What happened to the Acco grader?

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Joined: 3/9/2009
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Location: Atlanta, GA


Here's some info I had stored in my computer from two of the worlds largest machinery

First up the ACCO dozer:



The Worlds Biggest and heaviest Bulldozer ever made is the Acco. It is a non production custom 'one-off ' that was built by the Italian Company Umberto Acco in 1980.The Acco was constructed mainly of Caterpillar parts, many other components however were specially adapted, like the big shovel blade that's bigger than anything Caterpillar make.
The Acco has a colossal gross weight of 183 tons! and is powered by two 675 hp Caterpillar engines placed horizontally opposed, which deliver a total combined output of 1350 hp. It can be assumed that the drive train mechanism shares the power of the combined engines output, rather than being divided to drive a particular set of drive wheels. This would be the easier and less expensive option.



This amount of shear horse power drives both the upper and lower rear mounted drive sprockets, having two drive sprockets maximizes torque, delivering fantastic pulling and pushing power. The 'teeth' that run along the surface of the tracks are quite deep, and greatly assist traction by digging into the soft earth and sand and providing maximum grip.
The Acco has a blade that is 23 feet wide and 9 feet high, whilst the total length of the Bulldozer is over 40 feet, from the tip of the blade to the ripper on the rear. As the picture below relates, the ripper alone is about 10 feet tall ! powered by huge hydraulic rams. This is total earth manipulation at its best!



The Acco was initially built to be exported over to Libya, North Africa in the early 1980's, to help in land development, but as the President of Libya, Col Gaddafi was allegedly involved with International Terrorism at that time, the United Nations endorsed and sanctioned huge trading embargo's on that Country. As a direct consequence of these trading restrictions the completed Acco Dozer was never shipped to its intended destination, but remained redundant in Italy where it was built.
Later with the sad death of Umberto Acco, the Directors of the company decided not to continue with many of Umberto's innovations and along with a few other machines, the dozer of which had never been put to any operational use, was sadly put into storage where she remains today.


Now, the ACCO Grader:



The Worlds biggest earth moving grader is the Acco-Grader. It is a custom made 'one-off' built in Italy by the Umberto Acco Company in 1980.



The Acco Grader was powered by 2 engines. A 1000hp engine was in the rear part of the Grader whilst a 700hp engine was at the front giving a combined power output of 1700hp!
1700hp was required too, when considering the Acco Grader weighs in at 160 Tons !
The Acco Grader has twelve big tires all round, doubled up on each wheel hub, this was a measure taken to distribute some of the weight of the grader. With its 33 foot long 'grading' blade it was designed for some serious earth moving capabilities.



The Grader was initially built for export to Libya similar to the Acco Dozer of the same company, but due to trading restrictions with Libya at that time, the Grader was never shipped out and remains in Italy to this day.

Jope you guys enjoy......

-Mark

Greetings, gentlemanHere's some info I had stored in my computer from two of the worlds largest machineryFirst up the ACCO dozer:The Worlds Biggest and heaviest Bulldozer ever made is the Acco. It is a non production custom 'one-off ' that was built by the Italian Company Umberto Acco in 1980.The Acco was constructed mainly of Caterpillar parts, many other components however were specially adapted, like the big shovel blade that's bigger than anything Caterpillar make.The Acco has a colossal gross weight of 183 tons! and is powered by two 675 hp Caterpillar engines placed horizontally opposed, which deliver a total combined output of 1350 hp. It can be assumed that the drive train mechanism shares the power of the combined engines output, rather than being divided to drive a particular set of drive wheels. This would be the easier and less expensive option.This amount of shear horse power drives both the upper and lower rear mounted drive sprockets, having two drive sprockets maximizes torque, delivering fantastic pulling and pushing power. The 'teeth' that run along the surface of the tracks are quite deep, and greatly assist traction by digging into the soft earth and sand and providing maximum grip.The Acco has a blade that is 23 feet wide and 9 feet high, whilst the total length of the Bulldozer is over 40 feet, from the tip of the blade to the ripper on the rear. As the picture below relates, the ripper alone is about 10 feet tall ! powered by huge hydraulic rams. This is total earth manipulation at its best!The Acco was initially built to be exported over to Libya, North Africa in the early 1980's, to help in land development, but as the President of Libya, Col Gaddafi was allegedly involved with International Terrorism at that time, the United Nations endorsed and sanctioned huge trading embargo's on that Country. As a direct consequence of these trading restrictions the completed Acco Dozer was never shipped to its intended destination, but remained redundant in Italy where it was built.Later with the sad death of Umberto Acco, the Directors of the company decided not to continue with many of Umberto's innovations and along with a few other machines, the dozer of which had never been put to any operational use, was sadly put into storage where she remains today.Now, the ACCO Grader:The Worlds biggest earth moving grader is the Acco-Grader. It is a custom made 'one-off' built in Italy by the Umberto Acco Company in 1980.The Acco Grader was powered by 2 engines. A 1000hp engine was in the rear part of the Grader whilst a 700hp engine was at the front giving a combined power output of 1700hp!1700hp was required too, when considering the Acco Grader weighs in at 160 Tons !The Acco Grader has twelve big tires all round, doubled up on each wheel hub, this was a measure taken to distribute some of the weight of the grader. With its 33 foot long 'grading' blade it was designed for some serious earth moving capabilities.The Grader was initially built for export to Libya similar to the Acco Dozer of the same company, but due to trading restrictions with Libya at that time, the Grader was never shipped out and remains in Italy to this day.Jope you guys enjoy......-Mark

Hi, Folks.
As I understand it, the Acco dozer has never struck a 'blow in anger'. Both it and the 'real' Acco grader were apparently completed and about ready for delivery when a trade embargo was slapped on Libya over their part in international terrorism. Again as I understand it, they were built to an order from Libya's dictator, Colonel Ghadaffi, 'cos he wanted to do some major development of desert country for farming and irrigation.

I have been told that grader, which was even bigger and more powerful than the dozer at 1,700 horsepower and 200 tons, was used a for a couple of beach reclamation jobs in Italy before being mothballed and then eventually scrapped somewhere in the early 2000s.

What few people seem to be aware of is that Acco built a 'prototype' grader prior to building the 'real' grader. The 'prototype' was a mere 160 tons. I have heard that it too has been scrapped. I do have a photo of it but don't have it to hand at the moment as I am on a another computer.

Just my 0.02.

You have a wonderful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.