A lowboy (low-loader in
British English
British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Lexico, Oxford Dictionaries, "English language, English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in ...
, low-bed in western Canada and South Africa or float in
Australia and eastern Canada) is a
semi-trailer
A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. In the United States, the term is also used to refer to the combination of a truck and a semi-trailer; a tractor-trailer.
A large proportion of a semi-trailer's weight is supported by a trac ...
with two drops in deck height: one right after the
gooseneck and one right before the wheels. This allows the deck to be extremely low compared with other trailers. It offers the ability to carry legal loads up to tall, which other trailers cannot. Lowboys are used to haul heavy equipment such as
bulldozers and large industrial equipment.
History
The first lowboy trailer was invented in the 1920s; it featured a
rivet
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...
ed gooseneck and solid rubber
tire
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...
s. The first detachable gooseneck trailer, referred to as an RGN (Removable goose neck), was invented in 1958.
Types
The lowboy trailer comes in several types, for a wide range of tasks. Some types are:
* Fixed gooseneck (FGN): allows a longer deck length and has the lightest weight. These are lower trailers than normal, with low-profile tires, usually with drop ramps in the rear to facilitate loading of equipment, but are not actually considered "lowboys". The neck is arched in such a way that, when lowered, it becomes a ramp, thus allowing the front tires of equipment to be pulled onto the deck.
* Fixed-neck: the neck is fixed to trailers; offers the lightest weight, but sacrifices the ability to detach and load over the front
* Hydraulic detachable gooseneck (hydraulic RGN or HRGN)): fastest and easiest to detach, at the expense of weight and deck length. It is the most common and versatile of lowboy trailers; the gooseneck is detached using large hydraulic cylinders to raise and lower the trailer and a small cylinder shores the neck to the truck, removing the neck so a large piece of equipment can be driven over the front onto the deck of the trailer for transport. The hydraulics can be run from the truck auxiliary or from a pony motor mounted in the neck of the trailer.
* Mechanically-detachable gooseneck (mechanical RGN or MRGN): while usually lighter than the hydraulic detachable gooseneck, users sacrifice ease and speed of detaching. Used for long specialty hauls.
* Mechanical folding gooseneck (MFGN): The deck folds down to ground level to provide a ramp for trailer loading.
Mechanical folding gooseneck
- Retrieved 2012-04-06
Features
Lowboy trailer features include:
Suspension types
* Spring ride: lowest cost; however, it has a rougher ride and adds more stress to the trailer
* Air-ride: smoother ride, adding to the life of the trailer frame. Air rides can also be adjusted for a higher or lower deck height.
* Hydraulic suspension: an oil-filled system, allowing wide variation of axle movement
* Independent suspension: a double wishbone, hydraulic suspension, which offers more stability, greater steering angle and more travel
Structural types
* Main structural steel type: mill
Mill may refer to:
Science and technology
*
* Mill (grinding)
* Milling (machining)
* Millwork
* Textile mill
* Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel
* List of types of mill
* Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...
rolled
Rolling is a Motion (physics)#Types of motion, type of motion that combines rotation (commonly, of an Axial symmetry, axially symmetric object) and Translation (geometry), translation of that object with respect to a surface (either one or the ot ...
beams save money; although being around heavier, they also reverse camber
Camber may refer to a variety of curvatures and angles:
* Camber angle, the angle made by the wheels of a vehicle
* Camber beam, an upward curvature of a joist to compensate for load deflection due in buildings
* Camber thrust in bike technology
* ...
after a few years due to the much-lower strength of the main beams.
* T1 or A514 beams save weight and allow more versatile engineering of the trailer; they are cut to the highest-strength shape possible and welded together.
Gallery
Image:Rawcliffe Ballasted Outfit.JPG, Two MAN SE
MAN SE (abbreviation of ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg'', ) was a manufacturing and engineering company based in Munich, Germany. Its primary output was commercial vehicles and diesel engines through its MAN Truck & Bus and MAN Latin Ame ...
ballast tractors pulling and one Mercedes pushing a transformer on 10-axle lowboy
Image:Talbert Lowboy Trailer.jpg, A lowboy trailer carrying a Link-Belt lattice crawler crane.
Image:65_Ton_Lowboy_Trailer.jpeg, Another view of a lowboy
Image:Dieplader1.jpg, Lowboy with a Volvo tracked excavator
Image:LOWBOY_WITH_MTVR.jpg, Lowboy trailer attached to an Oshkosh MTVR of the U.S. Marines
Image:Military_lowboy_trailer.jpeg, Military lowboy trailer
Image:Parowóz na lawecie.jpg, Steam locomotive on lowboy
See also
* Dolly (trailer)
A dolly is an unpowered vehicle designed for connection to a tractor unit, truck or prime mover vehicle with strong traction power.
United States Classification by axle configuration
There are several types of dolly bogie:
* Full trailer ...
* Flatbed trolley
* Flatbed truck
A flatbed truck (or flatbed lorry in British English) is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. As the name suggests, its bodywork is just an entirely flat, level 'bed' with no sides or roof. This allows for quick and easy load ...
* Heavy capacity flatcar
* Heavy Equipment Transport System
Heavy Equipment Transporter System (HETS) is the name of a U.S. Army logistics vehicle transport system, the primary purpose of which is to transport the M1 Abrams tank. It is also used to transport, deploy, and evacuate armored personnel carriers, ...
(HETS)
* Long combination vehicle
* Oliver Danson North
* Roll trailer
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Trailers
Freight transport