Watagans day trip - Nov 23 - completed

[jcas24 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close jcas24]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

Jesus,

no mate,Its Joel

I'll send Damo a txt

[jcas24 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close jcas24]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

just spoke with damo, sounds like they had an interesting day & plenty of damage unfortunately, so keep an eye out for pics later tonght.

Damo said they were still winching @ 6pm.

[mav Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close mav]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

just spoke with damo, sounds like they had an interesting day & plenty of damage unfortunately, so keep an eye out for pics later tonght.

Damo said they were still winching @ 6pm.

Well I hope the damage is not too expensive, as long as nobody was hurt that is the main thing I guess.

[AJ Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close AJ]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

From the sounds of it I can't wait to read up on this one tomorrow! :shock: :shock:

Cheers,
AJ

[damonat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close damonat]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

it was a day we would probably like to have stayed home.
over 4+ hours of winching.
we got through the log bridge and winched for 2-3 hours to get up the other side.
we drove along the track to find a very deep water hole (samo will post that pic i'm sure),
and we got past that to get 300mtrs from the end, to find a very steep rock crawl that only a rock crawler would get up,
so we had to turn around and go back.
that to make a chicken track, to get down to the log crossing as the rain had turned the main track
into a very slippery slide.
then winch up the other side and get out.
i had my roof rack bar ripped off the roof by a low hanging vine (that i didn't see, just heard the large bang/crack)
both side steps are stuffed, bar bumper nearly torn through, and DS rear 1/4 flares hanging off,
DSF tyre stuffed, and bad scraching from rubbing enbankments.
i'm sure the other will tell you their stories,
but we just made it out and home.
not too many pics and vids, as it was raining too much to get them, but we did get some.
so stay tuned for the horror stories.
and to those that came, i apoligise for taking you on a terrible track.

[pshenton Member Find all posts View Profile Close pshenton]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

We had a great day. Damage is minimal and confined to plastic and a tail light lens or two. We felt like pioneers at one stage, the track was very overgrown. Damo lost a roof rail along with his GPS antenna in the lantana.

It was hard going in some places. 4 had to winch up one very steep rutted and tree rooted rock face, two (me and les) made it up on our own steam. A few meters later Damo came to a stop in a big mud hole.. Big Fella will be pleased to know that we had plenty of pics of that. After a few more holes and a bit more snatching / winching we reached what was for the Prado's a dead end. A 1/25 incline, massive rocks and car swallowing ruts. We had to turn around and do everything we had just done in reverse.

The reverse run had its own set of challenges, some more winching forwards, sideways and a bit of backwards snatching. Nice one Scott for bringing the "Supa-Cheap" hand winch, I reckon that saved some devastating damage / roll overs.

On the reverse run everyone had to be winched up one section where we were all getting belly hung. Once up there getting down the otherside was challenging, avoiding sliding off in to a massive trench that was a good 4 feet down and who knows how deep. Without Scott's hand winch we would have been finding out how deep the hard way.

After a lot of hard work but great fun, we emerged from the bush at about 730. A long day but we had a blast.

I have a couple of pics and a bit of video that I'll sort out in the next day or two.

[Dobbo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dobbo]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

Jesus fella's, it sounds more like a round of a tuff truck challenge than a reccie round the forest :shock:
With rain forecast for the next week, the conditions probably won't be much better on the day.
Still, you can add this day to the list of stories to tell around the campfire and have a laugh.
Good to see that no one seriously damaged their trucks or got hurt. Bet the wives are cutting crook on having to wash your clothes hey :lol:

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

was a very long day, i got home at 830pm, was a great day, not for the faint hearted, there was a fair bit of carnage, sidesteps bent and flares ripped off, scratched rear bumbers, tail lights cracked as well as a few scratches, i will know tomarra when i was the car, there was me and damo, quicky, scott and pshenton. we didnt get that many photos as we were flat out winching and recovering vehicles, we had some fairly constant rain which didnt help, but we all got back. cheers samo

quicky getting stuck as always






phill getting winched





scott testing the depth





damo taking a swim and getting stuck








airing up and damage photos








cheers samo

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

:shock: :shock:

Sounds like an interesting day was had... and a true test of the Prado.
Good to hear no one was injured and only a few battle scars added to the paintwork.
It's a shame to get sooooo close to the end only to have to turn around No way around the rock ledge?

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

ive got some video comming soon. cheers samo

[damonat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close damonat]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

my pics from today

[jcas24 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close jcas24]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

nice work fellas, looking fwd to the video.

edit: just saw damos pics, there was some dmg hell!!

The log crossing is the same one I was talking to you about Damo,



and further up at the bum crack rock

[scottrus9987 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close scottrus9987]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23



Aww, my poor 90. This is after the tail end decided to biff with the face of a massive rut. The rut came off best.....
What a day...... Just to paint the picture, I was getting winched up these series of step ups caused by tree roots. The winch setup had two pulley blocks and I had a wire sling as a bridal. The second pulley was chained to a tree and the force of me hanging off the winch cable and being skull dragged up this ridiculous trail and step ups broke the chain clean in half. Lucky for the great advice of leaving it in gear and ready for the brake, the only thing that prevented me became a bolder rolling down the mountain.
Although a fair amount of damage (heart breaking for me), it was a true testament to the good old prados...
Now to find a wrecker and start the healing process.... Side steps coming off, bumpers got to come off, a massive amount of cut and polish requried and that’s just the start... I never eve ever again wanna go THAT!!!! extreme Damo....
Cheers all for the memorable day.
Scott

[damonat Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close damonat]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

nice work fellas, looking fwd to the video.

edit: just saw damos pics, there was some dmg hell!!

The log crossing is the same one I was talking to you about Damo,



and further up at the bum crack rock

thats a good pic.
shows that a prado can do this section without any problems here.
i would not like to get through bum crack. that was just nasty

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Re: Watagans day trip on - Sun Nov 23

Your thinking about it all wrong... that's not a bent sidestep... it's slightly modified

Looks like anything shy of Mud tyres would have struggled on that track.