Go moggy over this Unimog

Everyone loves a Mercedes-Benz Unimog – especially when the vehicle in question has been made fit for purpose and is one of a kind. The community of Lech, in Vorarlberg, Austria, has received a very special Unimog U530 created by Paul Nutzfahrzeuge, an established specialist in the installation of self-steered trailing axles into trucks and Unimogs.

Equipped with a steered and air-suspended trailing axle, as well as an all-wheel steering system, this new-generation Unimog is the most powerful professional implement carrier of its kind.

“With this new three-axle Unimog implement carrier we have a highly efficient working tool at our disposal that allows for a broad range of use in each season and thus for a quick and seasonally independent action,” says Günter Schneider, head of the building yard of the Lech am Arlberg community.

The installation of an air-suspended, self-steered trailing axle with drum brakes, and a gross axle weight rating of nine tonnes, increases the Unimog’s gross vehicle weight to 25 t. It has a payload capacity of 14 t.

An important factor in the skiing areas of the Vorarlberg region is an extremely high degree of manoeuvrability. The steering hydraulics and electronics for the trailing axle had to be integrated into the all-wheel steering.

Depending on the individual steering angle of the front axle, the first and second rear axles are steered in the opposite direction of the front axle’s steering direction. This provides for improved maximum manoeuvrability when working in narrow places.

Diagonal steering, so-called “crab steering”, is also possible. In this process, the two rear axles follow the steering direction, which is defined through the front axle. This facilitates a safe operating process, particularly when working at locations on a sloping hillside terrain and when carrying out rolling processes or compacting work.

If all axles are steered in the same direction, the vehicle can be offset almost parallel. Of course, the two rear axles can also be steered manually and completely independent of the front axle.

As for the rest, we’ll let the pictures do the talking!