Heavy Wrecker playtime down-under

[kw573]

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

In June, the MJCQ held the "Bundaberg Swim-in", hosted by Alan Walker and extended family at their property on the Burnett River at Bundaberg in Southern Queensland, Australia. This three day event is an inhouse gathering for club members, families and friends aimed at just playing with our toys. If you won't get it dirty, then this is not an event for you!

Being only 40 kms from home, I can afford to take my unrestored Kenworth M1A1 Heavy Wrecker to play with. A long while back, the questions were asked about what we could do with the big machine as a stunt of sorts. Could we use the 20 ton rear winch to cable a jeep across a gully, as seen in some WW2 photos? Alan was keen to give it a good attempt, and the more we looked at it, the more do-able it seemed. Weeks before the event, we selected and cleared a suitable site. Selection included access, width and depth, and availability of suitable anchors, i.e. big trees in the right places.

Equipment was borrowed, made, collected, an 'A' frame (DUKW jib frame) modified to take the 3/4" cable, many chains, straps, pulleys, ropes, shackles, and so forth assembled.

Two weeks early, I transported the Kenworth to the property and put it in place.


Alan made several brackets and the trolley to run on the cable to hang a jeep from. It was modified 4WD winch pulleys and a spreader bar as long as a jeep.

On the saturday, it was rainy and miserable. Many willing helpers dug the rear ground anchors in, onto a half buried rail sleeper.




To be continued. . . .

Sam.

[kw573]

Continuing. . .

At the far end, the cable went over an 'A' frame (modified DUKW jib),


. . . through the fork of a convienent tree . . .


. . . and down to a good sized tree anchor.


While several members were digging in the ground anchors and fitting the lifting pulley to the boom (thanks lads, I really appreciated the competent assistance!), others helped me run out the front winch cable into the bush . . .


. . . through an alignment pulley, as the front anchor was not quite in line . . .


. . . and onto the front anchor.


And here is the gully we selected.


To be continued . . .

Sam.

[kw573]

. . . continued,

As a test, Alan agreed to using his unrestored CJ-3B jeep.
Ready to go . . .



. . . and under way.

This went better than expected.

So, feeling a lot more confident, we attached my daily driver,


. . and off it went without incident . . .


. . . to the other side, which, when the 'pulling' rope was tied off, then had the cable tension released, lowering the jeep to the ground.



This all made for a most interesting saturday afternoon.

To be continued . . .


Sam.

[kw573]

. . . continued
Fast forward to Monday morning. This was the last day of the long weekend, and many people preparing for the 4 hour drive to Brisbane where many members live.

Jeff, our club president, wanted to put his jeep across the cableway before I took it down to be able to drive the Kenworth around a bit.

Front attachment:-


and rear attachment:-


. . a pre-flight check . . .


. . . applying tension with the 20 ton rear winch, to lift the jeep off the ground . . .


. . . and on its' way via a team of enthusiastic 'pullers' across the gully.


A mid-flight pause to allow the many cameras to record the event,



Including a cable-eye view.


Distance travelled off the ground was about 40 metres/yards, the gully was around 7 metres deep.

I have had to rely on others to supply pictures, as I was a bit tied up at the time. My thanks to them. Also, a video can be viewed at http://www.aulro.com/afvb/remlr-general/115058-bundy-swim-2011-a.html along with other events of the weekend, courtesy of Glen & Patsy Huntley. Thanks.
Other pics/videos would be gratefully recieved!

This was only one event of the weekend, with several memorable amphibious happenings to delight us all!

My thanks again to the organizers and the many willing and capable hands to help setup and pull down the cableway.

Happy jeeping,
Sam.

[F Bill]

Looks like fun.. And it went a whole lot better than the one across water done during wartime that the Saturday Evening Post recorded, which dumped a driver into the drink and ended up with the jeep on its side.....Saw that article at the local antique mall but they wanted too much for it so I didnt get a copy.

Was there enough tension to make that dug in rear anchor for the Kenworth necessary? Do you have chainable Scotch blocks that the back tires could have been driven up on? Just curious, I used to run a 1 ton wrecker in the 90's...

[gerrykan]

Thanks for posting the photos Sam.

[pintelhook11over]

THAT IS OUTSTANDING! Tanks are cool and all because the have the capacity to destroy stuff...but how many pieces of equipment can make a Jeep "Fly"! The only way that evolution could have been cooler is if you had a M32 Tank recovery vehicle there too!

That ain't no "goodie-to-shoes" trailer queen wrecker afraid to get dirty, She's still on duty working after all these years...keep her runnin' good, she won't let you down.

[kpu121265]

Great to see vehicles doing what they were designed to do. That's why we hitch a jeep up on the boom of the Diamond T at shows when we have the speace to do so. Fantastic pictures and thankyou very much for sahring with 'us'.
Ken

[Sgt. Hancock]

I have quite a fair amount of winch operations experience, and I must say the way you guys rigged everything was really impressive. I especially like how the outriggers anchored. Even though the feet have "plow ends", you still dug a slit trench to help negate the possibility of rearward slippage. VERY WELL DONE LADS!
Next time, may I suggest that you try a winch truck on the receiving end to "fly" the jeep across. It may add to the fun, don't you think?

[kw573]

Thanks for the replies lads.

Bill, were the ground spades/anchors necessary? I think that we could probably have got by without them, in hindsight. However, having done very heavy pulls with the Kenworth before, they are definitely needed when the pull gets really serious. What I did not know was just how tight I would need to pull the cable to make the jeep run properly. As it was, the truck didn't move at all, which means that there was room to spare. The cable was quite tight for the first jeep, but a bit slacker for the other two, as the tension was not needed. And the less pressure, the less chance of mishap. Also, without the ground spades in place, I would have been relying too much on the front winch in the event of a brake problem on the truck. And, of course, it was playtime. I wanted to use the ground spades so others could see them set up.
Scotch blocks were not part of the M1A1 kit that I know of. I don't have any, but I have thought of making a set. As the truck weighs 16 ton, they would probably be very effective. The truck did come with an under-dash pawl/latch that could swing down onto the depressed brake pedal to hold the brakes on whilst winching. Crude, but effective.

Sgt. Hancock,
Thanks for the kind words. Yes, I have used the rear winch a few times and found the the plow ends take a fair bit of the weight, sometimes pushing them into none-too-firm ground. So a railway sleeper in a slit trench spreads the load nicely, stabilizing the whole setup. For the amount of force I was expecting to use, I did not want any nasty surprises!

A second wrecker would have been great. Alas, only one showed at the event. Maybe when I get my 969 done . . . .


BTW, I am looking for a bit more kit for this truck, particularly pulley blocks.
Have a nice day,
Sam.

[Jeff Gordon]

Hi Sam,
Thanks again bringing the wrecker to Bundy and letting me put my jeep across.
The whole family and I had a great time.
Hope to see you soon.
Cheers
Jeff

[kw573]

BTT

[kw573]

BTT