GET MORE MOBILE with SLEIPNER

Having bulldozers, drilling machines, excavators and other equipment on tracks has many advantages – but speed is not one of them. However, with a rugged but agile Sleipner DB Series lowbed trailer, compared to traditional lowbed trailers, you can revolutionise the mobility of your fleet, getting more done with fewer machines and dramatically reducing maintenance costs.

The first Sleipner products were built in 1996 by the Finnish based manufacturer – and most of them are still performing flawlessly, which speaks volumes about their reliability and durability. What started as an idea for extremely robust yet easy-to-use dollies for the heaviest excavators has since grown into a full range of heavyduty, highly manoeuvrable lowbed trailers designed for practically every excavator in the market.

Now Sleipner has developed a completely new type of lowbed trailer that can travel across rough terrain and even in tight spaces. The compact DB45, for example, is designed for moving surface drills and bulldozers weighing up to 45 tonnes, while the DB80 and DB130 lowbed trailers have a maximum payload of 80 and 130 tonnes respectively.

“Sleipner DB Series models have a small turning radius providing agility in crammed quarries, while big wheels provide excellent ground clearance…

Long and eagerly awaited, the new DB45 lowbed trailer is designed to work in temperatures from -40 degrees to +50 degrees Celsius, which has been taken into account in the choice of high-quality materials and components. The new model is already in production and is currently being used in the snowy conditions in Northern Finland.

Comments Teijo Höylä, Chief Technical Officer at Sleipner:

“The experiences of the first users have been really positive and we believe the customer base and potential are significantly larger than with our previous products."

“Our DB-models have been engineered in response to feedback from our customers. For example, we previously offered a 120-tonne model, but customers requested a narrower version. Accordingly, our DB130 model is less than 10 metres wide and the smaller DB80 model is just over 8 metres, despite offering slightly higher payloads, making them more suitable for use on narrower roads.”

Sleipner DB Series models have a small turning radius providing agility in crammed quarries, while their big wheels provide excellent ground clearance making them suitable for a variety of terrains. What’s more, their reliable braking ensures safety. The operator can control and monitor all functions through an on-board display unit. The wheel gauge of the DB Series also offers incomparable safety. There’s no risk of overturning even if the wheels drop off the road. Railings and steps provide operators a safe passage to the trailer deck.

The DB45 trailer does not have to be permanently connected to a towing unit. Using an articulated dump truck as a towing vehicle provides unparalleled agility. ADT–powered hydraulics tilt the bed, enabling plant and machinery to be driven onto the DB Series trailer in just a few minutes. Tilting the load bed makes loading and unloading processes safe.

The ADT-specific Sleipner towing hitch is attached by bolting, and couplings for electricity and brakes are also required. Installation kits for towing hitches are available for all the most common ADT brands. Equipping an ADT with a towing hitch takes less than a day and can be installed on as many ATDs as necessary, allowing the trailer to be used flexibly as needed.

Adds Teijo Höylä: “The DB45 offroad trailer can access places where heavy machinery could not previously be transported. Articulated dump trucks are agile and have six-wheel-drive, allowing them to be operated even in difficult terrain. The trailer wheels have a diameter of 1.5 metres, so the difference is significant compared to traditional road trailer.”

The DB45 lowbed trailer is ideal for transfers of even just a few hundred metres, since it is so fast and safe to load. Its agility is a big advantage in mines and quarries, where surface drills often need to be manoeuvred into tight places. Suitable applications also include major earthmoving operations and other similar closed sites, as well as dams, airports, railway construction sites and even long pipeline projects.

“Projects like this require excavators, bulldozers and surface drills involving long transport distances and challenging terrain that can’t be accessed by traditional equipment. Our solution provides a clear advantage in major long-term infrastructure projects that require agility and offroad capabilities.”

Using a Sleipner DB Series trailer to transport your machinery also means undercarriages can last up to 2–3 times longer, and what’s more, the excessive bulldozer undercarriage wear caused by travelling in 3rd gear is also reduced - and less tramming, of course, reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

These new lowbed trailers also require significantly less maintenance compared to traditional lowbed trailers designed for roads, while another major advantage of this much improved mobility means plant and machinery can also be taken to the workshop for service and maintenance instead of time-consuming and unsafe repairs in the field. With all the tools and spares available in a safe working environment, both unplanned and planned maintenance can be performed with less downtime which means more productive hours for working on site.

In addition, DB-models feature full remote control and telemetry. Data can be automatically collected from the machines, allowing Sleipner to respond rapidly and remotely to possible faults and even perform software updates, eliminating the need for a site visit.

“Less maintenance and downtime mean more productive hours for working on site…