Canol Road Expedition (1 Viewer)

[Rwayout]

Met up with potlatch tonight and gang.... He gave me the canol trail topo maps to look over. I belive that the trail on the other side of the twitya river ( Norman Wells side ) is alot more traveled. I will confirm this with the Norman Wells society. If this is the case , then that makes the river crossing the biggest obstacle... Then the bush, then the washed out sections, then the beaver dam lol

 

[phoenix60]

Trailer

Where did you get the 101?

I bought it from a guy on the base in cold lake. Its big and heavy but has lots of clearance and even a cage top and sides. No tarp though, too bad. There was one on kijiji a few months ago as well. Not the sought after small one (I saw one today on an acreage) but the larger one like mine.

 

[Kroll]

Alright you guys have poisoned my mind now!
I am putting a list of things that require attention to my cruiser...to make this trip remotely possible with the FJ40.

 

[Rwayout]

Ahh I knew you would give in.
Well... I guess at the next get together we should start getting lists together so we know what we have, what we need to get and etc:
- minimum vehicle requirements
- tools
- equipment and recovery
- fuel estimates
- budget.
I would like to start planning lists early. Reason is like many of you, I don't have a Ton of money sitting around ( I have a problem buying cars ) so this will give us ample time to figure out what wee need to get and what we already have kicking around.
This will not be a cheap ride ( unlike my ex ) so I'm going to try and secure some sort of financial backing.
And estimates to what the barge will cost to build.
Kroll..... Do you think Dan would lend us that boat he bought?

 

[canadian bum]

We will see what my future holds. I might have both cruisers done by then and I might not have either one done. We will see what happens but I am interested. I would probably be bolting on a set of boggers for this excursion though.

 

[Rwayout]

you know that I would love to have you on this adventure John... I know that nobody would appreciate or love it as much as you would! So get cracking and finish one of those projects. Hell.... even the Taco would be ok !!

 

[Kroll]

Rwayout: I'm not sure about the zodiac, but it's worth a try!
Does Potlach still have the dvd???

 

[canadian bum]

I'm a little sketched out over this river crossing do you have an idea of the speed of the water and the width depth doesn't matter if your floating it across anyways if it sinks it's sunk no matter if its 15 feet deep or more.

 

[Rwayout]

It's fast. From what I was told , it's as fast as the red deer river.
Potlatch has experience with recovery and rigging lines over distance. I don't think it will be as big of an issue as you might think. None of us want to lose our rigs .... So we have some good ideas for a barge . It will be able to be assembled / disassembled , wide enough so there is ample water flow between the floats, a guide line, and 2 small outboards on the upstream side to facilitate direction and keeping the front parallell to the water flow

 

[Rwayout]

Does Potlach still have the dvd???[/QUOTE]

Yep. Next time we get together you can grab it.

 

[potlatch4805]

I'm a little sketched out over this river crossing do you have an idea of the speed of the water and the width depth doesn't matter if your floating it across anyways if it sinks it's sunk no matter if its 15 feet deep or more.

Yeah, this part freaks me too. The idea is to be prepared for the worst... turning around and going home.

What ever we build should have 100% buy in from all parties involved, I would like to increase my comfort level as well. The Wrecked HDJ81 I just bought will be stripped and be our "dummy truck" for our barge testing.

I would like to cross the North Sask (for distance) and the Red Deer (for speed). The more practice we have, the more comfortable you'll be.

 

[potlatch4805]

Rwayout: I'm not sure about the zodiac, but it's worth a try!
Does Potlach still have the dvd???

PM me your number and we'll see if we can't get it to you sooner.

Paul

 

[Rwayout]

That's a good idea Paul.
I have a truck and car trailer to haul it since it won't have it's own power.
So next time we meet up we can figure out how much the barge will cost to build.

 

[canadian bum]

The Red Deer River Isn't really that fast. Well it is if you go out past sundre before the dam. But I don't find it a fast river at all.

 

[Rwayout]

well then i guess you have nothing to worry about ! lol
Potlatch and I should make a run down there soon and meet up with you sometime soon anyway. We have alot of planning still but I should let you see the video from the Land Rover group that went last time ..

 

[canadian bum]

I'm going to be hosting a meeting here in Red Deer on the 3rd of March. Can meet then or another time. Will be discussing an upcoming wheeling trip that will be posted here once i determine the details. Will be a good winter run to test out Coreys truck when it is done as well as get some of the other guys in the area out for some wheeling.

But I am interested in how fast the river we do have to cross is.

 

[potlatch4805]

Can't make the 3rd, but will definitely come down for a visit.

I'm thinking that we try the North Sask, but west of Devon that's probably closest to what we will be dealing with... just guessing?!? I worked out the raft anchor system, we are going to need 4 land anchors (pul pals), about 300ft of 1/2" cable and a 2ton tugger or come-a-long. We'll string the cable approx 15-30 degrees downstream (depending on current speed) and use the current to "push" us across, the barge will be guided by the cable. (like a cable ferry) It'll all make sense when you see the diagrams! I am having some issues finding a suitable float material for the barge. I think it needs to be a fabric or rubber that we can inflate/deflate and pack in duffle bags, it must also be impervious to rocks. Anyone have any ideas??

 

[Rwayout]

Sounds good... I dont know about the floats.. I will have to see what the Land Rover crew used. Im sure that they must still have all that stuff.... maybe part with it for a good price? I will ask at the next ALRE meeting.
I was thinking of picking up a hand winch with a 3500 lb pull on it .. Ill look at the specs and see what they are exactly. I will buy it anyway, as I always have a back up for my back up.. But I know that IronMan carries one, and I was talking to the North American Distributor about this trip today and he was pretty interested in how it will play out. I will be meeting up with him ( Eli ) at Cruise Moab and maybe he will throw one in the back of the Cruiser for us to borrow
I still think a small outboard motor will be needed to keep the upstream part of the raft straight with the current .. If there is even a little deviation in the front, its bye bye... anyone who has been river kiyaking knows what I mean. It makes sense in my head anyway. A unit that can simply be connected to to vehicles battery .
Paul, whats the distance of the crossing at the trail ? 200 ft?
John, as much as I would love to make it on the 3rd, I cant rip down to Red Deer after work ... Have it on a weekend ! lol.... No Worries... as soon as you get that Wheeling Date set, we will be there.

 

[Rwayout]

Heres the link to what Im going to buy

Camel 4x4: Hand Winch

 

[Rwayout]

Also... If it was affordable.... ( and it isnt really ) the best floatation units I could think of that are bombproof are those Air Jacks that fill with exhaust.
Exhaust Jacks | Products | ARB 4x4 Accessories

But you know... a cheaper one than ARB lol
All tho, Its on my list of things to buy... after getting stuck in Cadomin and having to hi jack the Cruiser off the ground on all 4 sides, that thing would have saved Krystal and I 3 hours...