Extreme Machine: Prinoth’s Massive Panther XL Crawlers Traverse Antarctica

Prinoth’s Panther crawler carriers are known to handle extreme conditions and that includes one of the world’s harshest climates, Antarctica.

Prinoth developed its massive, tracked Panther XL for use at the Norwegian Polar Institute’s Troll research station in Jutulsessen, where studies on meteorology, radiation, wildlife, glaciers, atmosphere, seismology and environmental toxins occur year-round.

The Panther XL weighs 45,240 pounds, and its trailer weighs 38,624 pounds unloaded. It can haul up to 150 tons. Its 800-horsepower Caterpillar engine gives it the power to travel the frozen landscape on multi-day trips. The station is about 146 miles from the coast. The Panther can operate in temperatures as low as -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

(To watch the XL in action, check out the videos at the end of this article.)

“They have some long-haul demands moving supplies and everything else they need to sustain their research,” says Jody Beasley, Prinoth vice president of sales and marketing. “These large machines allow them to move their large payloads they need to survive and make things work there at the Polar Institute.”

The idea for the Panther XL came in 2018, when Prinoth collaborated with the scientists of the Norwegian Polar Institute on how they could move large amounts of equipment, fuel, supplies and parts they needed at the remote station. The goals were to lower the cost of transport and fuel consumption, reduce the number of operators required, optimize traction and weight distribution and perform on all types of surfaces.

The carrier has worked so well, the institute has placed an order for 10 more Panther XLs. Beasley says three will be delivered later this year, with the remaining arriving over the next two years.

“The new tracked vehicles are essential to maintaining our schedule and ensuring long-term success in Antarctic research," says Camilla Brekke, director of the Norwegian Polar Institute.

PrinothBecause of their high horsepower and strong tractive effort, the Panthers can get up and running quickly even when the sleds on the trains of trailers it pulls have frozen overnight.  

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“Because of all that horsepower and tractive effort, it'll pull those sleds right out of that ice that's accumulated overnight,” Beasley says. “It creates the ability to really get up and go and get their day started like they need to without additional labor, time and effort that they have to put into bringing up the sleds from the ice.”

The design of the Panther XL is a collaborative effort of the institute and Prinoth’s engineers in its Snow Grooming and Crawler Carrier divisions. The carrier runs on rubber tracks with large rollers and automatic track tensioning, along with the Cat power package.

The Snow Grooming division added in its expertise in producing vehicles for extreme cold, including a large touchscreen display, heated windows and wipers, air-suspension seat, intuitive steering and cruise control.

Prinoth also added other features specific to handling the region’s bitter climate. Those include a full suspension cab to improve ride quality and operator comfort, a patented four-track drive for added traction and stability and a patent-pending operator assist drive function for operator support during long-haul journeys.

Prinoth“By bringing together the strengths of our Snow Grooming and Crawler Carrier teams and adding targeted innovations,” says Klaus Tonhäuser, president of Prinoth, “we’ve built a vehicle that’s made to perform well in the toughest conditions and underlines our groupwide leading engineering capabilities and our focus on customer needs.”

The Panther XL is built at Prinoth’s Granby plant in Quebec, Canada, and the company’s agreement with the Polar Institute totals about $17 million.

“We've really taken engineering inputs and ideas into this machine so that it's built, engineered, structured to not only work but survive in these climates and be productive,” says Beasley. “They need something that is strong and reliable and stable and is able to move people and materials and supplies. It's something they can trust, and they can count on. And we feel like we've met that demand, and we're able to support their efforts and their safety targets.”

Watch the Prinoth Panther XL in action below:

Quick Specs Panther XL

• Curb weight vehicle: 45,240 lbs.
• Curb weight trailer: 38,624 lbs.
• Payload: 70,500 lbs.
• Engine: 800 hp @ 1,800 rpm Cat C18 ACERT diesel
• Travel speed: 10 mph
• Working temperature: down to -40 degrees F
• Height: 12’
• Tracked trailer length: 40’
• Overall width: 9.9’
• Track width: 29.5”
• Ground clearance: 19.8”