HOLLAND TYRE KEEPS IT COOL IN EXTREME CONDITIONS
Holland Tyre provided the answer to an extreme question. With his Icelandic fleet of large MAN 8 x 8 trucks, Ástvaldur Óskarsson drives groups of tourists around the Icelandic Vatnajökull Glacier every day. The beautiful subterranean vaults underneath the glacier being the destination. A spectacular trip that thrills thousands of participants every year from October through May. However, the Icelandic entrepreneur wanted to take things further.
INCREASE FROM 5 TO 25 KM/H.
Ástvaldur on this: „I want to take people across the whole, very vast glacier. It is up to 50 km wide. The area usually is deserted, while the sights are unbelievable. Gorgeous ice-blue icebergs, caves, frozen rivers. With the trucks I used to have could only get up to 5 km/h, making it a 10-hour trip. So I wanted to build bigger trucks, with larger tyres for more speed and traction. I wanted to be able to travel at 25 km/h, so that visitors could complete the tour in two hours. Where would I be able to get these huge wide and large wheels and tyres to begin with? Where on earth could I find a company that would satisfy my extreme requirements?”
AMERICA THE LAND OF BIG, BIGGER, BIGGEST
Ástvaldur started to scour the internet and, surprisingly, found the solution much closer to home. He came across the website of Holland Tyre. Could this Dutch specialist company fulfil the wishes? Wybren Groen, tyre specialist of Holland Tyre, was up to the challenge. Despite the extensive (safety) specifications and special requests (including Bead-locks) and the spectacular dimensions (195 by 90 cm wide), the sets were delivered to the Icelandic company. This allows the desired 25 km/h to be achieved easily and safely, with the right grip on ice surfaces.
ALL NEW TRUCKS
„You could say that these wheels are the basis for the all new trucks that the company has built”, Wybren Groen continues. „Based on the model of the old security trucks from airport fire brigades that they sourced from all over Europe. The new trucks that they build with our wheels are completely new vehicles.” The photo on the left shows the old white vehicles standing next to the new red truck.
AN ANSWER TO EVERY TYRE QUESTION
However spectacular it may look, producing these special wheels with appropriate tyres is no exception for Holland Tyre. In its history of more than 40 years, the company has delivered countless remarkable orders successfully. Wybren Groen: „We have supplied special combinations for vehicles travelling on the sea bedding, but also for giant machines used in the mining industry. In fact, there is no tyre too large, width, hard or soft that we can not delivery fast.“
