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The first of several large rotary dryers was delivered by Perkins Specialized Transportation Contracting from a fabrication shop in Wisconsin to a new ethanol plant in the corn country of rural Iowa, US. It took months of planning and route surveys, dozens of hauling permits and some specialized highway transport equipment to deliver the 73 foot (22 m) long drum, which was nearly 14 feet (4 m) wide.

The Perkins transporter was nearly 235 feet (72 m) long and ran on 108 wheels. Two road tractors with more than 1,100 hp combined were used to make the 373 mile (600 km) trip through Wisconsin and Iowa.

Moving 128 tons (116 tonnes) across two states with an 18 foot (5.5 m) wide dual lane trailer required police coordination and traffic control. In close quarters at the shop and jobsite added additional challenges for the Perkins team.

A Perkins speciality is dual lane loading transport equipment, which occupies two traffic lanes while travelling and loads two lanes when crossing bridges – allowing much higher net weight components to be hauled than on conventional equipment, explains Don Nolan, Perkins VP marketing & contracting. Requirements vary from state to state in the US for dual lane loading. For this project to move rotary dryers, Perkins used a feature on its transporter, it describes as unique, that yielded a 16 foot axle width in Wisconsin, and was quickly changed to 18 feet wide at the border for the Iowa leg of the trip.

Another important feature of the Perkins transporter is the ability to self load and unload using the hydraulic raise and lower function. It saves the expense of large cranes or other lifting equipment at each end of the journey.

Perkins, which was contracted to move up to 12 dryers is located within 600 miles of most of the new ethanol and bio diesel plants in planning and under construction. •