Check, check.

Just a quick check in, still in the land of the living and until lately I have been quite busy. In the last two weeks we have been through fire and flood with tropical cyclone Rusty and fire on the outskirts of Perth.

Cyclone Rusty promised a lot and thankfully, for us down south of the state, didn’t really deliver. I had a few extra days off in Perth and then went out on a Carnarvon express run only to get mildy inconvenienced by a bush fire on the way home. Luckily I was coming back to Perth with only one trailer and was able to hit the back roads and dodge around the affected area.

Put the truck into the workshop today to get a leaking hub seal replaced and am scheduled to head out to Port Hedland tomorrow night with three trailers. After that I am hoping to get back into my usual routine of three trips in twelve days and every second weekend at home.

Prior to that I have been having a bad run with tyres. A string of punctures then several blowouts and even one wheel I couldn’t get loose from the hub (ended getting around it by jacking up the axle and chaining the axle up). I actually badly sprained my ankle when the wheel brace slipped from a wheel nut and I landed with all my weight on the side of my foot. Stung just a bit! I’m still limping about over two weeks later. That was when I decided to buy myself a rechargeable rattle gun (impact wrench). I had been trying to talk myself into laying out the cash for nearly two years now but good ones are pretty damned expensive. 

I ended up getting a Milwaukee 3/4 inch 18 volt rechargeable impact wrench with two 4 amp batteries and they threw in a bonus 1.5 amp battery along with a carry bag/cap/stubby holders.

 

I’ve used it twice now and it will undo fully torqued ten stud wheel nuts. I wasn’t  expecting that – I thought I would have to at least partially loosen the wheel nuts before the Milwaukee would turn them. Perhaps to prolong the life of this expensive bit of gear I might be better off using the wheel brace to do the initial hard work instead of hammering away for five to ten seconds before the wheel nut slowly begins to turn for the first half to full rotation.

All in all, I am suitably impressed with the Milwaukee so far and can foresee it being a very handy tool to have with me in the truck while I’m away on the road.

Cheers, Mike.

Bit Of A Cookup.

Came across a bit of a nasty prang yesterday. I wasn’t first on the scene – it had happened several days before but because of the isolated location there had been no cleanup, also, the wreck was not actually on the road.
There was no way to recognise the make or model of the truck due to the fire which destroyed all but the 3rd trailer.
Apparently the driver got out ok, but that’s all I really know. Apart from the fact that someone isn’t going to be getting their triple roadtrain load of cherry pickers. Unless they don’t mind them a bit scorched. And Orix Trailer Rentals have got to be a bit pissed off – theirs is the 3rd trailer (mostly unburnt but slightly bent)

Now, people might think I’m a bit of a softy when I stop for a nap or call it a night before midnight, but one look at these photo’s is all it takes to remind me that, regardless of what happened to this driver, all it takes is a moment of inattention to end up in the same predicament. What do you tell the boss then?

Cheers, Mike.