Scrapheap Diary, The Anoraks

Anoraks Scrapheap "Grand Final" Diary

"Power Pullers"

With the arrival of baby Dylan only two days before the Grand Final, I once again had to step into Geoff’s shoes and assume the role of captain. Luckily Andy Cross was again available at short notice to join the team and proved to be a valuable addition.

The Anorak "A" Team Lyndon, Mark, Marc and Andy.

The Anorak "B" Team (note Dylans Green overalls and badge)

It seems a long time ago now that I sealed the envelope and sent off our Scrapheap entry form. A throwaway remark I made at the time was that the only thing we wanted was to be able to tackle the “Cat-alysts”. I did not think at the time that we would ever get that far.

The Hotel was awash with Euro 2004 mania and it was difficult to find a quiet place to chat to our expert, Mark Haile an engineer from Hereford, he took no prisoners and it looked like it was going to be fun working with him. A brief introduction to Garry, Tim and Shane (Cat-alysts) and we were furnished with Jag hats each. It was slightly unnerving to think that these chaps had won the Grand Final three times!

Build Day 1

Another early morning bus ride to the heap, this was the third week in a row for us and it was beginning to feel the norm. We all wondered what was in store for us but breakfast comes first. Standing in front of the totem pole, Robert and Lisa gave us our instructions. We all cheered when we heard that we were basically building a tractor puller.

Tight fit in the yard

Our expert, Mark, informed us that he came from a haulage back ground and we all agreed that given that Andy has a huge amount of experience in the same field we ought to base our creation on a lorry.

Trolly Jacks only rated at 2 tons !

Lyndon and Andy sped off to scavenge and soon came across a tractor unit from an articulated lorry, it was very well buried. Mark and I could only sit and wait. The clock ticked by and we still had nothing to work on. The unit had a couple of cars on top and they were having trouble getting them off. Andy had got it running but it kept cutting out, they had to rig up a fuel supply and bypass the original fuel system which all took time. It also had two flat tyres. Mark and Marc were allowed out on to the heap to help. With four of us working it still took a long time to extract but eventually Mark was able to drive it into our build area.

Streamlined

There was little room to spare in the build area but Lyndon and Andy kept piling in materials. They were really working hard and coming up with some great stuff. Everything needed to be heavy duty and it was tiring work. It was soon clear that everyone was really enjoying this build. Even Andy who from the start was covered from head to toe in the oily black mess that you can only find under a lorry. At the close of play on day one we had the back of the build broken, there were still some fundamental parts missing but it was really taking shape. A few beers ensured a good nights sleep before once again boarding the bus to the heap.

Build Day 2

The luxury of a two day build !!! Well hardly.

Ballast Barrels

Lyndon and Andy were instructed that they had to find our most important parts…. The tyres. And they did not let us down. Throughout the morning they piled an endless stream of large wheels and tyres into the build area. Much to the annoyance of the “Cat-alysts”. Lyndon and Andy’s tyre finding skills were just too good for the Cats’. We did agree that once we had decided which tyres we were using that we would offer the rest to the Cats.

Mark had set to work trying to give our already powerful engine a bit more go. Lyndon kept reminding him what a mess the “Barley Pickers” made of the same job in Scrappy Races. We did not need to worry and the resultant plumes of smoke and the much-improved roar from the six-cylinder turbo engine was a joy to behold. When he had finished, a quick blip on the throttle made the whole build area shake.

Finished and ready for action.

After finding every available wheel and tyre on the heap Lyndon and Andy went looking for ballast tanks. Again they did the business and managed to scavenge 12 barrels giving us just under two and a half tons of adjustable ballast.

With a nice set of tractor tyres on the back of the lorry it really started to look the part. For the first time on Scrapheap we had confidence in our machine. We took this to be a bad sign.

In three of the four previous rounds we had felt that we were up against superior machines or machines better suited to the task on test day. We hoped that this was not a bad omen.

Test Day

The crew and our expert had decided that it was wind up time! Just before we headed for bed they informed us that when they loaded the lorry on to the low loader ready for test day, the clutch had failed. A combination between the extra power and the huge tyres had taken its toll on the clutch. We decided to get up extra early in the morning and fit a new clutch during an extended “tinker time”. Not an easy job in the middle of a field but Andy had done plenty in his time and was well up for a challenge.

Time for the first pull

It was with a lot of relief and a little amusement when Mark finally told us the truth in the morning. It seems to be the done thing to wind up the teams during a Grand Final and the Cats did not get away Scot free……but that’s a different story.

Tinker time was spent ballasting our tyres with water and giving the whole thing a coat of Kelly Green. We decided that, as this was the Grand Final to pay respect to the other teams and our experts that we had met during out time on Scrapheap and enlisted the help of talented artist Naomi Carter to scribe their names on the side of the lorry. And on the other side we put the names of our kids and of course new baby Dylan. It appears that by getting to the final of Scrapheap you become a god among primary school children, a frightening thought, as Marc has to do the school run tomorrow.

Anoraks make a start

On winning the toss Garry decides that we are going to go first. Just as we are ready I see that our real captain Geoff has turned up to watch with his new addition. We fill eight of our ballast tanks with water and pull up to the line. The tree trunk is chained to the back of the lorry and the flag drops, with Mark at the wheel it pulls effortlessly to the end of the track. A good feeling to know that our hard graft has paid off and it actually works.

We sit back on a straw throne to watch the Cats, who make the end of the track with ease.

Round two and the stakes are higher, this time three trunks on the back. Again it pulls it and Mark even shows off by changing gear half way down the track. But it makes a loud bang from the back as he does this and we have to tell him not to do it next time.

Again sat on the straw throne we sit and watch the Cats line up for the start. They make ten metres up the track before loosing traction and expert Richard decides to go for broke…. literally. A huge cloud of smoke from the exhaust is followed by a bang from the transmission and it is all over.

Bang !

Somewhat stunned to have won the Grand final we are asked show what our lorry will pull. A huge pile of trunks is prepared and we fill all our tanks with water. Someone said we had over ten tons behind us and with a roar from the engine the front came up in the air and we pulled it down the track. The truck crossed the finish line but lost all traction just before the logs came through. We did a good job of burying the back axle in the field.

And the winners are….

So it is with thanks to….

…The Hoselliers , Maximus, Up N Atoms, Hairy Hogs and of course the Cat-alysts

And our experts: ….Paul Foley, Rob Austin, Paul Denny, Rhino and Mark Haile.

Thanks

Crew

Hope We will see you next year!

Team Anorak