Impressive performance by a Dodge

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Was there any "hard" under that mud? Or is the car that light it actually floats through the mud on those skinny's?

In Normandy 1994 at the MVT camp, heavy rain turned the field in to a quagmire and although there was a section of metal trackway from the gate, once off it a lot of all wheel drive vehicles including jeeps were struggling .......until a 1930's Austin Seven wireless car popped up, the driver went straight in a bobbed along through the mud just like the Dodge, got to the top of the field and parked up ....... great to see, wish we had filmed it.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

a lot of all wheel drive vehicles including jeeps were struggling .......until a 1930's Austin Seven wireless car popped up, the driver went straight in a bobbed along through the mud just like the Dodge, got to the top of the field and parked up.

Great story Richard, and a good example of the skinny wheel principle. I bet there were some red faces amongst the jeep owners!

[motto]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

Great story Richard, and a good example of the skinny wheel principle. I bet there were some red faces amongst the jeep owners!

Not only the jeep owners. I was camped in that field with a Studebaker US6 and anticipating 'civilised' conditions in Europe had removed the drive shaft to the rear most axle. We only moved a few feet with front and intermediate axles driving before all progress stopped.
Installation of the missing shaft got us going again but did we churn some mud on the way out with the beast barely responding to the helm!
I can quite understand why those swamp racers have very narrow or knife edged, large diameter wheels.

David.

[Lynn Eades]

Great footage on both counts, Keith and Hanno. When I see all that wheel spinning, I have to wonder how violent our 1931 Napier earth quake was. It left lots cars with broken axles from the rocking. Many had to wait for stock from o/seas as the national stocks were used up.
Back to the subject,
The bouncing of the crew makes all the difference, especially with the skinnier tyres.
I remember going to the motorcycle hill climbs with my Dad, when I was a kid. I loved watching those guys riding their big heavy Nortons, AJS's, BSA's and the like, with the primary chains wirling away by their boots. Great stuff!

[Bob McNeill]

Richard I bet your heart skipped a beat in 94 when the mighty Mack went down in the nose and wouldn,t move till a Matador just idled away with said Mack. Seemed that super singles went thru while duals became slicks.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Bob McNeill

Richard I bet your heart skipped a beat in 94 when the mighty Mack went down in the nose and wouldn,t move till a Matador just idled away with said Mack. Seemed that super singles went thru while duals became slicks.

Good on you Bob, I never got a photo of the Austin. Funniest incident was one of our members with a Dodge M37 (I think), fitted with a garage breakdown crane and towing a caravan. He drove on to the field along the metal trackway and as the Dodge dropped off the end into the mud, the crane slammed down onto the caravan roof!

regards, Richard

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Hanno

That is a really good video, but would the bounce traction method work on some thing larger? Say 20 guys in the back of 3 ton.

Thanks to Keith for starting another good thread.

Cheers Phil

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

In Normandy 1994 at the MVT camp, heavy rain turned the field in to a quagmire and although there was a section of metal trackway from the gate, once off it a lot of all wheel drive vehicles including jeeps were struggling .......until a 1930's Austin Seven wireless car popped up, the driver went straight in a bobbed along through the mud just like the Dodge, got to the top of the field and parked up ....... great to see, wish we had filmed it.

A bit like this ... http://youtu.be/cqxxsJSHkyc

It's not the car that starts bouncing, it's the drivers hopping up and down!

H.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

A bit like this ...It's not the car that starts bouncing, it's the drivers hopping up and down!

H.

Hanno,
That looks great fun! Interesting to see the different techniques as well.