Using them to Farm for Oil instead of Corn:cool2
That's some nice pics!
Bulk Haulers Light ? weight bulk haulers , must make $$ sense . Go Randy Go ! Thanks for the pics ! :usa
Hmmm its pretty cool... visit here snow blower equipment dealer to find similar equipments .... i hope u like it babe cheers Rossee
More like Way Cold right now We are in the process of digging out of a small blow. Even have satelite in our camp now!
Nice pics as always Randy. Do you see the rubber tracks have a shorter life dealing with the fridgid temps all the time or no real big change? Thanks again. Trbo
I see they are using tracks why not sleds? Also I see that the roads are plowed interesting, things are done different down here....
dr. ernie, you should also state you are near the south pole at mcmurdo station freezing you butt off while your wife sells all your cat parts on ebay, LOL thansk KoO Published Author
Good Questions EZ Turbo, I can’t answer your question in regards to the tracks. I don’t operate theStiegers, I just see them pass me every couple days and walk past them to get to my grader. I can tell you this; the tracks look like brand new due to there running in the snow, but how they hold up to the cold (Flexing and Bending) I honestly can’t say. I have seen the Stiegers in the shop numerous times getting new bottom rollers installed and have seen several pallets of rollers come through the Palmer Yard headed to the North Slope. So I do know they have an issue there, but I have never asked for any particulars. It’s one of those things that I must admit I kind of ignore simply because I’m not smart enough to multi task. I try to stay focused on our motor graders operations and maintenance, but if you really want to know, I do know the guy who manages those tractors for the company and he is very knowledgable on Steigers. I guarantee he could answer your question. Dr Ernie, We do use sleds/skies on all the lighter units, but due to the fact some of these heavier units are moving over snow covered tundra they have to use tracks. The tracks pack the snow and prevent damage to the tundra. If there’s not a lot of snow cover the skies dig in and cut the tundra. Tundra damage up here is a big issue and subject to huge fines by Department of Natural Resources (DNR). DNR also regulates the dates for when our equipment is allowed on the tundra. DNR also has to certify the vehicles for tundra travel based on pounds per square inch. If DNR determines that we are causing damage to the tundra in any way they will jerk our “Tundra Travel Permits”. We also have to install Thermistors and measure the frost depth and snow cover throughout the Ice road network. All this information is kept on a computer and then sent to DNR on an annual basis. Right now we have about 50 miles of Ice road built and three drilling pads. We also move a lot of loads on high floation tires. The Cat Trucks with HFT can travel twice as fast as the Stiegers on hard pack, but can't go everywhere the Stiegers can. Once the Stiegers make a few trips and pack the trail then the Cat Trucks with HFT can move right along on those same trails. The Ice roads have to be plowed clean to prevent the snow from routing the surface. It’s important to remember that these Ice roads are built from a mixture of snow and water then topped off with water. If snow is left on the ice road too long it routs the surface of the ice and causes pot holes. This type of ice isn’t as strong as pure water ice, but it allows use to get the thickness that DNR requires at a quicker pace. We have to have certain thicknesses depending on loads and weights. Once it’s built we constantly have to plow off finger drifts and add water to the road to keep it super smooth. In some areas we actually pull the drifts in and add water to thicken the depth of cover over the tundra. This is based on a GPS Digital Terra Model file of the original ground and the surface of the ice road. My oldest son does all this surveying using a Trimble GPS Rover. He can set down on numerous different points and tell us exactly how thick the ice is by comparing his shot to the original tundra DTM file. We try to keep the ice road surface as smooth as possible so the trucks can travel at a good speed without getting beat up. The Ice road smoothness is important since the truck’s shocks are dare near useless and the sidewalls of the tires don’t have the normal vertical deflection due to the extremely cold temps. Please keep in touch and send pictures of your Antarctic Adventures Regards, Randy
Randy Thanks for sharing with us. I really enjoy learning about the conditions that you work in up there. You have certainly come up with some innovative ways to deal with the conditions.
Jerry Right on, glad you enjoyed it. I love seeing you California guys Scraper Spreads and see how you do things. What still amazes me about all this, it's all done for the quest of oil. This is just an exploration project. These wells would never be used for production. They're just trying to see if it's there and if it's a large enough field to be worth producing. This will all melt away come spring, you'll barely be able to tell we were ever here. Amazing. This country needs energy and we are trying to find it. Stay in touch. Regards Randy
Different worlds Hi, Randy Kreig. Great photos of very interesting content, as always. Posts such as yours help me to begin to understand some of the shifts I would have make in my thinking to cope with living in the environment shown in your photos. Thank you.
I kinda figured you did not have alot of snow cover. Nice hual trucks btw... as far as the bottom roller issue is concearned, most likley the broblem comes from moisture being pulled in. The bearings warm up the oil and such and when the snow melts around the wheel it cools it causing moisture to be drawn in, causing bearing failer. We use Cat Chalanger tractors primarily, the Quads are used on the traverse (south pole) but in the deep soft snow they have their own issues. We build our roads differently, Their is a large process, but in out temps it is the best, we never realy lose our roads, they get soft in the summer "heat" . Also their is ALOT of snow to work with. I am courious how snow rots your surface, it is rather the oppisite here, snow is a good thing, it is when the ice turn colors (from pure white) is when we get pot holes, and dirt is a real bad thing. Because we get sun 24 hrs a day in the summer when we are on the roads the most, and they are heavly used. IF the roads are done correctly ANY vichical can use them. Our airports are built the same way, right now the C-130's can take off "wheels down" meaning no skis are necessary. This is all done with snow, and no H2O, their will develop a sort of pavment that is only a few inches thick, it is realy not ice just hard snow.
these are our main tools for building the roads a weight cart and a grader blade contraption, it works the snow to remove the air and alow the snow to sinter.
great shots so interesting the way you guys do things up there and adapt soo neatley, my hat is off to youre ingenuity. ts-24 frank, keep the pictures comming.
I worked with a guy who drove the steigers in convoys heading to the diamond mines up north somewhere. A couple of stories. Apparently they would load up trailers and sleds with all sorts of fuel and equipment for the mine. Set out on about a 4 day drive into the bush in the winter. They would basically drive through the bush till they came to a lake, inch down onto hte lake, cross the lake, then climb back up onto land (some of the banks were pretty steep) and continue on. Each lake required the convoy to unhook so that an excavator and steiger could work together to lower each trailer or sled down onto the ice, then cross the ice, and pull it back up onto the land. Then hook everything back together again and drive to the next lake. One noteworthy item. When he started with the company he was told that when passing through villages he was not to look behind him. He thought that was odd, but it was repeated more than once. When they got to the first village of course he looked back and he quickly learned what he wasn't supposed to see. The native kids were all over the back of the tractor and trailer! He just kept going....