Toots

G'day Axle ,,
was unloading steel pipes in the Weipa area if I remember ,, chain or sling broke ,, you put the rest in ,, very sad day !!

All the best ,, Neil ..

Thanks Neil!..



Cheers Axle.

Neil,
she sure had a delicate way with the use of english.

LOL.
Have a good one.

Yep!!!! that was the truck.

Boy, she could through full 44's around and I never ever saw her with a shoe on her feet

Andrew Toots and Ron Holzimer were pioneers of trucking freight from Cairns north, They had freight depots in Cairns and Weipa.

The roads in those days were no more than tracks and Toots used to pride herself on being the first truck into Weipa after the wet, this is country that if you gambled with the start of the wet your truck and load could be bogged for 3 months or more.

Toots, was not tall in physical statue but she had the strength and determination of a pitbull. Ron should be remembered to although he did have a slight problem with a certain alcohol sugarcane derived drink. I wasn't how many Hours from Cairns to Weipa but how many bottles, eg a 2 bottle trip.

Although Toots was rough and ready, I am told the inside of her house was all girlie, pinks and frills.

People complain about the Cape road today but in those days you would have to sometimes clear your own road through the scrub around washouts.

Have a good one

Thanks for that....sure sounds like a pioneer of their time.

I feel much safer talking to the MIL now....lol

Andrew

Well said Rockape ,,
never let it be said Toots stood back and let the men do the work ,, she would get in their and show them how it was done ,, and trust me , we never said ,, no , not like that ,, she was a well respected in the industry ,, she allmost was the industry up that way !!

All the best ,, Neil ..

I remember the compressors and here is one for you.

Saw a ex overnighter cabover,twin steer, boggy drive with wait for it.

It had been fitted with a 15 speed roadranger and engineered to use the pogo stick shift from the original box, how the guy new were the hell he was with gears I will never know.

Do it easy

Rockape,
From memory, the newer model MAN cabover (rectangular cab) used a steering column shift; for the 12 spd ZF box: push down for 1&2,no push for 3&4, lift for 5&6 and push down & down for reverse. We had them at Hartridge Tpt. Using column shift for the Roadranger would have been easier, 3 vertical positions on the column, splitter switch on the stick and deep reduction switch on the dash.

Pogo sticks were generally on bonneted MANs and when you were tired, it was easy to lose where you were in the gears. I'm stretching the memory, mate, it was a long time ago.

Yep! you and me both with the memory bit.

You gotta laugh sometimes when you can't remember the simple things.

Have a good one