Small children are obsessive about tractors, vans, trains, and the like, and it’s not arduous to know why. They’re huge, they’re chunky, and so they do stuff you’ll be able to watch. If you happen to’re fortunate, a bit nugget of that obsession sticks with you, and you continue to get a tiny fizz each time you see one thing huge and helpful if you’re a grown-up.

Being British, the probabilities of seeing a snow plow on the town are slim to none, which implies each time I do see one, my eyes widen and my lizard mind will get very excited. Being informed I can drive one? Effectively, that’s going to be day at work.

Picture by: Scania

Sweden’s Scania makes “lorries”—huge rigs in American parlance, principally. They’ll construct you a small one, an enormous one, a diesel one, a V-8 one, and even an electrical one, and you may select what number of wheels it has. The breadth of the vans they produce is staggering. If you happen to want one thing to haul grain from one aspect of Europe to the opposite, they’ll speak you thru the method and discover the most effective match for you and what you are promoting. Conversely, if a logging firm wants a cell crane to get deep into the forest to choose up tree trunks, they’ll type it for you.

Being offered with a lineup of the agency’s best was sufficient to make my interior baby nearly weep with pleasure. To be allowed to drive them (on a secure, off-road course as a result of I don’t have the correct of license) precipitated interior floods of tears.

Having by no means pushed something prefer it earlier than, I began on what appeared like a medium-sized truck to get my eye in. I then hopped right into a small (for a giant rig) electrical one, earlier than discovering my technique to an outdated army car, after which the true cause I used to be there: A real, true-to-life snow plow.

Whilst you and I’d name it a snow plow, Scania dubs it the easy-to-remember ‘560 R B6x6HA.’ Whenever you break it down, it does make sense—560 is the horsepower, R is the scale of the cab (it’s the center of the vary…ish), B means it’s a inflexible truck, 6×6 is the variety of wheels and what number of of them are pushed, H denotes that it’s a ‘excessive’ truck, and A lets you realize it has air suspension on the again. Rolls off the tongue, actually.

Picture by: Scania

The rationale for all of the letters and numbers is straightforward—the Lego items that Scania has to construct issues out of are many, complicated, and will be made to suit lord is aware of what number of configurations. Giving them a shorthand might be a good suggestion.

Lengthy identify apart, there’s extra to this specific 560 R B6x6HA. It comes with a salt spreader on the again to make icy roads much less dicey, and a whacking nice plow on the entrance. It’s, to place it mildly, superior.

Climbing as much as the cab takes some time should you’re beneath six toes tall, however when you’re in, it’s delightfully comfortable. The heater retains the biting chilly at bay whereas the large, comfortable seats preserve your ass cosseted as you clear the highways and byways. A digital binnacle exhibits you the very important stuff, and a chunky infotainment display screen handles the enjoyable stuff (it even comes with Apple CarPlay).

Picture by: Scania

To the proper of the hotseat is a joystick and a tiny pill hooked up to a fearsome-looking panel coated in buttons. That is the place the magic occurs. Tip the stick ahead and the front-mounted plow goes down, pull it towards you and it lifts. Head over to the pill and you may change capabilities; If there’s an underbody plow you’ll be able to transfer it, for instance, or you may make the salt spreader do its factor. I get that that is work for hundreds of individuals all around the world, however for me, it was like sitting in Thunderbird 1.

I’d all the time thought that huge vans would want some kind of particular start-up course of—and maybe some do. However the 560 R B6x6HA simply wanted a twist of the important thing and a twiddle of the stalk-mounted gear selector earlier than setting off. Though 560 horsepower is certainly a chunky quantity, what’s extra spectacular is the torque determine: 2,065 pound-feet. That comes from a 13.0-liter(!) turbocharged diesel straight-six engine. With 145,505 kilos to maneuver, you’ll be able to see why such a giant engine is required.

On ice, and with a giant metallic spoon on the nostril, I took issues gingerly at first. Throttle response was easy, metering torque out and constructing numbers at what felt like an alarming price. You may’t miss the large, power-assisted steering wheel. Suggestions is extra of an idea to be admired from afar (a bit like the bottom), however turning the wheel strikes the truck, and that’s adequate for me. Because the truck is slab-sided, seeing down the edges in tight spots is simple. Plowing down slender metropolis streets shouldn’t be an excessive amount of of a difficulty, both.

Picture by: Scania

With 14 gears becoming as a lot momentum as attainable into the low redline, it shifts usually. It’s not the smoothest ‘field I’ve ever used, but it surely has to deal with a ton of torque with out going bang. Stopping is simple sufficient; the 560 R B6x6HA’s six wheels cover hefty brakes, and the snow barely troubles its chunky tires. It was disarmingly straightforward to drive, and as I lapped, I felt fairly assured in what it may do. Then I used to be informed to decrease the plow and pull to the proper the place a big snowbank appeared in determined want of a trim.

I prodded the joystick, the large pink plow easily lowered, and I pulled over able to make some mess. On contact, I heard metallic dragging on ice and felt a tiny little bit of pullback earlier than the torque took over, pushing me ahead. Abruptly I may see snow flying out of the proper aspect of the truck. Once more, it felt oddly straightforward, however counterintuitive: You spend your complete life being informed to not hit issues, and right here I used to be scraping a large scoop right into a wall.

Clambering down its steps I used to be grinning ear to ear. Seeing a snow plow is sweet, utilizing it’s higher. When the artistic industries are taken over with AI slop, I’m making a beeline for The Alps… and a Scania.