Friends, once in a while I here of a Tragedy like this, a total loss, and it serves as a reminder that I need to bring to the attention of the Newbies…. I have been preaching the virtues of Diesel for last 20 years of vehicles..
For instance, out of my Archives:
I.E. Diesel is still the preferred fuel in the Outback… In general it is preferred because of a few reasons:
1) You generally only find diesel on the more remote Stations, as the petrol is a fire hazard and most of the Outback runs on diesel…
2) Diesel vehicles get better mileage when towing, with better torque..
3) Diesel is safer to handle, when pouring out of jerry cans or something, the diesel is as safe as oil… Where with petrol the fumes and vapors are explosive.
4) Diesel is safer in brush and grass where fires can set off a petrol vehicle. You have to even be care how close you park a petrol vehicle to a campfire, and where you store extra fuel as in hot weather the fumes are again very explosive…
And to top it off, there is a real Spinnefex problem in some areas.. Now Please, you petrol vehicle Owners, do not be resentful.. I am trying to look after you.. I have said for years: “If Spinnifex gets caught up and around the exhaust in hot weather and catches fire, in a diesel vehicle you have time to stop and get out the fire extinguisher. In a petrol vehicle, you can be in real trouble” … This is not a myth of the Outback..
Unfortunately it has happened to this person who got it on film, this is not a fairy tale… I would not have a petrol vehicle.. Just a couple of months ago in a 4x4 magazine, there were pictures of one on fire that parked too close to the campfire (dumb move) but this one is just innocently burning from spinnifex auto ignition. Check it out.
Australian 4WD Monthly
March 2007 Issue number 103
Page 117
The moral of the story: Check under the car for Spinnifex build up, as if it got to the fuel tank…. It can ruin your whole morning. And I would hate to think of what it could do to the
Bushtracker as well. You might not just be on foot, but out of a home.
If you have a Petrol vehicle, and like it for the City, OK, I do not want to argue… Yes it can happen to a diesel vehicle as well, but you would have a lot more time and it would be a lot less dangerous… The diesel is just not explosive like petrol...
Just please take extra precautions out there, particularly in Spinnifex country, OK? I would second the advice of the article and say when off road in the spinnifex, you clean out under the car, particularly the exhaust area, every 30 minutes or so, maybe with a stick with a hook on the end of it.. It is sort of like a "Tumbleweed" ... As you pack more under it just forces it in tighter into the hot exhaust are.
Best Regards from the lone Ranger…
