Not orange, but tractors y'all might appreciate

[Showmedata]

Last month I used the water taxi service into Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand. The operation was pretty cool:
First they load you all into the boat while it's on the trailer, in the parking lot.

They drive it down to the shore, then if it's low tide out across the sand as much as several hundred yards (the tide has swing of almost 20' some days), swing around and back up into enough water to float the boat:

They have a whole fleet of these old Fords, all in pristine condition considering they get driven into the ocean every day!

 

[mcmxi]

Whoa! What are they doing to mitigate corrosion?

 

[fried1765]

Last month I used the water taxi service into Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand. The operation was pretty cool:
First they load you all into the boat while it's on the trailer, in the parking lot.
View attachment 126544
They drive it down to the shore, then if it's low tide out across the sand as much as several hundred yards (the tide has swing of almost 20' some days), swing around and back up into enough water to float the boat:
View attachment 126545

They have a whole fleet of these old Fords, all in pristine condition considering they get driven into the ocean every day!
View attachment 126546

They must tear each of those Fords down, each year, to keep 'em from being eaten alive by the salt water.

 

[Showmedata]

Whoa! What are they doing to mitigate corrosion?

no idea - I didn't ask.

 

[GeoHorn]

We operated (aluminum) sea-planes in/out of Westwego, LA back in the early ‘70s…. operating from brackish inshore to salt-water offshore before helicopters became more prominent in that off-shore industry.

At each “haul-out” (i.e., each return-trip they powered-up boat ramps out of the canal)….they were power-washed with fresh water, followed by WD40/fresh-water “emulsion”…. (the pressure washer was set to “chemical/soap” dispenser with the pick-up-tube in a drum of WD40…which mixed it in the pump with fresh-water)… which was sprayed both exterior and inside the fuselage and thru inspection ports all over the airframe.

Each evening the engine cowls were removed and a SToddard-solvent wash-down and inspection was performed.

Those airplanes were late ‘40’s thru early ‘60s and were in near-new condition …(but had seriously expensive maintenance programs with extensive unit-replacement schedules.) I’ll bet those Fords are washed down repeatedly. (and demonstrate how important/protective PAINT is.)

 

[mcmxi]

We operated (aluminum) sea-planes in/out of Westwego, LA back in the early ‘70s…. operating from brackish inshore to salt-water offshore before helicopters became more prominent in that off-shore industry.

At each “haul-out” (i.e., each return-trip they powered-up boat ramps out of the canal)….they were power-washed with fresh water, followed by WD40/fresh-water “emulsion”…. (the pressure washer was set to “chemical/soap” dispenser with the pick-up-tube in a drum of WD40…which mixed it in the pump with fresh-water)… which was sprayed both exterior and inside the fuselage and thru inspection ports all over the airframe.

Each evening the engine cowls were removed and a SToddard-solvent wash-down and inspection was performed.

Those airplanes were late ‘40’s thru early ‘60s and were in near-new condition …(but had seriously expensive maintenance programs with extensive unit-replacement schedules.) I’ll bet those Fords are washed down repeatedly.

At a minimum I would think daily rinsing, but there are so many crevices where salt water could get in, and crevice corrosion is a real problem. I was wondering if they have gone above and beyond in some clever way to reduce the problem.

There are tractors rotting away on beaches in England. These tractors are used to pull fishing boats out of the water and they do not fare well.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

hmm FIVE pristine tractors ! NICE.....
First idea is that all of them have been properly painted in epoxy or urethane paints.
That goes a long way to reducing the salt problems.

2nd , for sure weekly rinses, maybe daily ?

I've got 6 winters of driving my BX23S on salty roads here in Ontario, and no signs of corrosion by salt. Maybe rinsed 2-3 times a Winter....

 

[fried1765]

hmm FIVE pristine tractors ! NICE.....
First idea is that all of them have been properly painted in epoxy or urethane paints.
That goes a long way to reducing the salt problems.

2nd , for sure weekly rinses, maybe daily ?

I've got 6 winters of driving my BX23S on salty roads here in Ontario, and no signs of corrosion by salt. Maybe rinsed 2-3 times a Winter....

BIG difference, between occasionally salted roads, and daily immersion in salt water.

 

[mcmxi]

hmm FIVE pristine tractors ! NICE.....
First idea is that all of them have been properly painted in epoxy or urethane paints.
That goes a long way to reducing the salt problems.

2nd , for sure weekly rinses, maybe daily ?

I've got 6 winters of driving my BX23S on salty roads here in Ontario, and no signs of corrosion by salt. Maybe rinsed 2-3 times a Winter....

The rate of corrosion is a function of temperature among other things, and the colder it is the lower the current. If it's cold enough and the salt solution has frozen there will be no corrosion since the ions that carry current in the electrolyte have zero mobility.

 

[GeoHorn]

Are those OEM fenders..?? I don’t think so… Maybe made out of SS…

 

[GreensvilleJay]

well, my tractor gets stored in a nice 55*F warm garage after spending hours pushing very, very salty snow for 8 neighbours. I 'know' the salt content is HIGH from the 'salt stripes' on the garage floor.
Be nice to know where those Fords are, contact the owner, see what they do.

 

[Showmedata]

well, my tractor gets stored in a nice 55*F warm garage after spending hours pushing very, very salty snow for 8 neighbours. I 'know' the salt content is HIGH from the 'salt stripes' on the garage floor.
Be nice to know where those Fords are, contact the owner, see what they do.

https://aquataxi.co.nz/

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I asked this morning...
..got this tonight...

Hey there Jay

Mate it does take a bit of work keeping our 20 Fords on the road. A decent fresh water hose down at the end of the day and a weekly service packing the 15 odd grease nipples with marine grease. A lot of these nipples we have added ourselves. We pressurise the inside with a pipe off the exhaust just to discourage the saltwater getting in and we have a valve to regularly drain the bell housing. All this helps but they do live a tough old life and every 3-4 years we strip them back , crack them open, do what needs to be done , sand blast them and give them a bloody good paint job. Then they look like they just rolled off the showroom floor in 1972! for a while..... So yeah, not easy

cheers mate, Spencer

Abel Tasman AquaTaxi
Marahau
RD2 Motueka
NEW ZEALAND


see, it never hurts to ask !!!

 

[Showmedata]

that is a heckuva maintenance schedule! Thanks for asking and sharing. I didn't have time to chat them up when I was there.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

It just shows that with proper 'TLC', you can keep 'old iron' running !