedy said.
But the big projects aren’t over just yet.
To put the scale of the job into perspective, the bookend sets pictured on page 1 have 14 axles per set, and four tyres each, equating to 56 tyres.
The next project has 24 axles – that’s 96 tyres in total.
PICTURE: The modular platform bookend sets, fully designed and manufactured by Kennedy Trailers in Bairnsdale, transporting an 82-tonne wind turbine tower base.
