Wheely, wheely muddy...

Post by **HarryMann** » 23 Feb 2008, 23:37

'cept it was clay, wet and very, very sticky... Claggy I believe is the right word, brickmaker's clay...

We got through it and out, eventually... biggest problem, simply steering, was locked by the packed clay

North Herts... found some good lanes, all in the book now for a N. Herts. Essex and Cambs Green Lane event...

Post by **Simon Baxter** » 23 Feb 2008, 23:45

Hells bells, yeah, claggy is the word I would have used!
Claggy, Claggy..

hhhmmm, Claggy, what a great word.

Post by **HarryMann** » 23 Feb 2008, 23:53

Thankyou Simon, it came to mind quite quickly, as you say, not really another word for it...

even with a large 'mammoth' jemmy, took some digging away (every 50 yards or so!)

Wish my LDA was working, no boost power so another limitation... just not enuff poke to keep dem wheels turning.

..and I found another problem with claggy clay. Having to get out and tow a few (non-syncros) from time to time, getting back in the throttle pedal stuck to my foot upon 'lifting off'... so the little lever that connects to the crank-arm under the cab floor kept falling out of its hole. Putting it back was little help, as it kept coming out again... and of course clay on hands didn't make cab-life much fun

But we kept at it, with some very long (wire) towing bridles and jumped form rut to rut...

You cannot see but there were very deep ditches either side of us, so a bit limited on where to go when you were getting stuck... and stick is what this stuff does, like glue. I shall discover how to clean it off tomorrow, if I can raise the enthusiasm.

Maybe let it solidify first ? Any tips welcomed!

Post by **Simon Baxter** » 24 Feb 2008, 00:01

Like sh!t to a blacket eh Clive.

Post by **Smiler** » 24 Feb 2008, 07:46

`Claggy clarts` would have been the term up in the
North East

Post by **PC52** » 24 Feb 2008, 09:49

and how did you get on, on the road home with those self cleaning tyres?

Maybe this would have been handy

Post by **HarryMann** » 24 Feb 2008, 11:33

The wheels had lost their balance it seemed, a bit of wheel shake and prop vibes - but brakes still worked reasonably OK. Took it easy, not the time to be driving fast in close convoy... fortunately roads out that way pretty quiet.

Didn't find a good ford to wash off...

Post by **lloyd** » 24 Feb 2008, 12:44

set a lawn sprinkler under neath and turn it on. Hooked onto a hose of course.

Move it around when needed as it washes claggy off. Takes a few hours, but much easier to set back and watch claggy fall off with a beer in your hand.

On another note, the damage done to the lanes by driving on them in that condition is fuel for the greenie's fire in getting lanes closed to vehicles. Sorry, but I don't think tearing up muddy lanes is good public relations.

Post by **HarryMann** » 24 Feb 2008, 15:00

Yes Lloyd, that certainly crossed my mind a few times, as we found ourselves with the local in-crowd, getting in trouble many hundreds of yards down some lanes with definitely no-going back, so a bit of an eye opener in some respects..

What I would say though is that it seems as if in this area there has been a lot of green-laning historically, there even being one local off-road club that is specific to one town or village in the area.

Two of the lanes seemed to have had work done on their edges to ensure that off-roaders stayed well-put on the track. One looking like a farmer had done it, to keep them off his field when the going got rough, and the other by LA (local authority) to make sure drivers stayed on track and didn't use the woodland at the sides (a flooded field drainage ditch at one side and a similar, but dry, artificial steep sided ditch on the other side).

In retrospect, knowing how heavily used these have been over the years, and reading LA provisos and bulletins on what are NOT acceptable short-cuts nor legal byways, I'm wondering whether the LA accepts that engineering them in this way to provide playtime for off-roaders is their solution to allowing recreational use - rather than the possibility of anarchy if heavier restrictions were put on them.

Also, they may see the situation as 'self-limiting' in that at a certain point, only the most capable of off-roaders stand any chance of negotiating them reliably.

.. and to be honest, what worried me much more than the way some had been cut up (in some difficult places), was the degree of dumping of waste alongside some of them - quite appalling desecration - and highly unlikely to be genuine off-roaders during playtime. This was usually at the beginning or end, and I've even seen it on the Ridgeway when cycling it, where easily accesible from nearby roads

Post by **lloyd** » 24 Feb 2008, 19:37

I've seen the same dumping of waste. It is terrible. Definitely much worse then digging a few ruts in lane. If lane isn't used for walking, the ruts in mud are not an issue, but if people walk or bicycle on them the ruts can be an issue. I agree there is also a problem with having trails for skilled 4wheelers while maintaining trails for those that think they are skilled... and we both know there are many more of them then ones that really know how to wheel.

Looking forward to getting out with you guys sometime.

Lloyd