Admit it... You've been missing those madcap tales of mechanical mayhem from Biglorryblog's 'Good Man in Africa'. Well chin-up old sausage, 'cos Jerry Burley is back with more unlikely stories of japes and scrapes from 'The Dark Continent'... And he says: "BLB, we are slowly recovering from another OB moment. You may remember he banished himself from the continent recently, following a small incident across a main road with a stuck CAT D400 artic dumper. Well, shudderingly, I can advise you that he's back. 'Smoke and mirrors' they say. A way to put a twist on an otherwise uncontroversial act, designed to deceive the mind. Well, OB broke the mirror before he could use it (by hitting a low-flying marabou stork, which seemed to survive the experience) but certainly made up for its loss with extra smoke... As you can see above..and will learn all about in a short while."
"More of that just now as we don our green wellies, grow our beards and take a walk on the wild side. Rather than show you yet more pix of animal/vehicle interactions, it's only right and proper we share with you some accurate and pertinent road warning signs to help avoid potential carnage with said fauna. This particular one above is very useful as it can be used in both northern and southern hemispheres, thus reducing the number of signs needed to be held in stock. Clever stuff." Now click through here for more of Smokey Jerry's tale...
And JB continues: "Back to OB. T'was but a simple task, he and a special friend were to travel way oop 't north with a big old, Cold War era ex-Marine Corps Oshkosh and a heavy haul Iveco to clear out some of our yellow kit at the end of drilling ops there, including a 45-tonne excavator."
"And to come back with it, minimising where possible the carnage potential on the way. Easily said, not always so easily done, and you may just be able to work out where this is going... They got to Rhino Camp OK, just the one errant, non-related tipper having a sleep on the side of the road to interfere with progress, as caught here by 'Blacksocks Wilson' on his box brownie who was escorting them in, and all kit was duly loaded."
"Trucks were 100% after their challenging journey (silly statement) and spirits high as the journey south and good tarmac beckoned. They were back on the blacktop some hours later (OB was calling a girl/boy/goat-friend on the trumpet while simultaneously steering, changing gear, lighting a cigarette and tuning his valve radio to Radio Nasty on 69MHz) when with a bit of a muffled crump, nearly all engine power was lost and more smoke than from the Orient Express on unfiltered Woodbines started emanating from the engine cover."
"
Here too long, there too short, he struggled on even though visibility and noise were both now 'extreme' (extremely bad that is). And around the corner there was the lighter-loaded and faster Iveco on the side of the road, air line broken from the appalling potholes earlier on and trailer brakes all locked on."
"It was actually a great relief to
I wont bore you with the 'Comic Relief' theatrics of the brake repairs but many hours, some bad language and several hundred litres of diesel turned back into airborne crude oil later, they staggered into the Hoima yard like a pair of crippled drunks."
"That used to be a beige truck - a day with a yard brush and a hundred-weight of OMO powder beckoned for our valiant smoker-cum-diesel-fancier. And if you look closely at the detailed photo below you might be able to work out what the (actually incredibly simple) problem was between exhaust manifold and the turbo and blower."
"Not that simple to fix on the side of the road in the middle of no-where though, but that's absolutely not the point is it. Never waste a chance to thrash OB."
"So for sure we didn't tell OB that and he was, again, brought back in disgrace to Kampala, trussed up for his own safety in the back of a pick up, as he was a bit grubby and again thinking of emigrating. That might sound unfair but we have a strict 'no-smoking' policy and he was used for a 'case study' for all other staff to follow and thus not emulate his appalling example. " At this point Biglorryblog's built in censorship and unlikely good taste decided not to show the picture of poor long suffering OB having to put up with further indignation at the hands of that big bully Burley...However, they appear to have wised up to JB's antics as he says his next missive "...Could come from the maximum security wing of Luzira Prison. "
"OB has already promised he will bring me fresh bananas each day, which is kind of him and brings a form of closure to this whole sorry story. And to end, here's a rare photo of a lesser-dusty, southern, short Long Repair, apparently and surprisingly working at the time and shortly to start a long journey south, seen next to another sign giving warning about possible road conditions on the dark continent and their likely duration. I think the sign writer was erring on the conservative side regarding the likely distance but it gives you an idea at least of what's up front. Ho hum. OIA. Better go now and get measured up for my stripy, prison monkey suit and have a fortifying Friday libation. I must look my best come the day. regards, JB."
Smokin` Jerry.I recall a 6V71 making as much smoke with a stripped blower drive,absolutly no power though,anf would only just fire.