Aussie Road Trains in floods waters in Aussie outback

[@weldmachine]

Australia. Home to droughts and flooding plains. Best country on the planet 👍👍

[@stevenchandler4218]

WOW!!! That's an eye-opener.

[@tba3900]

Worst part is if the water has gone above the diff breathers, those diff will be rooted. We had to run remote breather lines to the back of the cab to stop this happening.

[@danielflinn3571]

Thanks for the look

[@MarioVanDerMaas]

I wish you all happy Australia day

[@tezthetruckie]

Thank you mate

[@frizzy60]

Shows the harsh extremes of the Australian Outback

[@jamesdoust6975]

Shows one getting stuck, then three more trying. Conformation that truck drivers are not blessed with a high IQ

[@RoadTrainAdventures]

Good one

[@dougtilley5977]

Good vid mate, hey I have some photo's of a Road Train half submerged, not my photo's, found them a few years ago, will post them to you on the messenger.

[@tezthetruckie]

Cool thanks

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

Would they need to check and repack every bearing, drain and refill each diff and gearbox (depth dependent of course)?

[@tezthetruckie]

It be a big job

[@returnofthenative]

@@tezthetruckie Yeah, but. Yeah but. Not so bad if you're well set up in the workshop Tez, the entire train can be done in a day, but going in there becomes bigger than just cleaning & re-greasing the bearings. There are easily damaged wheel seals, & premature brake lining replacement to contend with, as you don't want to do it all again soon. If its time for one, do the whole. With wheel bearings it depends on how dirty the water is, & how deep. If its clean enough, not right up to the hubs, & you only crawl through, you can get away with just pumping, fresh grease through, a few, times. Trick, is a just a little bit, often. Diffs are easy, just unscrew the drain plugs a bit & screw them back up when the water stops & oil begins to drain. I used to do it all the time, after crossing water with hot diffs, or in wet/humid climate. Hot diffs condensate horribly, let them cool to ambient, the emulsion separates into 2 parts, then drain. I raised my diff breathers & put small inline car petrol filters on the end. Night time in water is the worst, I've known 50kms unbroken, & with missing roadside pickets. Dead slow 4 km/h with the fan locked out, & the spotties angled down so you can see into the water is best. Keep uploading Tez, I miss the old days.

[@returnofthenative]

If you're interested, John Smith, see my reply.

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

Thank you. The 4wd clubs in NZ that regularly ford rivers recommend lengthening all the breathers (g box, T/fer case, axles) and "T" ing them to end up with one line leading to an in line fuel filter at about top seat belt mount height on the "B" pillar inside... With the air supply on your trucks you might even pressurise the lines at say .5 lbs sq inch to give a very slight positive pressure... a little lube pushed out might be better than all the drainage and refilling??? If water gets in then..... you have bigger problems to worry about! @@returnofthenative

[@returnofthenative]

@@JohnSmith-yv6eq There you go, progress. Its been a long time ago for me.

[@Fullnoise]

This clip has been around for a few years now.

[@tezthetruckie]

OK. First time I have seen it.

[@DanfromOz]

One reason why im hesitant to drive long distances in that part of Australia, is cant crocs show up in flood waters? What do you then seems like a pretty shit situation

[@returnofthenative]

They sure can, & do. So if you get stuck in a water crossing, can't get up the other side etc. have to uncouple & recouple to pull them up singly, you keep your eyes peeled, & do it quick as you can. I recall getting so stuck somewhere up near Derby, where there is not only a huge tideway, but mangroves too. This means there can be both fresh & salt water crocks about. Crossings are all different, very different. In this case it was very steep both sides with maybe 150 mtrs of water to cross. Obviously you have to be well informed before you even can consider that route, & can't just roll up, plunge in & power through, you have to check it out first. The thing is, you're already committed because you can't just turn a train around, hence the need for prior knowledge. Another consideration is that there could well be a significant step off, & consequent step up on on the other side, due to the washing action of the water, & especially on flowing creeks, therefore you have to proceed slowly enough not to break anything, but fast enough to keep rolling. When a creek is flowing, the sand coming down can, & will grab the wheels, & it can't be shoveled away. If you come to a stop, for any reason, its a nightmare, that will take many hours to extricate from because the whole train has to be broken up, pulled out singly, then re-assembled again in a place wide enough for the purpose. A triple is a lot easier than pulling a double on short, steep kinds of crossings because you can go slower more confidently knowing that whilst the truck & lead are climbing out, the weight of the 3rd is pushing & when the lead is already over the jump up, you're only pulling up 2 with max traction. best of all is travelling in convoy with 2 trains coupled together by a stiff bar. You'll steam it in them. Anyway, on this particular occasion, I got stopped mid stream, the sand instantly piled up around the wheels, & there was no help for it but to wade in & do the necessary. It was very late in the day, maybe 2 hours before dark, when I started. I had pulled the lead & dolly up & was just in the middle of coupling the horse onto the 2nd, after which I would have to release the dolly attaching to the 3rd, when I spotted a 5ft croc only just submerged & quietly waiting, right there. Me thinks he was an old hand & knew the routine as quite as well as me. Anyway, I lost half an hour over that encounter, in great trepidation, but what had to be done, had to be done. I coupled up to the last in darkness, hauled it up & that was it, I was utterly, spent & left the re-assembly for tomorrow morning. BTW I did roll at night, just to get the miles, & its always stressful, most especially where there are cattle, & black Angus are the worst by far, you will never miss hitting Angus. For a long time I ran Perth to Woody Woody / Nifty, with workshops freight, & east of Marble Bar its all Angus, so my method was to time it for a camp up at Marble Bar, then off at first light & roll into Woody at 7 am. On the highway I would tail onto another truck at night, if I could. But dirt is the pits at night, & not only because the low speed hinders reasonable progress, but because unlike sealed roads that are so formed as to light every imperfection, dirt hides them, very very efficiently.

[@DanfromOz]

@returnofthenative hi thanks for your detailed reply, it seems the are alot more risks than i previously thought, im driving local around perth at the moment and i dont think i have the guts to do that kind of stuff to be honest. Props to you, that sounds like a straight nightmare scenario

[@KevinD_33x150]

Bad enough losing time & money in a massive wading pool, then there's the clean up...

[@grahamcockerill2406]

What would they do with the cattle if they were loaded Tez. Aussie Graham.

[@tezthetruckie]

I don't know mate. I would say. They got pust to high ground

[@returnofthenative]

@@tezthetruckie If the distance is short, & you have a dozer handy, it can be do-able, but as soon as the ruts deepen, usually with the 2nd trailer breaking through the crust, it or certainly the 3rd goes down. I've seen it with flat tops, where only one side broke through the crust, on the 2nd, & it was a very precarious mess. The 3rd was still out of it & therefore still up. Uncoupling was impossible, had to carefully lift the rear axle group with the bucket under the tyres, then the dolly, bit by bit & repack to level again by hand under the wheels. Only then could it be uncoupled. The horse & lead got dragged out, then had to go under to wind off the brakes, & drag the 2nd out, same thing for 3rd & re-assemble. It took 2 whole long days. Most of us carried a stiff bar bolted across the chassis. On hard packed dirt with bog holes I've known 4 triples so coupled together & simultaneously pulling & pushing each other through. But you have to expect the possibility of undercarriage damage. All this is of course on steel wheels, spiders, 6 rod, round tanks etc. & not possible with trucks on alloys, airbags & square tanks. You couldn't risk any of that loaded with cattle, just way too tippy, & even at a slight angle they all go down & cannot be gotten out. Bear in mind that each trailer is carrying 100 grand's worth of beef. I remember it was back in the late 60s that a Buntine's train loaded with a lot of pissed off & very tired & thirsty young scrub bulls got stuck on dirt somewhere out near Bouilia I think, & now that I recall it had broken down with no hope of rescue for the animals, so that they had no option but to urge the beasts out, high risk of broken legs & all. The really unfortunate part was that this particular spot was a range inhabited by a lot of very select & exceedingly well bred ladies, who appeared to enjoy a bit of rough judging by the pastoralist's rage, & Noel had to pay out big time in order to mollify his feelings, re-muster the boys who had behaved so outrageously, re-load them onto another truck, & rescue the 1st. As this reply is already long, & I'm thinking on that region, time & Buntines, It wasn't quite flooded, but very wet nonetheless, so to pull off the hard was to bog. Anywhere off the main south highway was dirt then. They were carting in to Isa, when the driver had to stop because some hippy trippy campers in a combi van with peace symbols etc. had stopped in the middle of the road. He got out to see what the problem was, figured out that it couldn't be remedied & suggested they push it off the road let him past & then he would pull them back on again. They flatly refused, in fact they arc'd right up, stupid move because he could have easily pulled them the 2 or 300 ks, all the way to Isa. So anyway, he pushed them off & out of the way, wrecking their cute combi in the proccess. They tried to sue Buntines for the damage, but the court ruled that livestock in transit could not be so held up by itinerant lunatics, & awarded costs against them.

[@returnofthenative]

If you're interested, Graham, see my reply.

[@Golden-dog88]

whats that song playn? i like it

[@tezthetruckie]

Is this really happening ... by Track Tribe

[@Golden-dog88]

@@tezthetruckie cheers Tez

[@DaveGregory3298akaDJ]

All that lost revenue that's truckin

[@ianbrowne9304]

bit of an oldie mate

[@lionelcook8522]

You reckon those blokes from Hatch Transport would of learnt the first time when they made an identical video a few years ago. 😅

[@returnofthenative]

Tell me if I'm too wordy, Tez. Just trying to support the channel.

[@KevinD_33x150]

Details are important! 👍🏼

[@returnofthenative]

@@KevinD_33x150 Thanks Kevin, I think so too. I'm old & retired in 2016, but I like to pass on what I can in case its useful, & moreover I thought I might put the info out in an entertaining format to support the channel.

[@KevinD_33x150]

@@returnofthenative Well done on retirement! 👍 Many that watch this channel aren't truck drivers (you can tell by some comments or questions 🤣🤣) so it's.handy educating those that don't know how some things work. 👍

[@returnofthenative]

@@KevinD_33x150 I was thinking more along the lines of contributing in small measure, to a workable basic understanding of outback long haul operations for those who are trying to transition into it, as it is far too often fatal. I have known companies, especially during, a mining boom or some such, sending an otherwise reasonably competent driver, but total noob alone, 1st. time to the delivery site, into the desert at the peak of summer with predictable results. I added a few replies to questions in this upload.

[@tezthetruckie]

It all cool mate. I have to put yours side for a bit until I find time to read it. You got good Information. Thank for tell us.