Biglorryblog's 'Good man in Africa' Jerry Burley e-mails me to say: "Back from 5 days in the bush, lounging around on deck chairs, drinking chilled Chablis and being fed peeled Californian grapes by well-endowed dusky maidens. Believe that and you probably believe in the lobotomy fairy too.........I have hundreds of quite interesting shots of strange and wonderful kit seen bimbling around the oil fields over the last few days."
Jerry adds: "Well, some folk might think 'em interesting anyway. No story attached to these units, so no words needed much to BLB's unbridled delight, but I doubt many have seen one of these. I wonder if anyone knows what they do for a world-famous, BLB-supplied, roadkill antelope pie? I didn't exactly (I knew basically what function it performed), until I asked the large South African operator who was sat in one,bored stiff and dreaming of Cape Town..".
.
"Howling V6 Detroit diseasall, cab like a small greenhouse with an interior of marine-esque brass instruments that reminded me of the bridge on the Titanic and no suspension. Glad I don't have to move them between sites, of course and as usual....only on Africa's finest roads!"
Thanks JB and OK guys what's a 'Mertz' made in Ponca City Oklahoma..when it's at home? Now click through here for more pictures including the interior....
Just look at that lovely rich African soil...half an hour's solid rain and I reckon that would make a beautiful mud-bath! Now here's the interior...
Very plush! I especially like the mock veneer dashboard clad with the finest mock veener from the mock veneer tree (or factory) Looks more like a ship's bridge!
They're 'thumpers'...used in seismic activities to create seismic shock waves for seismic study of geologic
formations....a basic tool in helping to find oil/gas zones. Off road trucks with that large weighted hydraulic pad in the center you see there...it is pressed into earth & the mass of vehicle is used to
create shock waves into earth through various shock/shaker mechanisms. Another way would be to set
seismic charges as a source of seismic waves. Used in Canada & globally in oil/gas exploration.
rgds.
Andy
Bang on the button. Known as Vib (vibration) trucks here. Generally used in pairs, diametrically opposed across a well site, with a sophisticated VHF communication, command and recording set up controlled by a central CPU that also talks to sensors down the actual well. Replaces the old, empirical Powergel gelignite source for seismic "wave" production. These chaps are 20 years old, were recently overhauled and have just come off an extended job in Mozambique.
Pls contact the shy and retiring BLB for your antelope pie - dont delay, as by accident I think it was left in the sun for a while.....
J
Such modern luxury sitting in a nice-ish cab all day to do seismic work.
The one and only seismic survey I worked on in the early 1960's in then Northern Rhodesia was a week of sweated labour digging holes, putting in the loud stuff then legging it before the clowns on the spark box set it off. This was on the site of the then soon to be re-opened Chambeshi Mine (as an open pit where it had been underground originally and abandoned in the 1930's depression).
But we had some fun as well: The whole area of bush had been cleared, so there were huge windrows of timber all around the site and some of our farthest holes were literally at or in these windrows. Far-off holes called for 3 or 4 CASES of bang stuff which sent the wood flying beautifully -- also attracted some very pissed off Traffic Plod bitching about the Kitwe - Chingola road being blocked by bloody great trees and what did we propose to do about it....
Oh well -- that's Africa for you.