honitonhobbit

Most of the commitee are a bit on the Dodgy side to be honest, what with Dan and Andy, JU to name but a few... Fao b101uk I am afraid you have been misinformed by your local HSE. Obviously you have HSE approved Risk Management Training for winching and within that training you are given the choice to Risk Assess you winch rope/wire. This will then be within the Method Statement for the winchin opperation you are performing. If you have decided that the Risk potential is too high with synthetic line then you don't use it. However inabout 80 percent of Arbor/Sylvicultural operations that involve winching the use of the correct synthetic line and it's asscociated equipement actually score a lower Risk score than wire rope.

It just so happens that we have a single axle weigh bridge at work - I didn't know this until earlier today when I got back form site early. As I was wasting time cleaning the truck, I noticed a couple of fixed pressure plates by the washdown. I followed the cables back to a small hut with a rather nifty 'puter screen doodad... Now thanks to LR90 asking pertinant questions about my weight - well that of the 100" - I though 'Bingo'. It's bl**dy accurate too! Front axle is 1084Kg Rear Axle is 1034Kg with about 100Kg of cr*p in the back and a full tank So bang goes my 60/40 split misconception and 'e' voila' the reason behind my slightly harsh front end )ooer) When the vehicle was SVA'd it weighed in at 1770kgs with skinny tyres, slimline wheels, no armour, no winch and no cr*p in the back - oh and no RRC seats! So Trev, your question is answered

As I am most likely down the day before, can we do a practice run with my EP9 just so I can see how little current it draws...

Ah William, but there you are wrong. This is a mahoosive chunk of metal with lots of braces and brackets, plenty strong. It also take a snadge less than ten minutes to remove. Never judge a book by it's cover, especially when you have only read the abridged paperback version

Wow, serious bitch fight

http://www.gwynlewis4x4.co.uk/page29.html Very similar to this by Gwyn Lewis but made by WVA Holdings/Safari Equip (who make them for Sc*rp**n). Easy to fit and no chance of a bent bar/damaged TRE In fact just like this: http://www.scorpionracing.co.uk/OFFROAD/Pr...rod/trodbar.jpg

I'm up for that

I use a CF-27 coupled to an eTrek but I am changing that to a CF-M34 for compactness. I have Ozi, Memory Map and AutoRoute'05 all of which work well

I used to use Dan Bars but have now swapped to a WVA jobbie that bolts to the radius arms and the diff casing and wraps around the OE bar allowing it to move freely. It works well and doesn't reduce the ground clearence. What worried me about the Dan Bars was the track rod ends. I had two shear in the five years I had the vehicle. Both on garage forecourts after off road abuse....

Find a Massey Fergusen dealer and do what JU says DH does. MF batteries are the dogs hairy bits when it comes to Heavy Duty and they are cheaper than a cheap thing

JD Power reckon that the Freelander even beats the Edsel for unreliability!

Tim if you have Bowrope it will be 10mm as there is no 9.5mm

A third of a tonne of fuel for two days driving!? The first part of the 'challenge' is to find enough fuel Jim, All off roading is in someway an emulation of Camel or what we think it stood for. For me Camel represents days of winching in almost bog standard vehicles, with bog standard winches, ikkle tyres...

Easy! You don't want to get a man of Des's age stressed...

Lee at NDT&E in Cullompton - "buy us a drink next time we see you in the pub" or "bit busy now, do it yourself, you know what to do". I love modern balancing machines!

James, I run a couple of 300Watt units bought from MVF for about 20 quid each. The seem to do the job quite happily. They are Draper.

Pot Noodle maybe

They don't do RTV as such. They have Mod and Standard AND you have to have a cage to trial. Good club though

Jim I see where you are coming from but this is the UK. I will never forget the events held in eastern europe back in the early '90's that went on for what seemed like forever, nor the Portugese and Spanish stuff that made me hark back to Camel selections (and the misery of failure). But we don't have 10,000hectares to play in. We cannot do what it was all about in the first place and try to emulate pre'97 Camel. And as for taking a UK Challenge vehicle through Africa (easy to take it to, almost as easy as popping over to Croatia, Poland, Ukraine, Carpathia) it wouldn't and couldn't happen. Even the 'easy' West Coast route requires a safety margin of 700miles fuel and the East coast route through Eritrea is a like nothing else on earth... Challenge in the UK should be like a development of RTV. Open to all budgets with a chance of a taste of glory for all comers. primarily one day events with a few two day jobbies to excite and socialise. Then the tiny, tiny minority of off roaders who compete would be a far greater number. Those that find it to tame can go off and sample some higher level bigger events. How many of you have competed in Spain for example? Or tried out what Portugal, France and Ireland have to offer? All are cheapish to get to. And they have the space for the big events (and the prizes/spectators/marshals. recovery kit) Think back to where you started, not what you have achieved. "Remember that most that speak so importantly on this subject have competed in next to F*ck all events and have little if any experience. I suggest they get out there try it and then comment, and not just the a one day event." What if they are not as lucky as some? What if they are like Geoff and just want to have a go to see if they like it? I was lucky once, no ties, big earner job, so I spent and had the pleasure of big time competition. No chance now,family, mortgage, low earner job. It doesn't mean that don't still yearn to go off and wup ass. I do and I could but I can't and I am one of a majority. On another note, good to hear you have seen the funny sideof that LRM ad.

True, but it hasn't happened yet with the AWDC/Sc****** series, nor did it with trialling (even the SuperMod debacle) or Comps. It was the FIA that did for Endurance though, barstewards Anyway, how are you Tim? Well I trust? Fancy a drink sometime?

Been working over at DBOR today and as I was leaving an Orange and Black 90 came bowling in with a smiling Mr Dave 'Southdown' Wilkinson sitting in the passenger seat. I believ the description of Gareths winch motor rhymes with Totally Lucked. Oh how I laughed

Ah but that is all changing Andy. As we converse there are three MSA member 4x4 clubs working towards clubmans challenge series next year. All are looking to the MSA to cover the liabilities/provide adequate regs (because they are a bit pants at the moment). One of those clubs is going to adopt the new winch regs coming into force for international events. The same club is going to adopt realtime scrutineering by it's MSA approved Scruts. Trials and Comps are down in numbers but there is a huge interest in challenges, despite the tiny number of people who actually compete at the moment. The ground is ripe for clubmans events. I for one would salute the formation of a proper challenge circuit (unless of course the ARC get hold of it). Why would scrutineering be a nightmare? MSA cage specs would need to be different yes, but it would control the layout of the challenge, away from 'bl**dy stupid' to bl**dy difficult AND it would QA build quality. What harm has scrutineering done to Comps, Trials, Rallee, Raid, Endurance or Short Course? None. The only worries would be to those with substandard vehicles and that can be nothing but good. Building your vehicle how you want is controlled by two things 1). Budget (as in limited) 2). Maybe some people want less harsh but more technical sections, maybe some want to drive more. There are so few actual events around compared to the potential number of entrants it beggers belief. Maybe Mark90, TC, Bish, TonyW, V8Camel, Mark, Orange, GBMud and a few others want to have a challenge where it doesn't matter that you have 32" tyres, no rear winch, two ARBs between 10 vehicles...

Can't let this thread die like that me old mucker, it has mileage Marcus can't be all bad, he helps keep The Otter Brewery creating perfection in a glass. I would suggest that Charles 'Bish Bosh' Bishop get a mention on the structural engineering side and for his design skills Matt Neale is more useful to have around than a Gerber Nick 'Tangoman' Walker is simply a good all round bloke Mr Moglite is a font of all knowledge Jen makes good food V8 Bertha always has cold beer Fruity reminds us all of our humanity V8 Camel makes I laugh and is always ready to help when he isn't broken down But the list could just go on and on - for example, Jez - a man who fixes backs and supplies drugs for free!

to you big man

I know that feeling