Drovers new Rig - "Big Mal"
- Thread starter Drover
- Start date
I've had this 6mt length of pipe at home behind shed, last week I dragged it out to make a pole carrier and another for the rods, guess what ???
The thing has a diameter of external dia of 140mm, must be a telco pipe or something so will have to make my own caps for it as haven't found anything that will fit, I have a 150mm threaded end which I should be able to pack to fit a screw cap though......
The thing has a diameter of external dia of 140mm, must be a telco pipe or something so will have to make my own caps for it as haven't found anything that will fit, I have a 150mm threaded end which I should be able to pack to fit a screw cap though......
I made up an aluminum box with a divider for poles and AFK cost $150 for material and bending ,
@bigcol Having trouble finding postage cost the the behind side or the darkside 
Back home.................Shake Down cruise completed..............Big Mal ticks all the boxes in regards to camp site comfort just a few Drover Mods needed, as for towing, well my early pleasure at not needing a WDH has been refined, while most of the time really no WDH is needed as when hooked up all is level and for 98% of the time it handles very well, when we encountered some good wind or rain I did notice the front end was a bit skittish at times, more so with a full fuel load and surprisingly on the really good pavement not so much on the rougher stuff, anyway since we will have 80kg or more extra onboard the Ute doing the extended tours I will fit a WDH to the rig just to keep things stable, hopefully I can get a set up that doesn't require those bloody horrible heavy hitch set ups, well I won't have one on my rig anyway, really just need a stability set up as don't require the hitch to lift my rig........................Otherwise all was good, will redo the water fill to tanks as the tank refill is half way up the tank and they both fill from a single point, so one tank will drain into the other as you use them, stupid...a mod to the fill line will rectify it as it's $45 for another fill point, cutting holes etc so a mod to the line will suffice a 90 deg joiner etc will sort it out........ then when one tank empty the other will still be full not at half..........................plan to supply dunny flush from it's own tank instead of main tank as want to put some sweet smelly stuff in the flush stuff, wonder when Aldi will have it's boat fuel tanks on sale again, be just right.........................
So now parked up again at the Homestead, lawn bloody mowing then mods...........give it 2 weeks then might toddle of to test them.....
So now parked up again at the Homestead, lawn bloody mowing then mods...........give it 2 weeks then might toddle of to test them.....
Right the flamin' lawns have had a haircut, the sprinklers are on as a stupid timer packed it in so need to turn brown to green..............Needed to have some quiet time or whatever the PC brigade call it, so Big Mal has had the tank fill point lifted so they don't drain into each other, cost about $3 for some 90deg fittings, added an alloy stone guard to protect the tank connections if I end up on the dirt, gave a bit of cheka plate alloy a good belt with the BIG hammer so the tap on the draw bar now has a stone stopper and gave serious consideration to finishing painting underneath with chassis paint, have the axle area left to do and really don't want to do it as it is just a yucky job either by hand or spray gun, have to fit an ammo box on the back bar to hold timber blocks, pegs and crap.
Somebody could be serious about The Homestead so need to have Big Mal ready to Rock an Roll, still have to figure out a smooth way to fit the Mobile Broadband aerial so it's just plug an play without a lot of hassle. Then we have mods to the Colorado....damn this retirement can be busy.
Will do the pic caper later, okay !!!!!!!!
Somebody could be serious about The Homestead so need to have Big Mal ready to Rock an Roll, still have to figure out a smooth way to fit the Mobile Broadband aerial so it's just plug an play without a lot of hassle. Then we have mods to the Colorado....damn this retirement can be busy.
Will do the pic caper later, okay !!!!!!!!
oh. oh I nearly forgot......................my pole holder thingy which i want to put across the drawbar, well I spotted some stainless steel flue pipe beside the shed, now this stuff is seriously expensive to buy, doesn't rot and to sell it they want to give you $5 a length, BS....so look forward to seeing a very flash pic of my pole tube soon, on the drawing board at the moment....................if you don't see a pic or any mention though in the next week then it's not a goer.
Fridge day today, thanks to a post from someone on here and who it was escapes me but he saved me a heap of time setting up some fans for the fridge, instead of ginning around making a frame for the fans I Sikaflexed them onto the vent, worked a treat (if they fall off then they get the Zip tie treatment ) also made a great discovery when I was trying to figure out a nice way to fit a fan switch inside the van, I found a conduit that runs to the front panel of the fridge, I then had the problem of use a square switch that would blend in with the panel or a round, silver micro-switch ?????.............well the micro-switch won out as the thought of cutting a square hole in the front panel of the fridge and the problems if I slipped with the stanley knife, a small round hole with drill was safer, will go to a nice round switch which will blend in later I think.
...sticking like the proverbial..................................
..cable run....
Will see how the fans go as is, I don't think they will need a baffle to enhance the drawing but won't be a drama to block a bit off.......have to add a temp switch though, wasn't going to but then thought would need to turn the fans off manually all the time or they will run all the time, $7 will be well spent then, easy to fit in in the circuit and pop rivet it to a clip which just clips onto a fin.................
Other problem was the fridge decided not to run on 12v, have narrowed it down to a relay which kicks in from a command from the fridge controller thingy it's sending power to the relay but it isn't switching over and of course not a relay to be found in the shed, not a high priority now that I know what the cause is.........tricked the fridge into thinking it was hooked up to tug by plugging an Anderson jumper lead from battery to the Anderson fridge lead.................
Big Mal is getting closer to being a full time home if needed......................
...sticking like the proverbial.................................. ..cable run....Will see how the fans go as is, I don't think they will need a baffle to enhance the drawing but won't be a drama to block a bit off.......have to add a temp switch though, wasn't going to but then thought would need to turn the fans off manually all the time or they will run all the time, $7 will be well spent then, easy to fit in in the circuit and pop rivet it to a clip which just clips onto a fin.................
Other problem was the fridge decided not to run on 12v, have narrowed it down to a relay which kicks in from a command from the fridge controller thingy it's sending power to the relay but it isn't switching over and of course not a relay to be found in the shed, not a high priority now that I know what the cause is.........tricked the fridge into thinking it was hooked up to tug by plugging an Anderson jumper lead from battery to the Anderson fridge lead.................
Big Mal is getting closer to being a full time home if needed......................
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Was going to step back a bit with the posts but had to show the pole tube I made, the SS flue pipes looked like too much work so the mystery 140mm PVC pipe, which is actually Comms Pipe, was subjected to some serious mods and now is ready to mount on Big Mal, blocked one end with a wooden bung, sikaflex and a few screws while the other end I built up so I could glue and screw a threaded 150mm end on, wet thumb dipped in truck wash made for a nice smooth Sikaflex blending of the joins and parted out with $18 for a 150mm end cap, damn....sprayed the tube grey and should be fitted over the weekend, have to weld a bracket or 2.........
Also my favourite Van shop in Toowoomba twisted my arm on a HR WDH, so I parted with $350 and will have to test it out soon.
Lined up with the stuff which will live in it.
.......Just a touch of build up to make things fit, was surprised it worked and doesn't look all that bad once painted.
May have to extend digit on mods, offer made on the Homestead.........fingers crossed.
Also my favourite Van shop in Toowoomba twisted my arm on a HR WDH, so I parted with $350 and will have to test it out soon.
Lined up with the stuff which will live in it.
.......Just a touch of build up to make things fit, was surprised it worked and doesn't look all that bad once painted.May have to extend digit on mods, offer made on the Homestead.........fingers crossed.
Ill cross my fingers for you too, cant hurt. I was promising The Princess something anyway, so no extra effort required.
Big Mal has now had it's basic mods completed, we are now ready to seriously rock an roll, the tube for the awning poles is fitted and I have fitted my ammo box, which has been travelling with me ever since I emptied it of 7.62 at Beecroft Range way back in 1974, it has been carrying recovery gear (used to pull others out of trouble usually) since then and now is storage for the jack, pegs and bits of timber.....
..........A couple of 50mm angles welded to the rear bumper, soon see if the welder was any good.
Tube mounted over draw bar holds the anti flap bars and centre bars for awning..
.....Used some Gal Bolts, cut the head off and cut a groove which I welded a bit of flat into for the brace strap, bugga to get the right shape.................................lined it with a felt pad.
Didn't want to bolt or weld the draw bar so welded some angle to the front cross member brace, also meant I didn't have my straps working at an angle................
..the rough looking stufff is actually underbody paint to try and slow the rocks flying around.
..........A couple of 50mm angles welded to the rear bumper, soon see if the welder was any good.Tube mounted over draw bar holds the anti flap bars and centre bars for awning..
.....Used some Gal Bolts, cut the head off and cut a groove which I welded a bit of flat into for the brace strap, bugga to get the right shape.................................lined it with a felt pad.Didn't want to bolt or weld the draw bar so welded some angle to the front cross member brace, also meant I didn't have my straps working at an angle................
..the rough looking stufff is actually underbody paint to try and slow the rocks flying around.
The WDH is just sitting where I guestimate it will go, where the van is parked the draw bar is pretty high so haven't done a practice hook up yet, probably have to go out onto the street to get a big enough flat level area. Which means Set Up will be 200 yds into the next trip......
One thing I have noticed is with this bigger fridge the 70deg thermo switch I fitted to run the fridge fans doesn't get to kick in, might have to get a 50deg unit, ( only about $5 ) the Tardis fans ran nearly all the time but it's vents were smaller........most interesting.
One thing I have noticed is with this bigger fridge the 70deg thermo switch I fitted to run the fridge fans doesn't get to kick in, might have to get a 50deg unit, ( only about $5 ) the Tardis fans ran nearly all the time but it's vents were smaller........most interesting.