Canning Stock Route

Submitted: Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 at 19:17

ThreadID: 101542 Views:6923 Replies:11 FollowUps:27

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Member - Mortdad

Hi members,
Some friends and I are doing the CSR in June this year and I am arranging a fuel drop at Well 23 by Capricorn Roadhouse at Newman.

I need to advise Capricorn Roadhouse of the expected date I will need the fuel and was wondering if members who have done this trip could advise me on a rough time to complete the section from Wiluna to Well 23 which includes the interesting side trips etc.

I have currently allocated 5 days for the section between Wiluna and Well 23 but am thinking that this is a bit quick. I am also aware of weather influences which may occur.

We are not in a hurry as we are doing a big round trip of around 16,000 km all up and expect it to take somewhere between 12 and 16 weeks.

Any Comments?

Greg

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Reply By: Deejay - Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 at 20:01

Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 at 20:01

Hi Greg, I did this trip last June in a party of 4 vehicles. We drove pretty sedately, saw all the side trips and it took us 11 days to get from Wiluna to Kurawajini. We purchased fuel from the store here and found the service excellent. The shed, tanks and bousers were all new and we had no fuel troubles at all. When we later got to the fuel dump, we found vehicles that had done what you plan to do. The down side to this idea, is that any fuel you can't fit into your tanks has to be left behind in the drums - fuel you've paid dearly for. On this occasion, we had used some of our fuel already and so bought the other parties left over fuel for which they were very grateful! FYI We had no breakdowns but met several cars or trailers that had and all their problems (whatever they may have been) could be attributed to the pounding and vibration the vehicles suffered due to the corrugations. My advice is to make sure everything, inside and out, is tight, check them often and take a spare set of shockies. Also, our cars ran out at 4.2 to 4.5 tonnes and we ran tyre pressures (after much research and deliberation) of 22psi and suffered no punctures or damage (Brisbane to Brisbane via Tanami and Plenty h/ways). HTH.
Deejay

AnswerID: 508356

Follow Up By: Lyn W3 - Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 at 21:21

Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 at 21:21

Deejay,

What cars did you have to weigh between 4.2 and 4.5 tonnes?

FollowupID: 785867

Follow Up By: Deejay - Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 07:56

Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 07:56

Lyn,
1 GU Nissan Patrol, 1 x 100 series LandCruiser and 2 x 200 series LandCruisers. I weighed my Patrol at the local weighbridge as we left Brisbane and it weighed 4200kg. 200 series Cruisers are 200 kg heavier than Patrols, 80 & 100 series and they were carrying slightly more.

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Follow Up By: Lyn W3 - Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 09:20

Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 09:20

Geez................

No wonder the track is getting cutup with cars 1200kg overweight using it.

FollowupID: 786004

Follow Up By: Deejay - Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 09:59

Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 09:59

Lyn
I'm curious as to what you mean by your comment, '1200kg overweight'? A Nissan Patrol or 100 series LandCruiser (and probably several other makes of cars) both weigh 2400kg empty. Add 2 people, 200 litres of fuel, 50 litres of water, roof top tent, recovery gear, spare tyres, food etc and I would have thought that 4500kgs would be what most vehicles using the Canning or Cape York would weigh.

FollowupID: 786011

Follow Up By: Lyn W3 - Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 11:12

Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 11:12

Deejay,

I would suggest that you check the specification for your cars

For example the 200 series L/C

Note: Kerb, tare & payload weights are nominal and will vary depending on options and tray/body type. Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) is the total permissible combined weight of the vehicle, including occupants, fuel and cargo.
Weights
- Kerb weight (kg)2730
- Gross Vehicle Mass (kg) 3350

Therefore at 4500kg you are 1150kg OVERWEIGHT!

FollowupID: 786017

Follow Up By: Idler Chris - Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 20:41

Monday, Apr 08, 2013 at 20:41

Deejay, Your vehicles are seriously too heavy at those weights. It is an offence to drive a vehicle over its GMV and you can be booked. Also your insurance company can avoid any liability if you have an accident in an over weight vehicle. I am at a complete loss to understand how anyone could believe such weights as being normal.

What other people think of me is none of my business.
Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.

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Follow Up By: Deejay - Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013 at 15:31

Tuesday, Apr 09, 2013 at 15:31

My apologies to you Lyn (and to Idler Chris).
After reading these postings and talking to my wife about our vehicle's weight, she reminded me that on the day we weighed the car some of the lamps on the illuminated display were not working and what we took to be a digital '4' must have been a '3'. The remainder of the read-out was clear and read 'point 42'. This means the Patrol weighed 3.42 tonnes (probably still a tad overweight). My apologies to you and I stand corrected. DJ

FollowupID: 786123

Reply By: Member - Andrew L (QLD) - Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 at 21:20

Reply By: Member - Mortdad - Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 at 22:14

Reply By: PhilD - Saturday, Apr 06, 2013 at 22:34

Reply By: Member - DingoBlue(WA) - Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 at 00:47

Reply By: MADOG - Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 at 03:55

Reply By: Robin Miller - Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 at 08:32

Reply By: Work2Travel - Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 at 10:56

Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 at 10:56

Hi Greg, I did the trip last year. I went with a group of three vehicles. I also arranged for fuel to be dropped at 23. We had no issues with the delivery. You hear the horror stories about fuel getting stolen etc, but no one we spoke to on the track had any such issues. I think doing that section in 5 days is really quick, im not saying it cant be done, but you wont see much in 5 days. We took 20 days to do the whole track, and for us that was very comfartable. The southern part of the track has the most to see, Id suggest that if you have plenty of time then you should allow at least 10 days to see the southern end of the CSR, we took just under two weeks to do from Wiluna to well 23, and that gave us enough time to do all the detours off the track that you are allowed to do. When I worked out my fuel usage, it turned out that we did not really need the fuel drop, I would have made it to well 33 with what was in my two fuel tanks plus the two extra jerries that I carried. It gave me a total fuel load at the start of approx 180L. But I must say that if i were to do the trip again, id still get the fuel drop because it gave you peace of mind for doing the many detours off the track to find a well or a spring etc, plus the fact that some years you use more fuel than other years due to the condition of the track etc.

AnswerID: 508402

Follow Up By: Member - Mortdad - Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 at 11:57

Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 at 11:57

Hi Work2Travel
That is the information I was looking for. Thanks so much, it is very helpful.

I will take your advice and double the time we have allowed for that section of the CSR as I was thinking that 5 days was very quick. We are out there for a good time and to see all that we can while there, as some of us may never get the chance to do it again. :-(
We have 3 vehicles.
1. A V8 Land Cruiser with 250ltr fuel tanks.
2. A Land Rover Defender with 120ltr tank and 4 jerry cans = 200ltr
3. My Mitsubishi Pajero with 165ltr in tanks and 2 Jerry cans = 205ltr

The land Cruiser will not refuel at Capricorn fuel dump but the Defender and Pajero will. We may be able to make it to Kunawarritji, but it is a long walk if we don't. We will just have to trust that the fuel will be there when we need it. I have heard the odd horror story but for the majority the fuel dump seems to have worked well.

Greg

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Follow Up By: Mick O - Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 at 19:18

Sunday, Apr 07, 2013 at 19:18

We arrived at the Capricorn Roadhouse in July last year to find our two drums present but others not so fortunate. 4 drums delivered the previous Friday had been stolen in a quick snatch-grab. Thankfully ours and one other drum remained. We were very fortunate as we were running on vapour by this time after two weeks in the wilds (we would have got to Cotton Creek though).

Be warned, quality control is not the best either. The first thing out of my drum was 2 litres of water and crap. Thank god I had a "Mr Funnel" with me. I would recommend that anyone filling with drums carry something similar.

Our 2012 experiences are covered here;

Talawana to Capricorn Road House (Well 23)