How dangerous can this be?

Submitted: Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 13:12
ThreadID: 66131 Views:4275 Replies:8 FollowUps:10
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I live on the main road out of Broken Hill that is used by traffic going north.

This morning there were two Toyota Station Wagons obviously heading towards Tibooburra and points north, stopped across the road from my joint having a last conflab.

Get this! Both had their second spares hanging under the usual spare, and, four or five fuel jerries, camping gear, shovels, chairs, 9lb gas bottles on the roof rack, plus heap of crap in the rear section, one had two bigger kids, plus M & D, the other had three occupants. One had, attached to the roofrack on each side, PVC piping that no doubt contained water.

The centre of gravity of these two vehicles would have been at about 170-180 cms above ground level.

And...people wonder why they roll over in the bush? Who gives them these ideas?

Dick
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Reply By: Time - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 13:34

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 13:34
You need one of these

AnswerID: 350059

Reply By: Member - Fred B (NT) - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 13:45

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 13:45
You should have got a photo and posted it in the friday funnies.... except it's not funny if they end up dead...
Fred B
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AnswerID: 350063

Follow Up By: Bob of KAOS - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 13:50

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 13:50
Except they both had Exploroz stickers on them
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FollowupID: 618388

Reply By: gbdid - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 14:03

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 14:03
Seems like a possibility of being a bit overloaded, not just having a high Cof G
AnswerID: 350067

Follow Up By: garrycol - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 14:07

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 14:07
Where do they get their ideas? - from our supposed offroad experts on TV. Saw a show with Malcolm Douglas in it the other day and there must have been about six jerrys on the roof rack of his troopie.

Garry
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Follow Up By: DIO - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 15:08

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 15:08
What's wrong with carrying empty jerrycans on the roofrack ????? Would have to be heaps lighter than tyhe average spare wheel/tyre.
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Reply By: Member - AZOORC (SA) - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 14:08

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 14:08
I guess this is a fine example of when a camper trailer would be of benefit.
Spread the load and keep everyone safe not to mention more comfortable than having all the gear is crammed in and on the car.

Cheers
Paul.
AnswerID: 350068

Reply By: Member - Lionel A (WA) - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 17:40

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 17:40
My rack has a 200 kg max label attached.

When fully loaded, would come close, I reckon.

Im aware that its up there and always drive accordingly, never had a problem.

Same could be said with suspension lifts I suppose.



Cheers.....Lionel.
AnswerID: 350105

Follow Up By: Member - Graham H (QLD) - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 17:56

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 17:56
And dont forget that includes the weight of the rack, all of which may exceed the load rating for the roof of the vehicle




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FollowupID: 618427

Reply By: Member - Warfer (VIC) - Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 18:35

Friday, Feb 20, 2009 at 18:35
The one i seen had more people on it !


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AnswerID: 350112

Reply By: camwill69 - Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 08:47

Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 08:47
Richard,
It would be just as dangerous as the advise we got from the "Visitor info Centre" in Broken Hill. We asked what the road conditions were from B/Hill to Cameron Corner via Silverton then direct to the corner not via the silver city H/way. The answer was "it is Bitumen all the way).
Luckily we asked the local constabulary and got given some great info and did the trip in 2 days with no issues, as we prepared well on their advise.
Nice country you have out their, well worth the drive to give the kids an appreciation of how long the fence really is and how it is maintained.
Regards,
Cam
AnswerID: 350189

Follow Up By: Member - Richard H (NSW) - Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 09:07

Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 09:07
Cam,

Often out this way the locals don't ever leave town, so they don't know. The coppers do travel the road to Tibooburra, so they should know it ain't sealed all the way. The R.T.A. maintain all of the roads in the Unincorporated Area of NSW (no local councils) and they are really up to speed with conditions etc...

Did you follow the border fence to Smithville, then the dog fence track, or did you stay on the S.A. side?

I did that trip once, took us all day, from BHQ to Cameron's' Corner, but it was more of a challenge, lots of sand hills and cross country driving as the track is all but disappeared.

Regarding the track along the dog fence, the Wild Dog Destruction Board, Operations Manager at Smithville Gate (where they run the show from) doesn't take too kindly to travellers using his road. They own & maintain it for much of it's length.

There never used to be a problem, but I think the cowboy element nearly took out some fencers, so as usual, we all suffer.

Dick
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FollowupID: 618502

Follow Up By: camwill69 - Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 17:51

Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 17:51
Dick,
We went to Mc Dougall's Well, Pine view, Border Downs then Smithville House were the road runs parallel with the fence road for 30 odd mile then turns east to Hewart Downs then via Waka to the corner. Yes the track still disappears to nothing and if it was not for the GPS I would have turned around and gone back to B/H.

We were told not to drive on the fence road under any circumstance.

A lot of sand in places and a bit wet in other spots. But all in all well worth the extra time to get to the Corner.
Regards,
Cam
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FollowupID: 618564

Follow Up By: Willem - Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 22:11

Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 22:11
Hi Dick

'Did you follow the border fence to Smithville, then the dog fence track, or did you stay on the S.A. side?'

There is a parallel road to the Dog Fence Track past Smithville and it eventually swings away to the north east. AFAIK there is no access to South Australia through the Dog Fence.

Cheers
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FollowupID: 618624

Follow Up By: Member - Richard H (NSW) - Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 at 08:08

Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 at 08:08
Willem,

We went west through Silverton, onto private land (with approval) crossed into SA, well below Broughams Gate, headed north until the dog fence veres off to the west, passed through this, and then followed a very faint track north on the S.A. side of the border fence.

Access into S.A. is at each 'house', (where the maintenance people reside, forget how far apart these are, something like 70km), but it doesn't do you much good. The gates are not locked, but the closing thing is well indicated. The owner of "Frome Downs", the land you pass through if you want to travel from Hawker's Gate to the northern Flinder's Ranges, prohibits people from using the road.

When I worked here I had approval to use the access road along the fence, and on my quarterly visits to Tibooburra, we would usually go out to the corner, camp near there, and then head home by following the dog fence. Sometimes, for a change we would swing off into S.A. as there are station roads (not Frome Downs) and if you didn't miss the track near bores, you came out at Cockburn. I won't say we got lost lost, as we knew where we were, but the track was pretty faint & around bores it would be obliterated. It wasn't hard to miss it, so we used to go south across country until we hit the S,.A. part of the dog fence and then find a gate, and voila.

All good stuff
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FollowupID: 618656

Follow Up By: Willem - Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 at 08:37

Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 at 08:37
Dick


Ah! Priviledged access...lol

Apart from Frome Downs a lot of that area is on Quinyambie Station. Met a fella who had just come through the gate from Quinyambie Stn when I went that way last August and had a chat. He wanted to know where I had been but I explained I had just come past Boundary Stn and asked him about tracks in the area. Maybe there were some fresh tracks through the gate.

I had a discussion with Geoscience about their incorrect 250k Raster Maps but got no joy. Also, I could not find Hawkers gate. Does it still exist?


Cheers


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FollowupID: 618657

Reply By: Dunco (NSW) - Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 10:40

Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 10:40
Hey, I saw a car the other day that was full of rust...and another one that had a broken headlight and hole in the muffler....

And then again, I saw a motorbike with No rego sticker

And then there was that truck that didn't have his load tied down properly and the caravan without any WDH.

Who gives them these ideas ?

:-)





AnswerID: 350217

Follow Up By: rager - Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 18:07

Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 at 18:07
What gives YOU the silly idea tha every caravan needs a WDH?

Townie......
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FollowupID: 618572

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