Where pickup trucks stop is where Zeal Motor says their Fat Truck models pick up.
Designed by Canadian-based Zeal Motor, Fat Truck vehicles are designed to transport people, materials, and tools to jobsites through just about any condition.
Some sites are easy, and then some sites are boggy, muddy, steep, swampy, treacherous, or covered in snow and ice. A four-wheel-drive pickup will get you most of the way there, and a Fat Truck will ensure you and your equipment get all the way there, the company says.
With several upgrades to its 2.8 pickup and wagon series and the release of the more compact 2.4 pickup model and larger 8x8 hauler and wagon model this year, the company now has a full series of industrial off-road vehicles available to contractors.
Fat Truck vehicles have a ground clearance of nearly 2 feet and are also amphibious. While slower in water, the various models allow utility contractors to traverse areas a regular pickup truck would not allow.
Since their debut in 2019, Fat Truck vehicles can now be found from the snow-covered mountain areas of Alaska and Canada to the swamps of Louisiana and beyond.Fat Truck
The primary market for these boxy-looking amphibious vehicles with large high-traction tires is right-of-way access for contractors working on power lines, pipeline operations, telecommunications, and first responders on search and rescue operations. Even the military has expressed some interest in the vehicles.
“A vehicle capable of traveling at 25 mph on land, 3 mph on water, climbing steep muddy hills while meeting all the safety requirements is an outstanding advantage that only the Fat Truck can provide,” Khimjee said.
Since their debut in 2019, Fat Truck vehicles can now be found from the snow-covered mountain areas of Alaska and Canada to the swamps of Louisiana and beyond.
“We were very surprised when we started the company that we were sending these vehicles everywhere because there's flooding everywhere and as soon as there's a flooding possibility, we're there,” Khimjee said.
Different vehicles including tracked machines, airboats, helicopters, and ATVs have all attempted to serve the need but were not designed specifically as right-of-way vehicles.
“It's a niche transport solution and in this kind of industry that's really what they need,” Khimjee said.
The joystick-steered vehicles currently come in one of five configurations: The new 2.4 pickup, a compact four-person model; the upgraded 2.8 pickup or 2.8 wagon that features an eight-person crew cab pickup with dump or box bed; and the new 8x8 16-person wagon or 8x8 hauler.
“This new generation has all kinds of improvements,” Khimjee said.
The 2.8 wagon and pickup represent the evolution of their predecessors, the 2.8C and 2.8P. Boasting an 11% power increase, he said, some of the notable improvements include impact-resistant windshields, an upgraded ergonomic and quieter cab, and the introduction of Power Take Off capabilities.
The Fat Truck 2.8 pickup and wagons are 8 feet 7 inches tall, 12 feet 2.5 inches long, and 8 feet 4 inches wide with a 20.7-inch ground clearance. It weighs approximately 4,950 pounds. The pickup operates with a 4-cylinder Caterpillar C2.2 turbo diesel that puts out 74 horsepower and 199 pounds of torque and the wagon features a Hatz 1.95-liter turbo diesel with 74 horsepower and 180 pounds of torque.
Comparatively, Khimjee said, the compact 2.4 pickup has a 2,000-pound payload capacity on land and 1,000-pound capacity over water. The smaller version was primarily designed to offer a lower price point.
Powered by a 3-cylinder 56-horsepower Hatz engine with 136 pound-feet of torque, it can carry four people and still have room for basic equipment. The cost will be approximately $50,000 less than its larger cousins.
In addition, earlier this year Zeal Motor unveiled its Fat Truck 8x8, the world’s first hydraulically driven articulated amphibious vehicle. It's an eight-wheel-drive machine as each wheel has a hydrostatic motor.
“This is the first one that has one hydrostatic motor per wheel, so it is maintenance-free, except for oil changes,” Khimjee said. “There's no changing belts; there's nothing else.”
The other unique point of the 8x8 model is that it is a fully articulated vehicle. You need the front car and the rear car to steer. The articulation can be locked so the vehicle can be tilted up or down. Combined, the machines can climb 7-foot-high walls, not just inclines or hills.
Available in hauler or wagon configurations, the amphibious vehicle can carry a payload of 5,000 pounds or a crew of 16 workers. The larger 8x8 models run on a 173-horsepower, Tier 4 Final Cummins 3.8-liter turbo diesel engine.
Earlier in 2023, Zeal Motor unveiled the Fat Truck 8x8, the world’s first hydraulically driven articulated amphibious vehicle.Fat Truck
All the models are controlled with one joystick. There are no foot pedals or shifting.
“A 5-year-old can drive it,” Khimjee said. “It's a simple joystick, you drive it just like a video game. Behind the scenes, it is very complex, but for the user, there's no training needed. Within five minutes you understand the machine and its behavior, and you're good to go.”
Braking for the various models is through a hydrostatic transmission with positive deceleration. For safety, the brakes automatically engage anytime you’re not moving.
In addition, all the wheels are connected to an air system, so tire pressure can be changed on the fly. If you are traversing over deep snow, the operator would want to deflate the tires to 1.5 psi to provide something more akin to snowshoes.
"They're big tires but a low pressure, that's how you spread the load,” Khimjee said. Specifically, the 8x8 models have variable pressure control for each axle.
For some perspective, a human step is approximately 10 psi on the ground. Fully loaded any of the Fat Truck vehicles have a ground pressure impact of 2 psi or less.
“They're very stable because the engine is right in the middle of the vehicles, so the center of gravity is in the middle and very low,” he said.
As for the amphibious nature of the vehicles, many people ask, "How deep can it go?" Khimjee likes to say 100 feet because the vehicles float, so it doesn’t matter.
In theory, a Fat Truck could make it across a lake. While not a boat and traveling at walking speeds, the machines can cross bodies of water and not get stuck. Even in icy conditions, if the ice is thick enough, you can climb back out and if not, you can keep moving safely in the water.
“We design them for the industrial world, so it's a matter of productivity, going from point A to B with a certain payload over difficult terrain,” Zhimjee said. “Now we have a full lineup, just like pickup trucks, it's the same philosophy.”
Zeal Motor recently opened a new facility in Cowansville, Quebec, with assembly lines for each of the Fat Truck models.
Quick Specs
2.4 Pickup
- Engine: 56 hp Hatz 3H50TICD
- Payload: 2,200 lbs.
- Passenger capacity: 4
- Speed (land/water): 19 mph/3.1 mph
- Ground pressure: 2 psi
- Ground clearance: 20.6 in
- Transmission: Hydrostatic
2.8 Wagon/Pickup
- Engine: 74 hp Hatz turbo diesel/74 hp Caterpillar turbo diesel
- Payload: 2,200 lbs.
- Passenger capacity: 8
- Speed (land/water): 25 mph/3.1 mph
- Ground pressure: 1.6 psi
- Ground clearance: 20.7 in
- Transmission: Hydrostatic carbon fiber synchronous belts
8x8 Hauler/Wagon
- Engine: 173 hp Cummins Tier 4 Final 3.8 turbo diesel
- Payload (front/back): 1,000 lbs./4,000 lbs.
- Passenger capacity: 4
- Speed (land/water): 25 mph/3.1 mph
- Ground pressure: 1.9 psi
- Ground clearance: 25 in
- Transmission: 8 x hydrostatic motors
