The Cossack – Option Industries/ATK

The Cossack is an off-highway bed truck, designed for heavy transportation in very hard environment. It’s the truck who transports your truck which was supposed to be able to go anywhere with its shipment.
It was designed and ordered by ATK, specialized in heavy transportation for oilfield operation, and built by Option Industries, a Canadian manufacturer. 700hp Cummins engine, 11m platform bed, 72t main winch and a 110t gross weight. It has a special suspension system which allows the truck to be lowered/raised or to raise the third axle to reduce contact with the ground.

Some information and images here  (from the website “France Route” in French), and video here (from Facebook/Option Industries) and here (Youtube).

Like the real machine, the MOC is a 6×6 suspended motorized articulated tracked truck.
I made several tests, but I wasn’t able to reproduce the adjustable suspension system. When the suspension worked properly the truck was too big or too fragile and when the dimensions were just right the mechanic didn’t work. So, no adjustable suspensions.

The 6 tracks are identical, interchangeable, and mounted on mini turntable (inspired from set 42069). They can’t be replaced by wheels without modifying the complete axle. Yes I tried, and will do something with this information later (see here).

There is 4 power functions piloted through a SBricks Controller:

• 1 PF-XL motor for the propulsion, no central differential, no reduction
• 1 PF-M motor for the steering through two mini linear actuators
• 1 PF-M motor for the main winch (worm gear + 24t)
• 1 PF-M motor for the secondary winch (worm gear + 8t)

Note that the SBricks controller can easily been replaced by two PF-IR Receptor.

The full album is available on FlickR.

From the head to the tail:

The cabin tries to reproduce the particular design of the Cossack. It remains openable for an easy access to the electrical connection. The openable hood behind the cabin hides the rechargeable battery box.

The front axle is suspended thanks to 3 Steering Arm 57515 and the front axle suspension are mounted horizontally (see LDD picture).

The pivot as composed of a steering ball joint and steering arm. The movement is done through two mini linear actuators powered by a PF-M installed on the main body.

The main body is composed of 4 elements: the main structure, the 2 lateral beds and the suspended axles.

The main structure (dark bluish grey) is the spine of the truck. It’s this part that supports all the load in the truck. The design is not very sophisticated but it is very stiff. All the motors are integrated to this structure. The main winch is mounted are the front of the bed. The reduction worm gear + 24t allow loading of heavy structure.
The two lateral beds (Light bluish grey) are just assemblies of 5×11 panels. They actually do not support any efforts.

The dual suspended axle is inspired from the Arocs one. Both axle are linked by a mini-turntable allowing free move. The part can be easily detached from the main structure.

At the tail of the truck can be found the secondary winch. It is less powerful than the main one but is still able to track some stuff. Also at the tail, a roller made of metallic pin connector allows the rope or load to roll on it to ease the loading.

The Cossack is available for sale on MocHub.

Thanks for reading,