Story on Unimogs (and Tatras) used in fighting wildfires

[BlueFly]

Enjoy!






http://www.hcn.org/issues/40.16/the-mog-squad

[dlbrunner]

That is out of the town I went to high school in.

One of my buddies and the Junior high shop teacher had great stories of what the Mogs gould do...

[Best4x4xfar]

Interesting story, thanks for posting the link. It was a little suprising toward the end though, after all the touting the article was doing of the Unimog's 'super capabilities' to hear a long term operator talk about the Mogs as tempotmental, less than reliable machines? But at least the article makes the point that everytime they respond they are pushed beyond the limit..

[haven]

It will be interesting to see if the TATRA models will
be more durable than the Unimogs in this role.

Anyone know what secret DARPA machine is referenced
on the last page of the article?

[Redline]

I love the picture you linked here to start the thread:

A six-wheel-drive Tatra -- aka, Wildland Ultra XT -- tweaks out in a dry wash near Winnemucca, Nevada.

Enjoy!






http://www.hcn.org/issues/40.16/the-mog-squad

[Saline]

The BLM here has one of the Tatras based out of Grand Junction. I've ridden in their rig during a combined training and used them for mutual aid on fires. Holy crap, very impressive machine!! The operators say that they have some reliability issues but overall a great apparatus.

[ntsqd]

One of the things that I learned when I was employed working on vintage road race & touring cars is that each nation's vehicles have a unique "Zen" to them. Each country's Engineers have unique design ideas. Sometimes it is each particular brand, but usually there is at least a little commonality between brands from the same country.
To effectively work on vehicles from another country and have those repairs and modifications be long lasting and appropriate you have first figure out that vehicle's zen. Otherwise you might make it work again, only to have some other problem crop up a little later.
When I read about "reliability issues" I can't help but wonder how much if that is self-inflicted and part of the learning curve.

[jh504]

Where do I sign up?

[762X39]

It was a little suprising toward the end though, after all the touting the article was doing of the Unimog's 'super capabilities' to hear a long term operator talk about the Mogs as tempotmental, less than reliable machines? But at least the article makes the point that everytime they respond they are pushed beyond the limit..

I hear this all the time...they are super machines but...
Mogs are not temperamental, they are precision machines that have specific service requirements (in the factory service manuals)that must be adhered to to maintain the "superhuman" performance they are capable of.Even my old Swiss 404 has a long list of maintanence items that must be performed to keep it running up to par.You can't get uber performance from a precision tool without upkeep.
Just my 2 euros worth.

[4Rescue]

I used to be an Engine Boss for a crew out of Portland that used old Mog SWB chasis's for Wildland Engines and we never had an issue with them. Good read.

Cheers

Dave