I’m back on tonight Vic, I’ll see what I can do…
Jeff…
j eff how do you get your topped up trailer of if there is no machine available , i expect there always is, however ,is there a winch system we cannot see from the photos on your unit…? and where does the pin on the topped trailer sit ,it looks as if there is a sort of plate on the bottom trailer, it is just i have never had anything to do with your kind of work at all, and the questions i ask, is, because i like to know, being nosy…and interested.
Ok Vic, just for you here’s a close up of the CTI…
The tire valve are replaced with hoses running into them… they rotate on the rotator in the centre of the hub, the hex bit stays still… The airlines run back to a tank on the chassis… and that’s where the air pressure is regulated from… the switch on the dash regulates the pleasure… which is either dumped or inflated form the air tank… From 25 to 100psi takes about 2 minutes, and about the same to go back down…
Jeff…
Thanks Jeff just what i wanted to see, i now fully get the system ,yes i know its only wheels but when you do not know then ,find out ,clever!!plus has the hexyz got a roller bearing inside ?ARE THE TYRES TUBED? MUST BE SPECIAL VALVES…are the red wing type plastic valve nut for keeping in the tyre pressure if you change wheels.
Hi Vic the bit that is bolted to the hub by 2 bolts has a spike on it and the hex is made out of some kind of neoprene plastic, it is just pushed onto it and is a fairly tight fit… when you look at it you would think it’s just a cheep bit of plastic but we usually get a few years out of them… The tyres are tubless, they use the standard tubless valves but there are no internals to the valve. The inflator tubes are screwed into the end of the valves… The red taps are for switching it all of for the weekend, or long down times…
Jeff…
OK, so here we go on part 6 of… they’re not really chapters… more of a sort of self indulgent ramble… Part 6…
1.45 AM raining… not far from snowing…Now if you want to know where I’m pretending to be you’ll have to get a map out… And remember this is just made up and didn’t really happen… Find New Norfolk about 2/3rds of the way down Tasmania on the left hand side… got that… there’s a big blue wiggley line… if all this was real that line should be the river Derwent… on the south side of the river slightly to the left of New Norfolk and if you have a half way decent map you would see Fielton… So we went through there, that’s where I turned the CIT valves on, and that’s as far as the sealed road goes… Now go south west and find Loanavale and the Weld river… Mount Weld… Well just in about there somewhere about 800 meters up the side of mountain…covered in trees… ( the mountain, not me ) not that any of this is real you understand…
We logged the west end of this coup last month and have been moving east since… there’s no point going any farther then marker 20… I sneak along to the far end of the block in 3rd low… I’ve cracked the window open a bit just in case I hear anything… just the rattle of the jinker accompanied by the throaty burble of the Cat emanating form the stack up the back of the cab…
Everything is just mud, pine ■■■■■, or gravel… the hill side is covered in neatly corded wood that would have been felled yesterday… the forwarders will collect it today and bring it to the landings, and that’s where we haul it from… 37 tons at a time…
Marker 20…the start of the block is marker 18, that makes this block 4k’s long… up here the logs have already been graded and put in their respective stacks… either saw logs for the lumber mills up north… or pulp pine, which is what I’m hauling for the local paper mill… Saw logs are good quality, big heavy logs usually from down the bottom of the valley near the river… the stuff we get is usually light, brittle, thin stuff from farther up the hill and you need a lot of it on your truck to get the weight…
I’ll sit and wait… hand brake on… there’s that hiss again… they were meant to fix that last weekend… loads of other things rattle to their own rhythm, screws in ash trays… things deep under the dash… there’s something over there in the foot well… What the cricky heck is it… I climb over to have a look… No can’t see anything, but my trouser leg is now caught on the splitter switch… OH… Oh I’ll have to get he cruise control going if I let it sit on tick over I won’t have enough air to blow the brakes of…
I wrestle with my trouser leg on the gear stick and it doesn’t like it at all… ccccccccccccrunch… grrrrrrrrrrrr…I pull my leg back and try again from a different angle… grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr… then I’m free… I slide back onto the drivers seat… rev the engine to 1400 and set the cruise control to hold it there… at a fast idle if you like…Bloody thing’s still rattling away in the foot well… I’ve had enough of that… I’ll have to get out and have proper look… Hard hat on… Well there’s an LED light Araldited to the front of it so it’s just like wearing a flash light on you head… open the door. right hand on the front grab rail, right foot on the top step… swing round… left hand on the rear grab rail. left foot on the middle step. start to let myself down… My right foot finds the next step and I drop a bit farther… reassuringly my left foot finds the narrow bottom step and the next manoeuvre finds me safely on the ground… As I’m walking round the front of the truck the engine fan starts in, to add to the eclectic orchestral sound scape… and just like everything else it wants to stand out from the crowd as well…
Everything is illuminated in that gray white LED glow, the light on my head is bright enough to pick out the top of the trees, until I point it towards the passenger side door, which is slightly ajar… Ah… well that might just be the rattle… I’m sure I checked that before… when I stopped at Plenty bridge to turn on the CTI valves… I’m sure I did… Maybe not…I know I thought about it…Any way now that I’m here I may as well have a look in the foot well and see if there’s anything else rattling about in there… Turns out there’s some kind of large plastic cup thing with a top on it… and inside that there’s spring… Yeh a spring in a cup… who would put a spring in a plastic cup… and who would think it was a good idea to leave it in my truck■■? …I have a look at and really can’t see it’s purpose… Years ago I would’ve heaved it over the bank, but you can’t do that sort of thing now… Someone would do a report on litter… They’d have a look on the computer machine to see who had been up here, and then there’d be words and I would get… All that sort of stuff…I’ll stick it down behind the passenger seat… but first I’ll bung a bit of kitchen roll in it to stop the spring annoying the crap out of me for the rest of the day…
Back on the drivers seat… I’ll have to think about what to do… I’m still pretty sure I’m meant to be up here… am I ■■? …yeh… I am… Maybe not… Ah… I don’t know…I used to be indecisive, but now I’m not sure…
I pick up the mike… “Hello… Hello… Lurch…” staring at the UHF trying to will it to say something… but still nothing…
I’ll get the WD 40 out and spray the air winches… that’ll kill a bit of time… How’s the time going…2. 05
I’m getting ready to climb back out… and there’s noise on the UHF… Not much… just a crackle and a bit of white noise… silence… other than everything rattling. and the din of the Cat ticking over at 1400…
Ah stuff it the winches’ll have to wait… I’m of to Moogara… I’ll just go up here and turn at the old landing…
Kick the clutch down and the revs fall back to 650… foot on the clutch… hand brake of… push the gear stick forward to 3rd… let the selector just grind lightly on the gear to slow the shaft down a bit… Then the final Grrrrrrrrrrrr clunk… and it’s back into gear. I just trundle along… but pick up the UHF mike as I go… " Hello… Hello… is there any body out there" I should probably be sitting round a table holding hands with the recently bereaved when I say that line… " Does the letter G mean anything to any one… I’m sensing a presence… Is there anybody out there that would like to contact us"
Nop nothing…I’ll just turn here… something I used to do 4 times a shift… I know if I hold it tight to the banking on the left and just let it tick over in 2nd low… Then…Now! swing hard right… full lock… not to fast or it’ll push the steer wheels to far out… I can feel it pushing and sliding… but it usually does that… even in the dry… round it comes… get my body away from the window, as I’ll get bashed about as it goes over all the bumps and pot holes…hold it on full lock… half way round… that ditch doesn’t look inviting… still on full lock… and that’s it… full left lock and back onto the road I’ve just come in on…
What was that… up there on the hill… I’m sure I saw some lights… I’m ducking and weaving round on my seat… I’m sure I saw something
" Hello… Hello… Lurch… Lobster Legs… Any one… "
There was lights up on the hill… I’m sure there was…The road goes that way… up there to the right… I’ll keep my gaze over there…
Yesssssss… LED’s
“Hello… Hello … Lurch…”
“Jesus ya f $%^k&*g hippy… I’ve been shouting you for the last half hour… Couldn’t you hear me. I could hear you… Are you holding a f#$%^ig séance or something… Is there anybody out there? …Ground control to Major Tom… you idiot”
" And a good morning to you to Lurch "
“Did you come up over Leasons?.. I had a look but thought better of and came round the other way… Chuck you trailer of and get the loader started, and we’ll chuck a Jag of wood at the trucks”
I knew I was meant to be up here… not a doubt in my mind… Moogara…Plenty… Huuuu… Professional…me… Yeh
The lights of Lurch’s truck arrive round the final corner and dance with mine, as the truck pitches and rolls across pot holes and undulations. Modern LED’s destroying the darkness… no more lonely forest… this is the time of machines
Time sheet…
Hand brake and trailer supply system … a bit like a Broms brake on an F series Volvo… not to be confused with the trailer brake which is a leaver on the side of the steering column…
Hat with a light…
Jeff…
LOVE your phrase, ‘‘sort of self-indulgent ramble’’ to describe your writing! That’s a license to write just how you want to and has the potential to stop would-be critics in their tracks! 
Robert 
Now… Uncle Bob… why would anyone want to criticise it… 
… after all it’s just another tall drivers tale… even the images aren’t real…it’s all photoshop…
Jeff…
Well !tall story or not, its good reading ,how you find time to write direct to the forum ?and that LURCH … .
Not a problem Vic… I’ll do a bit of editing to the previous parts and be along with another bit soon…
Jeff…
Part 7…
All of sudden the day was brighter, there were other people about, it was still ridiculously early. Outside was still very unappealing to look at… and as soon as I opened the door I could feel that knowing bite in the air that told me that snow wasn’t far away… for now as far as weather want this was well into the uncomfortable zone… but I’m not really in control of that, I would have to make do with that, make the most of it, and just get on with the day…
I was just about to get out the warmth of the cab… the door was open I had my hand on the hand rail ready to descend into the inevitable mud, when …
" Have they sorted out your loading ticket yet " It was just audible. Lurch’s truck was to close, and his radio was set for long range, meaning that his UHF was over modulating… But before I could even answer…
" You need to get them to sort it out for you… I’ve got better things to do than load you all day"
What the Heck!!!
“Hay listen up ya baldy slap head, it was you that phoned me just after midnight. I could still be sleeping in bed… I’m here now so you better get on with it” There was a short pause…
“Yeh right… get the loader started and sling your trailer of… We better get out of here before it starts snowing.”
That’s more like it I thought… I reluctantly returned to my last task… Hat on… switch my head light on… down the steps into the mud… I kept thinking of all the Scania 142’s and 3’s I used to see at Truckfest with “3 steps to heaven written” on the bottom of the cab… Gloves… No they’re the wet ones I had yesterday. I should have taken then home and dried them out…Dry ones… dry ones. they should be down the back of the seat… dry… dry… there’s one… and there’s the other… no that’s another left handed one… I stand on my toes to get a better look and poke my head in… the light picks up something… and that’ll do… 2 dry gloves… Oh… loader key… keys … keys… in the centre counsel… back up the 3 steps to misery… My head light picks up the keys, that have been in there spot so long that they have worn their own spot… I wonder how many other driver before me have taken and put them back in the exact same spot… I know I’ll be the last as I have been told many times that "Today’ll be the last run for 178. They’re going to scrap it at the end of the week.
I have a small chuckle to may self as I try and pick out a route to the loaded that is minimal in mud, but not to muck of a detour to make it look obvious.
Mother Nature has a great sense of humour… The loader goes about it’s business and trundles back and forward along the length of the wood pile. As it does so it makes tracks… Well it is a tracked loader so in a way that’s part of it’s description… the tracks are lower then the surrounding land and when it rains they fill with water. The wind gets up a bit and blows loads of leaves and bits of light bark about… They float on the top of the water and first thing in the morning to an unwary half sleeping log truck driver it looks just like al the rest of the solid ground up here. Knee deep in muddy water if your lucky… if not it’s arse over ■■■■■■■■. and try and not drink any of it as you go down…
If in doubt… chuck something onto anything that looks dodgy… Ah Hu… see … and that’s about a foot deep.
I can see Lurch getting about… it looks like something from a bad 80’s disco… al that high reflect 3M safety tape sewn onto every piece of outer clothing… He should be dancing the robot…No… he’s getting the safety chains of that hold the B trailer to the A trailer…
Back to the task in hand… get to the loader with out getting wet up to my knees… The sound of Cat, distant ■■■■■■■ and the clanking of chains and heavy metal objects fill the air. Finally I’ve worked out route to the loader… just follow the foot prints of the last gut that that got out…
My head light is all that I’m going on… I should have recharged it last night but I left it in the car… bummer… there’s still enough to see what I’m doing… At leas the loader is sunk in it’s tracks enough for me not to have to muck trouble to climb up the tracks and unlock the door…
Lurch is revving the clackers out of the ■■■■■■■ to get the PTO going so he can unload his B trailer… by now I have the door of the loader open and am climbing in… 3 points of contact at all times… both in and out. I shinned myself on the steps a few weeks a go…Not a thing you forget in a hurry… I’m in… just reach over the other side of the seat and find the ignition switch… flick it on… Lights… There you go… If you thought there were loads of lights on the trucks then the loader looks like a Mods scooter… 4 LED’s on the front of the cab. 4 on the back of it. 2 each side . 2 on the rear, 2 on the main boom. 2 on the dipper. It can get day light or dark when your working on it… you don’t really notice until you’re finished… Get the revs up a bit to warm the hydraulic oil… Take my keys back out the ignition… and back to the ground…No … No … wait… Books … I need the loading books… I’ll do the paper work while Lurch it loading… At least that way I can stay in the cab… dry, if not very warm… I’m still running the air con. I like it to be somewhere about 4 to 6c in the cab. that way there’s less chance of it steaming up when we get into some of those cold damp isolated ravines
I can hear the UHF going in the loader, but I’m on the ground now so it’s to late… I pick my way back to the hard standing and the security of the truck… he UHF is still going… Lurch is saying something but the door’s closed… I can’t make him out… at least it’s not raining to hard at the moment… Things are looing good
Back up the steps… flip the door open as I get to the top step, hold it open with my right elbow and swing back in… The little spring catch that holds the door open hasn’t worked for as long as I can remember… I’ll have to right that in the defect book when I get back to the yard… as if…
" Did you get the loader book? is there enough tickets in it to do both of us ? " It’s barley audible on the UHF, but he does sound a bit happier.
Still standing on the top step I grab the UHF mike, let him know it’s all going well before I get back down into the mud…
I have the Cat ticking over about 1100… just enough for the compressor to stay ahead of the air leaks… all the loading lights are piercing the darkness at slightly different angles… next step is unwinding the safety chains…
I’ll be back soon. I have nip out…
Jeff…
Sorry about that I had to go and shift some wood…
Part 7 and a half…
Well it’s still raining, although not very hard… it’s not very warm and I’m outside wandering about in the dark… well it’s not really dark as there are about 20 LED spot lights pointing about attached to different machines…
Next task safety chains… they help hold the B trailer (top trailer) to the A trailer, there are other devices that also help but I’ll get to them soon. Outside in the chilling air, any signs of tiredness just seem to vanish… slightly uncomfortable perhaps… but defiantly alert… my mind is totally on the job… I just wish the truck had the same feelings… I walk round to the other side, checking everything as I go, only a brief glance tells me every thing is good enough… Back in the cab…
Did I mention the black switch■■? The black switch is the trailer brake override… I have to activate that to override the trailer brakes so I can unload the B trailer… if you don’t then the trailer will still come off… but the brakes will still be on… I’ve seen it done… it’s not pretty… There’s a lot of complaining going on at the trailer wheels, as the hydraulic capstan winch just brutalise and pushes until it’s finished… It usually ends up braking the gypsy chain if your lucky… if not then the capstan goes pop… So I’ve been told… you tend not to get to many shifts after that… So it’s a good thing to remember to push the black switch in…
Black switch in… hold it there for a few seconds to make sure it stays in… good… Slide lockers out… secondary trailer brake off… now that brake is to lock the top trailer brake on all the time it’s sitting on the bottom trailer… A sort of transit brake…
Just to recap the stuff that holds the top trailer on in transit are…
Override trailer brake… Safety chains… Slide locker, which is an air operated cam that locks the sliding 5th wheel into the bottom chassis… and the 3 inch gypsy chain that runs round the hydraulic capstan winch…
Foot on the clutch… switch the PTO on… switch the PTO on… there should be a light when that happens… flick the switch a few times.
OK that’s the light on… foot of the clutch… and … and … and there we go everything shakes about, sort of like when a forklift driver on and of your trailer… a lot of weight transfer going on… Just keep an eye on both mirrors… revs about 1500… a bit of banging and clanking as the gypsy chain slaps about. I can see the B trailer lights getting farther away…and now the bolsters are starting to stand up… Oh it’s getting exiting I’m almost there…
Exiting you say! well it wouldn’t be the fist time that I’ve driven into the forest at some god forsaken time of the day or night just to sit there with nothing going on… then spend the next few hours trying to find out why nothing is going…broken wire somewhere… slide locker jammed in… capstan winch dropped a gear… bolster rams squirting oil like a demonic fountain…
There we go… ready to load wood…
"Lurch… Hay… Lurch… ready to go " I’ll get the scale box fired up as I speak to him on the UHF
Lurch is already in the loader as the UHF barks back at me “Just pull it forward a bit”
I ease it into gear as I switch the PTO of… hand brake off… and roll it at walking pace. I know roughly whereto be, but I’ve found out the every loader has a different technique and wants you in a slightly difference location… may be a bit more forward, or back, slightly this way or that… I just do what I’m asked.
I can hear in a back ground the Lurch has the radio going in the loader
“Keep coming… left… get over the other side… bit more… Fine… all stop "
Hand brake back on… black switch in to over ride the brake or the scales won’t work as the wheels are locked in position… and the worst bit… I have to get out while Lurch loads the front bunk… Not ever… under no circumstance can anyone be in the cab of the truck when it’s being loaded or unloaded… And I’ve been in these places in the most miserable kinds of weather and I can say I’ve never seen anyone brake that rule. It very easy for things to go wrong. I’ve seen the loader chuck a 1 ton log the length of a truck… So out the truck and 15 meters away… over there under the trees out the way of to muck weather…
Lights seem to flash of and on as the loader swings into action… grab after grab of reluctant logs are swung into place on the bolsters. A short one tries to escape… but it’s been spotted… The log pile collapses, but in a good way, and only seek to make the job of loader easier as they trundle and skid over the wood plie towards the grasping loader. The action repeats again and again… load the far side first and let the logs roll back to the centre… get a couple of big ones and make an out side wall with them… that way you don’t have to be to fussy about what’s going on in the middle… A couple of big ones for the near side and thump them into place with the weight of the closed grab…
It’s starting to look good… like a load of logs… not to many sticking out the back of the pile… I look at the weight on the hand held scales… It needs another couple of tons… I get close to the goings on… hold 2 fingers up and wait until Lurch has seen me… he swings again for another grab… I’m still there in the rain holding up 2 fingers… he hasn’t look my way yet, and I only need half a ton now… I take my arm down… Just then Lurch looks over and I make a gesture that looks like I’m trying to cut my self in half. I get the nod, and Lurch goes in light and take out a small grab… That gets swung into position. but i still need another 200 kg… another 2 fingers. and the return nod from Lurch… 1 fat log later and that’s the front bunk done… Misery might be lurking in the cold, damp, darkness, but I’m one step closer to getting out of here…
I climb back into the cab… may be not warm. I have the A/C set to 5c… but it’s a lot warmer than it was outside… Lurch is already talking on the UHF… but not to me… he’s in the middle of a conversation with someone I can’t hear. His radio is picking them up, but not mine… I wait for a bit as the one sided conversation heads for a brake.
“Thanks for that” I brake in when I think it appropriate…
" Yep right, just roll it forward a bit” comes the reply. “After this one you’ve to go to Tarraleah… That was Square Head, that’s what he said…Tarraleah "
“What!.. Tarraleah… I though that was snowed out” If it’s snowing up here I wouldn’t like to think what it’s going to be like away out there.
" Keep it rolling… a bit farther… yep right… that’ll do… Just stay there you’re fine I get on and do the rest form there”
Tarraleah I think to myself… a bit of a cross between adventure and what the heck are they thinking about… better get the tickets sorted out…
Big book first… todays date… fleet number… coup number… loader number… collected form… delivered to… OK… and another one for Lurch
“Hay Lurch which truck are you in today”
Nothing… still nothing…
“What ? "
“What truck are in”
The answer is short and abrupt… some thing’s changed his mood.
" 121… how much more do you need "
The response throws me for a second and my eyes strain in the darkness to see the scale box… Oh heck I’ve still got it set on the first bunk… so I fiddle with it and bring up the middle bunk… 12.550 kg… My mind goes blank as I try to switch from writing 121 in the book to simple subtraction, but somewhere it flicks into gear… and…
'3and a half ton.”
"3 and a half " his mood’s no better…
Back to the book… 121 for Lurch… fill out the rest as above…
Weigh ticket… much the same as the big book but a different format… By the time I’ve written both of them the second bunk’s almost done…
Half my mind is still on why Tarraleah, how much weight… and what’s bugging Lurch… the other bit is again trying to work out how much more wood I need
" 800 kilos Lurch " Is it ? …that’s 15.20… I need 16.00… why Tarraleah …Yeh that’s right 800…
Put my ticket over there in my in my folder… always do that… good to set up a system for stuff like that… I found that out when I was doing TIR forms and carnets… don’t stuff around with paper work… always do it the same way…
So it goes form this…
to this… in about 60 seconds
Hydraulic capstan winch…
B trailer slides/gets dragged along the chassis on the 5th wheel
Jeff…
Excellent story, well told!
Jeff ,this is how its done in Ear lake Ontario…on company road 60kmph max ,small trailer on, the others have a an extra axle on the trailer.
pictured before chaining the bunks.
Hi Jeff ,i ve got it, give me a ring in the morning ,not to early,and i will do your shift for you,excellent explanation, brilliant photos ,yeah about a week, you can tell lurch im after his job,but i want flask of coffee on tap,waders dry gloves both hands,and a assistant to do the paper work,plus dark money,20 ■■■■ A SHIFT,PRO PLUS TABLETS,now who remembers them!, -.im 70 now ,ill back down,to much like graft, good on you…in theory the jobs been explained…lots more than i ever thought…dbp.
Nice one there Jimbo… a long way from Moffatt and chasing Irish guys up and down the A 75…I’m guessing your about 70 tons with that… looks like a right pain to load, hour and bit?
Vic send my you phone number and I give you a call round midnight one wet and foggy night, you can use Lurck’s truck when he sleeps in, and I’ll drag you up some muddy snow capped mountain in Southern Tasmania…
It’s not all doom and gloom as I get photos like this…
and this…
Jeff…
aye jeff …good eye …no far off lol,biggest problem is the mills scale tickets are checked by the DOT,and no mercy shown.
about an hr ish to load .
Hi Jim, they’re the same down here as well, I found them hanging about at our scales about 4 am on Thursday morning… They can come in and check the weigh bridge history by down loading it from the computer… everyone has to log in and out so there’s no way round it and there’s no time limit on how far back they can book you… If we’re ever over it’s by accident, and not usually by much… Some of the landings we are hauling from aren’t exactly flat and can throw the scales out a bit here and there…
Jeff…
As I sad before I don’t know what happened this dude. seemed to be on here all the time then nothing… By the look of it the eco terrorists Pardon me: Tree huggers must have gotten hold of him.