Buying Used: Mercedes-Benz Axor 2633

Amble along any country road and if perchance you glance in the surrounding farm sheds there is a fair chance that before long you’ll spot a Mercedes Benz truck of some model or vintage.

The marque has an enviable reputation with the rural community that spans nearly six decades, one that has literally been handed down through generations. It is a reputation of reliability and honest hard working service.

Talk to most farmers, and they’re quick to admit they are not trucking people, for them the truck is merely a tool, albeit a big one. Therefore, when it comes time to spec up a new truck for the farm careful consideration is given to the many tasks it will be asked to perform.

The team at Mercedes Benz obviously had done their homework back in the day when setting up the Axor 2633 6x4 for the man on the land.

Apart from the heavy-duty Benz running gear, which we’ll get into a little later, it came with a 7.3-metre long combination tipping tray and stock crate (single deck cattle with fold-down sheep decks) ideally suited for the flexibility of farm work.

In terms of a being useful truck, the Axor 2633 has the potential to be a very versatile unit, and with the capacity to tow a dog trailer that boosts the GCM out to 45,000kg.

Essentially the Axor model range was a medium-duty vehicle that incorporated a lot of the robust running gear found in the larger Actros models with the compact cabin features of the smaller Actego range.

The mechanical age is now well entrenched throughout the agricultural industries, take harvest season, for example, huge headers strip tonnes of grain from crops per hour. Large balers can press up to 350 round bales, 1800 millimetres in diameter, per day and all this product needs to be carted from the paddock to the silo or shed.

When you consider that only 12 large round bales, (six on the deck and six on the top row) will fit on a seven-meter tray, it is little wonder that farmers went searching for trucks like the Axor 2633 with the ability to tow a trailer which would reduce the number of trips from the paddock to the hay-shed per day.

Power is supplied from Mercedes Benz’s OM-926-LA 7.2-litre in-line six-cylinder turbo-intercooled engine with direct injection and ‘Benz’ Telligent engine management. The engine develops 240kW (326hp) at 2200rpm and 1300Nm (960lb.ft) of torque.

The standard transmission on this model is the Mercedes-Benz G-131 nine-speed synchromesh box, however, this vehicle was up-specced with the optional G211 16-speed with Telligent gearshift.

In essence, the shift is simple enough and easily mastered. The joystick at the front of the transmission shift module is moved forward to up-shift and backward for a down-shift. The shifts can be preselected and the preselected gear is displayed on the dash next to the current selected gear.

Two forward or backward movements of the joystick allow a skip shift to be performed and the shift only takes place when the clutch is depressed fully and both engine and transmission revs are matched. Conversely, splitting a gearshift is performed by actuating the small lever at the front of the transmission shift module in much the same way as a full gearshift.

The Axor 2633 offers several PTO outlets that include transmission and at the rear of engine. The controls for the tipping tray on this unit was very simple, a dash mounted PTO switch and three-way switch to facilitate the hoist control, raise, lower and hold in addition a throttle control knob made it possible to select constant engine revs where the operator required.

In applications where a truck-mounted crane may be required the ability to for the body builder to be able to directly connect to the truck’s intelligence gives greater flexibility and ensures maximum productivity of the PTO driven unit in the most economical manner.

The rear suspension on this unit is Benz’s parabolic six-rod with stabiliser bar and shock absorbers, the suspension is certified road friendly which ensures there is no payload sacrifice compared to one fitted with an air-suspension. Rear axles are Mercedes-Benz H7 planetary hub-reduction with a ratio of 3.714:1 and full cross locks and inter-axle locks are standard on this model.

Daily maintenance is accessed through the wide opening front grill and for service work the cab can be tilted 67 degrees via a hydro mechanical pump. For technicians, an engine stop/start button is also fitted as standard to enable the engine to be started while the cabin is in the raised position.

The cabin on this Axor 2633 was the L-Cab which included a single sleeper. Two other variants were available, the S-Cab which is the short day cab and High-Roof L-Cab which has two bunks.

The interior is simple and functional and given that this vehicle was set to spend most of its working life in dusty paddocks it is very practical. Most noticeable is the hardwearing rubber floor, which has specially designed ridges that assist the cleaning process.

The dash layout is easy to read and uncluttered. Wands on either side of the steering column allow fingertip access to the most used functions. The left-hand wand actuates the horn, windscreen wipers and washer, headlight main beam-dip-flash and the turn indicators. The right-hand wand actuates the combined cruise control and speed limiter and Active Engine Brake (AEB) control.

The driver’s seat is a fully adjustable air-suspended Grammer seat with headrest, adjustable lumbar support and integrated seatbelt with a retractor. Meantime the passenger’s seat is a static seat with height adjustment and seatbelt retractor.

One of the first things you notice about the Axor 2633 is the cabin entry, three offset steps make cabin entry a breeze. The fully adjustable Grammer driver’s seat adjustable steering column provides simple adjustments to achieve the optimum driving position and fully adjustable electronic mirrors are controlled from a four-way switch on the driver’s door armrest.

Our evaluation route covered a diverse range of terrain and road conditions, as it traversed out the Warrego Highway and up the range into Toowoomba then across the New England Highway to Warwick before returning to Rocklea via the Cunningham Highway, which included the steep descent down the Cunningham range.

Right from the start of the evaluation run, the simplicity of the driver’s operating environment is highlighted. The Telligent gearshift is easy to master. Like most of these electronic shifting transmissions, you can preselect a higher gear to start off when the vehicle empty, however, we found the vehicle had to be completely stationary in order for this to happen. If you let the ’Benz roll off the line to ease the strain on the driveline, it would not select a gear.

Meanwhile, the fingertip controls of the steering column wands made light work of the routine functions a driver is required to perform. Vision is one area that the Axor excels, the wide high windscreen proved exceptional forward vision, while three strategically placed mirrors on the left side provide very clear rearward vision.

The power of the 7.2-litre Benz engine is smooth and it responds willingly to each command. A neat feature on the tacho highlights the best engine rev range for the gear selected and speed of the vehicle. How it works is that a number of bars light up green indicating where the rev range will provide the best economy for the load and speed being demanded.

Ride and handling is an area that Mercedes Benz trucks have been renowned for quite some time and this Axor 2633 was no exception and given that it had such a long wheelbase it’s solid road manners came as no surprise.

Specifying the mechanical six-rod on this model is one area we questioned, as most all of the Benz competitors in this market segment such as the DAF, MAN and Volvo have rear air-suspension which is a great advantage for this application. The flexibility of the rear air-suspension allows the deck height to be either raised or lowered and in the rural sector it is vitally important as we all know no two cattle ramps are set at the same height.

Not only do animal welfare groups frown on jumping cattle in and out of stock crates, but also right through the food chain from the growers to the butchers, great care is taken with how the beast is treated.

This Axor 2633 was specifically set up for the rural market sector a task it has had little trouble fulfilling.

Finding a used Axor 2633 is rare as most are snapped up quickly and original owners are often reluctant to part with them due to their reliability and usefulness on the farm or in a fleet. Having said that if you’d expect to pay between $60k to $90k for one depending on its age and condition.

The heavy-duty rear end is virtually bulletproof, but it would be worth changing the oil in the rear end and transmission just to ensure the driveline is sound if the service history is not up to scratch.

As always, an engine oil sample before the purchase is always a safe bet. Allow enough in your budget for the odd incidentals that may need replacing to get the truck back to an as new condition.

If you’re into DYI servicing, parts like the oil filters (Part # OE0017) and Fuel filters (Part # FE31002) are reasonably priced at around $25 plus GST each.

Mercedes Benz 2633 Specifications

Model: Mercedes Benz 2633
Engine: Mercedes-Benz OM926LA
Horsepower: 240kW (326hp) at 2200rpm
Torque: 1300Nm (960lb.ft) at 1200 – 1600rpm
Transmission: G131-9 9-speed
Front Axle: Mercedes Benz I-Beam
Rear Axle: Mercedes Benz Hub Reduction
Rear Axle Ratio: 4.33:1
Rear Suspension: Parabolic Six Rod with stabiliser
Wheels: Alcoa Alloy 10-stud
Exhaust: Single Vertical
Cab Colour: Red
Chassis Colour: Black
Interior Colour: Premium Soft Trim - Grey
Fuel Tank: 300 Litre RHS