Week 18
Hi Everyone, This week is probably the most uneventful week for us, (except Dad). At the start of the week we continued our stay at Howard Springs Caravan Park. We were in cabin number two, (that RACV was paying for.) While the trailer was getting fixed, we were either in bed, (due to a flu), in the swimming pool, (which actually helped a lot), or doing schoolwork, (which didn’t help). The trailer was getting repaired and improved by changing the design so it will slide with out damaging itself, if rolled again. We managed to find a welder and fabricator outside of Darwin. Bluey was his name. The trailer was parked in a farm shed 40kms from Darwin, where rodeo ‘cowboys’ stayed in vans. The farm supplied the cattle for rodeos. Dad did the quote for the insurance company, so he got everything he was after. Dad organized as part of the insurance claim smaller new wheels and tyres, axles with brakes, a hitch, rack, break away brakes, mud guards, etc. It took two engineers and Dad four days to rebuild. Ali and I painted the trailer after they had finished. The idea with the smaller wheels was that they produce less leverage that reduces the load rating of the axles by up to 20%. As the loaded trailer is 2600kg and the axles are rated to 1500kg each, a 20% reduction is enough to make the axles not strong enough and bend. | The first day Dad left the people to themselves with written instructions and drawings. They made such a botched job of it, they had to start again. The replacement rack for the top was too narrow and too short. Dad did not leave after that and did all the measuring, marking and coordination. Other than fixing the trailer and living in a small cabin with a tandem trailer full of stuff, we had an enjoyable week… And that’s what we did in week 18 on our Journey Around Oz. Cameron |
