Cooperation resulted in a logging truck that is record-breakingly light

When Scania launched its new 13-litre engine, the idea of building a logging truck that is as light as possible was born. The resulting truck is not only light, but also has low fuel consumption and excellent handling characteristics.

THE LESS A TRUCK WEIGHS, the more payload it can carry and the more money it helps you earn. This gave Jimmie Furunäs, Vehicle Manager at the Scania Demo Centre, the idea to build a light and competitive truck with excellent handling characteristics.
“Right at the start of the project, I contacted Alucar. From my previous experiences with them I knew they do more than supply great logging trucks – they are also great at developing innovative solutions. Together, we started to think about what we could do to reduce the weight of a truck,” Furunäs explains.

Scania’s lightweight truck

– Gross weight 14,200 kg with a crane
– 13-litre engine 540 hp/2700 Nm
– No sleeper cab
– Hiab’s HiVision crane
– Alucar’s aluminium superstructure

THE NEW LIGHT logging truck made its first public appearance at the Mittia Wood Transportation Expo in Ljusdal, Sweden in 2017. Ever since then, this demo truck has attracted a great following. One of the key differences of this light truck compared to Scania’s normal logging trucks is its 13-litre engine, which weighs less than a traditional V8 one. The second difference is the lack of a sleeper cab, which makes the truck’s cab shorter and lighter. Thanks to the shorter cab, the distances between the truck’s axles can be made shorter without affecting its load length capacity. This
improves driving comfort on narrow forest roads.

Scania reduced the weight of the truck’s chassis by fitting it out with a smaller cabin, among other things. The truck also has no crane cabin; instead, the crane is controlled from the truck’s cab.


“A sleeper cab is not necessary, as logging truck drivers rarely spend the night in their truck. A 13-litre engine of this calibre is also completely suffcient for a gross weight of 64 tonnes and also works with a 74 tonne gross weight,” Jimmie Furunäs explains.

HIAB’S INNOVATIVE HiVision crane technology also makes the truck lighter. HiVision makes a separate crane cabin unnecessary, as it allows the
driver to control the crane from the truck’s cab using virtual reality goggles. This saves another 400 kg from the gross weight, while making the working environment safer and more pleasant. The 80-litre cyclone hydraulic oil tank also brings the weight down.

PEOPLE AT both Scania and Alucar were surprised by how much a truck’s weight can actually be reduced.


“At Alucar, we have always worked hard to make our superstructures lighter. That’s why it was so illuminating to be involved in planning the building of a whole truck from start to finish,”

Thomas Partanen

“The truck’s kerb weight is 14,200 kg, which means that we managed to reduce its weight by about 1,500 kg compared to the Demo Centre’s logging truck built in a more traditional way. This new, lighter logging truck will bring a good deal of extra income per year, considering that its payload can be increased in proportion to the savings in kerb weight.”

EQUIPPED WITH an aluminium superstructure, the truck was completed by Alucar in Maxmo. According to Export Sales Manager Thomas Partanen, the cooperation project was extremely interesting and educational.

Jimmie Furunäs also found the project very rewarding:
“Alucar demonstrated their great commitment, and we engaged in close dialogue throughout the project. As always, their work was of the highest quality.”