Rookies, Wannabees, & superheroes. This is a true run about Heavy Haul.

First run to scout the ice road report;
(I'm typing these up when I find some free time here and there and will post them when I get wifi or cell service, so please bear with me...)


So I dropped my wagon with the building at the yard in YK. I hooked onto a tri-step and loaded up a load of structural steel that was 13' wide for a nice easy load to see exactly what I was gonna be in for.
Remember boys and girls, I'm an owner/operator, yup even the trailer. So naturally I'm not about to assume any extreme risks to my equipment. I break it, I pay for it...and these things can be very expensive to put back together!
All the guys that we're already got up here and had run a load or two into the mine said "No way! You aren't getting that building in there, not on your trailer!", so naturally I was a little concerned about what I was getting myself into.
We got our T-time (what the ice guys call your scheduled departure time. They release 4 loaded trucks every 20mins), and we get ready to go.
We had a few issues with a couple of the loads shifting, even mine. I haven't done this multiple pieces stacked on top of each other in quite a while. I had an issue, I looked at what I did and realized I made a pretty rookie mistake, but we solved it. One of our convoy spun out on Charlie's Hill and had to be towed up that one, after we had to wait for someone else from the previous convoy to also get towed up, so we got to the Lockhart Lake Camp 11hrs after departure. That is about 250kms(155miles).
Summary of the JVWR; (Joint Venture Winter Road)
The ice, he it's ice. It's rough, we gotta drive slow, whatever no big deal.
The portages on the other hand...there see definitely a few that I'm concerned about with the buildings, I've got to bring in two of them. Some of them have some petty high hummocks on them, and I'm defiantly gonna bottom out on a few of them. That not as much of a concern as I have on a few of them. They have some pretty good torsion twists on a few of them. These are areas where the truck and jeep will be leaned over one direction, and the trailer and booster will be twisted torsion ally the opposite way. With this much length in the well, the trailer can get flexed pretty good, and if it's cold out,the steel gets brittle and that's when things like pin joints break!
Had breakfast at the Lockhart Camp after spending the night and headed off to the Gahcho Kue mine.
It takes about 5-6hrs to get to the GK spur road to that mine, this section was pretty un-eventful and I have no concerns here...other than boredom! It takes 3 hrs on MacKay Lake...at 25km/hr (+-15mph)
Ah, the GK Spur Road...now here's where everyone's horror stories begin.
It's about 135km from the JVWR to the mine. This road is only two years old, so naturally it's going to be a work in progress with some areas in need of improving...
Well, Mother Nature decided to send in the wind and start to blow the road in with snow! Yay our convoy! We were the last group in, and of course, I'm an ice road rookie so I'm last! They closed the road two hours before we got there...but this ain't the the road frequently traveled boys n girls, we have no choice. It's go, or be snowed in in our trucks for who knows how long...and the closest service is Lockhart...we left there. 5.5 hrs ago remember?
The road was pretty well exactly what I expected it to be, this is after all a mine in construction, not production. Services will be limited!
It was rough. Really rough. There was lots of bumps and banging going on.
It has a few portages where you make a turn then climb on, more on that later...
There are two portages on the GKSR that have right hand corners that lean the wrong direction! Not a huge ordeal for a building load with a low center of gravity...more on that later too!
We pushed snow, dug, chewed, &'clawed across most of the 28 portages to the mine. We had to stop for an hour on one of them...the security 4WD pick-up got stuck on #9! Oh what a joy it is!...
To say the road wasn't pleasant is an understatement. Quite a few guys did one trip and said "Nope, no more." and went home. There were places it was as bad as some of the places I've been, but the worst, not really.
I'm very well aware of the fact that lots of guys have been bringing big stuff up here for years on these roads, so I know it can be done.
Summary of the GKSR;
Yeah, it has issues. So do almost all mine access roads and especially mine sites. You wanna play with the big stuff, this is what it's really all about. It's ugly, the roads suck, and your truck is going to take $#!+ sometimes! get over it!
Oh yeah, the road closed due to weather...all the truck drivers were storm delayed at the mine for 42hrs! The mine was actually running low on food and had to fly in the last meal we got before the road opened up...lmao!


My proposal, which is non-negotiable, this is how it gets done.
Slow, methodical, and careful! The first section of the main road will not be traveled if the temperatures drops below -30C (-22F). Any colder than that and I risk trailer failure due to steel becoming brittle combined with torsion twisting.
Trailer failure is not an option! Road closure of any major delay would be a disaster. Recovery equipment, yeah NOT readily available.
IF the hills on the portages are as slick as my first trip in, simple. Travel from YK up the Ingraham Trail to the JVWR, make the mandatory stop at The Meadows check in point, and plan to hang one set of drive tire chains before the group of worrisome portages.
If the GKSR doesn't get improved, there is no way I'm bouncing my trailer like that! So, in order to take it slow and still be able to have the control necessary, chain up at Portage 1. Yup run chains for the +/-75 miles. If it turns out I have difficulty steering and negotiating the route due to the slow speed, chain up the steering axle too.
This and some other details about what I would do to make sure this building got in safe was sent to the office...now the more on that later comment...now that I'm here, and I say it can be done and this is how, and we've got no other heavy haul trailers up here, the other shoe drops..."Hey Hammer, we've got six possibly nine 9axle loads to go in, can you do them all?" Gee, thanks guys.
Now the other more on that later...we've got 2 very top heavy loads to take in, remember that whole but about two corners that lean the wrong way? Yeah, now that I've stepped in it, I've got to back it up! But hey that's no big deal right? I mean one of them was brought out of Laredo by a buddy of mine. He had to make a very tight turn on his route in TX, and The load healed over and slightly twisted the trailer...in TX...note, it's NOT that cold in TX. Needless to say, I'm a little concerned with these loads...


stay tuned, more to come...

 

First trip in with the big trailer...


Alright, so here's the panic...I was just leaving the mine after my lovely time camping out for 42hrs, when the lady in charge of logistics asked me again how serious I was about being able to haul the 80ton R/T crane up to the mine in one piece. They were told by somebody it would have to be stripped partially to send it. I told her, "Simple, you say 'yes,' consider it done. I load it when I get back after bringing in your building still sitting on my trailer. I wouldn't tell I can do something I can't do."


So back into YK I go...way faster, cause they've got "hammer lanes" where you can go 60km/hr (37mph) when your empty...yes, that's the fast lane up here.


I'm now trying to arrange a meeting with the JVWR logistics crew to review my "plan" to see if there's anything I missed when my phone rings...
Office: "Hammer how quickly can you unload your building, pull section, load that crane and get it up there?"
Hammer:"Why would we do that? He building is loaded, tied, and ready to go. I have a plan in place, let's just do it..."
Office: "Because every crane they have onsite is down, they can't get parts for anything but the little one right away, and there are 104,000lb rock truck chassis on there way up from Edmonton right now! And without that crane, they probably can't unload your building"
Hammer: "Ok, get me a cranes quick, I'll have it untied and ready to pull in 1hr"
Office: "We can't, there's only one crane available and it can only lift the light end of the building, what can you do?"
Hammer: "Ok, get him here quick, and bring me blocks, lots of them!"
Office: "Done, blocks and crane are on the way...good luck & be safe!"


So I spent all day rushing around like an idiot, rescheduling my appt with the logistics team, ordering all new permits, and ice engineering approvals, (cause it's now a whole new load), using the hydraulics on the trailer, blocking off the heavy end while the crane lifts the light end. Pull the back half of the trailer out from under the building, remove 10' of section, re-shim the trailer for a whole new load...then load the crane...
Have you asked yourself lately, "Am I sure I really want to be a HH operator?" This crap right here, this is the job. We sometimes have to make quick decisions, be flexible with your plans, and be ready to scrap the one you spent how much time working on? And make a whole new one up on the fly. Sometimes you need to ask the other question..."Should I really do this?"
I didn't put that part in the conversation above, but believe me, I asked it of myself. Yes, the crane is 6' narrower, and 10' shorter...but it's also 10,000lbs heavier and quite top heavy. I like hauling R/T cranes, there cool loads...ON MY RAIL!!! I've only got my deck up here with me. So think about it, I'm now loading a top heavy load, on tires which allow the load to "move around a little" (rock side to side more than blocked solid on the rail) on my deck which raises the height of said top heavy load...do you remember the part of the GKSR road description where I talked about the two corners that leaned the wrong way and my worry about...yeah a top heavy load on them!
Well, I accepted the challenge, and I was going to see it through...and I did.
It was a challenge, and there were a couple moments where I was looking back wondering if the trailer would stand back up in places...there was no,country in that load, she was all rock & roll! I negotiated all the portages without chains on the JVWR main road, but I didn't even consider playing that game for one second on the GKSR. I hung a set of triples right at Portage 1 and ran them all the way in. Good thing I did, I would not have made it in without spinning out on a couple of them.
When I got to the mine with the crane, they were ready and waiting...7 guys! They tarped it in and put 4 big Herman Nelson heaters on it as soon as I stopped.
Two hours later, I could hear the guys bringing in the chassis coming in...that was when the crane started. I broke the neck off the trailer and they drove it off. Delivered. Safe & sound. I cleaned up and stacked my jeep and the crane took off to go unload the Komatsu 830E chassis...yup, they were desperate for it!
Back in to YK...I've still got that building to deliver yet...


But not just yet...

stay at tuned, more to come...