collection lost in Grampian fire

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Dianaa

The F5 Wreckers were all built as F2 tipper chassis and I have access to one for a restoration.

BTW.Looking at the images, it seems that the plastic pallets were the fuel the fires were able to use doing most of the damage.

I think it should definitely go back on an Inter if one is available, it's just that I had thought this extremely unlikely. Even if I stuck it on a blitz I would leave it unmolested in case it was wanted for an Inter one day. When it comes to restorations I'm a great believer in things going back in their correct places!

Dianaa the photo of the Holmes intact was taken at its previous location from where Euan recovered it. Looks to me like his own storage area was thoroughly cleared of ground fuel, some it piled up against a tree in the background, and fire damage was due exclusively to radiant heat from treetop foliage. I'd say it probably raced through in a couple of minutes, only long enough to partially melt the thin aluminium tray and soften the aluminium frame, allowing the steel structure to collapse on it and cause bending. Even so it's probably still salvageable with a bit of straightening. Of course if the whole thing were steel it would have escaped with no more than scorched paint, and there's even very little of that to be seen on the Holmes, it's mostly just black soot. It's a good lesson in fire preparation for outside storage, there's even a pneumatic tyre here which has failed to ignite. I think it's a topic we should explore in this forum, I'd like to think we're not entirely at the mercy of the bushfire gods!

farm 4.jpg