Bushfires in Australia

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Tony, that looks fearsome! Hope you and your loved ones are o.k.

To all other MLU members, my thoughts are with you.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Richard. I have been following this via TV news stories but did not realise such a vast area is affected - it is a quarter of the surface area of the Netherlands

Hanno

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Tony, that looks fearsome!

Hanno

The remarkable thing is that 4 months from now it will all be thick, dense green again and you would never guess the intensity of the fire.

It will only be the condition of the wrecked vehicles that will indicate the heat involved.

A Ferguson TEA20 tractor is likely to be the most common tractor to be found on Australian rural smallholding properties. They are also designed with an aluminium gearbox, of thick enough cross-section that it forms a structural part of the tractor's chassis, or "spine".

The heat of the fire was enough to completely melt the gearbox casing (and there is no magnesium in the alloy!), and break the back of this old Fergy.

[Tony Smith]

And this Suzuki LJ50 has an alloy gearbox and transfer case. These melted in the heat and have pooled beside the vehicle. The heat took all the temper out of the springs, and they have bent inverted and the vehicle's chassis now rests on the axle housings.

[Tony Smith]

We had a timber railway sleeping carriage built in 1912 on our property as guest accomodation. After some years of meticulous restoration work, it was quite a novel and appealing place to stay.

[Tony Smith]

It looks like this now:

[Richard Farrant]

Tony,
The scenes are heartbreaking. The carriage was a wonderful piece of history and workmanship. My sympathy to you and all those who have suffered in the last few weeks.

regards, Richard

[Phil Waterman]

Hi To all our Australian friends


You hear about natural disasters like this on the news and it seems unreal, until you hear and see the impact on your friends then it becomes very very real.


Our hope for better conditions.


Cheers Phil

[Howard]

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

It looks like this now:

Tony.
Tragedy.
We have lost your work. And our shared history.
Curse the fires!

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

A Ferguson TEA20 tractor is likely to be the most common tractor to be found on Australian rural smallholding properties. They are also designed with an aluminium gearbox, of thick enough cross-section that it forms a structural part of the tractor's chassis, or "spine".

The heat of the fire was enough to completely melt the gearbox casing (and there is no magnesium in the alloy!), and break the back of this old Fergy.

Tony,
The TE20 gearbox casing was made of Elektron, which was a magnesium alloy, much stronger the cast aluminium.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Horrific....

Tony, was your house spared at least?

Hanno

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

The remarkable thing is that 4 months from now it will all be thick, dense green again and you would never guess the intensity of the fire.

It will only be the condition of the wrecked vehicles that will indicate the heat involved.

A Ferguson TEA20 tractor is likely to be the most common tractor to be found on Australian rural smallholding properties. They are also designed with an aluminium gearbox, of thick enough cross-section that it forms a structural part of the tractor's chassis, or "spine".

The heat of the fire was enough to completely melt the gearbox casing (and there is no magnesium in the alloy!), and break the back of this old Fergy.

[Tony Smith]

Fortunately, yes. We were luckier than many of our neighbours.