Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/699963
EquipmentWorld.com | July 2016 83 W ith the launch of Western Star's new Ex- treme Duty (XD) Off-road pack- age, the company that built the most recent iteration of Optimus Prime for the Transformer movies has now released its own version, the off-road 6900XD Multi-Body Transformer, or MBT-40. Engineered for rugged environ- ments, the Western Star XD Off- road package is available on both 4900 and 6900 models, with avail- ability on other models planned in the future. The 6900XD MBT-40 is named for its ability to quickly change from one fully functional in-cab con- trolled body application to another. "What we've done is taken a demountable and turned it into a transformer," says John Tomlinson, XD and vocational sales manager for Western Star. "Off-road chassis equipment can be expensive to buy and maintain, and new emissions levels are making the investment even more costly." Demountable bodies generally are simply uninstalled and replaced for various applications. What makes the MBT-40 different, Tomlinson says, is that bodies mounted to the MBT-40 use the truck's electrical and hydraulic systems, resulting in additional savings and func- tionality, since those systems are equipped on the truck rather than the body. Using a Palfinger G68 hooklift with a lifting capacity of 34 tons, the MBT-40 is designed to replace the need for multiple pieces of dedicated off-road equipment on a jobsite that sit for long periods of time when they are not needed, Tomlinson says. "I can water in the afternoon and dump all morning," he says. "And it's quicker to change over than it is to fuel the truck." During a demonstration, a two-man crew dropped a water tank and added a dump bed in less than 5 minutes. The unit is equipped with a generic in-cab control system and a self-adapting hydraulic system that allows operators to quickly and easily swap the controls of multiple body applications. "All of the switches turn into the switches for the new body," Tomlinson says. "All of the hydraulics adapt to the new body." heavy trucks | by Jason Cannon | JasonCannon@randallreilly.com Western Star unveils a real Transformer, capable of switching bodies in minutes The Western Star 6900 MBT-40 can transform between applications in minutes.