class C motorized ladder

[gary]

SO IT'S BEEN A VERY, VERY BUSY AND HOT MONTH SO FAR, TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE BREAK IN THE HEAT THIS WEEKEND TO ATTEND THE motorized drill tournament hosted by our neighboring department, the riverhead ironmen. jamesport does not have a race team, although 25 years ago all north fork departments had an old fashioned team. class C are a tubular chassis, run methanol, use drag tires, and hit about 90 coming down the track, before slamming on the brakes and then accelerating away from the ladder team

hitting the top rung stops the clock

riding down the track, right before the jump off

 

[gary]

ok tim, what's that size thing, never saw that before, and i don't think i'm doing anything different with the link/post

 

[Tim]

That's weird. ; I haven't touched anything in a few months. ; Let me look into it.

 

[mSummers]

That looks like an interesting event. ; In the 3rd shot it looks like the guy is already climbing the ladder before it is set.

 

[Paul]

Looks pretty crazy, those people are real daredevils.

 

[Tim]

G, I fixed your size problem.

 

[gary]

Tim, thanks but i didn't have a size problem, your site did, and you might not want to let anyone else know we are that close


Mike, you are correct, if you are a lucky team you have a real fast lightweight ladder monkey, and 3 strong bulls on the spike, that allows the climber to start up while the spike is still being set


Paul, yes there is some risk, i left saturday before the final event, the bucket brigade, but by then 4 firemen had been hauled off to the ER via ambulance, 2 from selden during motor pump. I haven't posted that yet, but the nozzle/hose end got away from them while being charged and hit one in the legs and the other square in the chest, both left via ambulance, the chest hit on a backboard. One of the earlier injuries, during class B ladder resulted in a clearly broken leg

 

[Paul]

oh no, you guys talking about lens sizes again


Sounds like a rough game, I noticed the helmets and padding. ; Sounds like they could use more.

 

[gary]

class B truck, this is the truck of the host department, the riverhead ironmen, some depts such as this only compete in class B. a competitive C rig can be upwards of $300,000 a year budget. motors are made by real speed shops at $50,000 per with rebuilds coming at $12,000, tires, methanol at $10.00/gal. and that all must be raised outside of official district fire taxes.

and a class C for comparison. the rig of the cutchogue panthers

class B coming off the start line, motor ladder, the climber is the low man, left side

brakes locked down, coming to a momentary stop so the ladder team can dismount

note the climber and the back spike man already dismount while the truck is still moving, almost but not yet stopped

truck moves away, but mishap on the spike, one man lost his footing and goes down, a similar accident a couple of teams later results in a broken leg

the signal goes out from an official for the standby rescue unit, this was the broken leg incident

and the host ironmen get a clean spike and a good ladder mount on their run

 

[gary]

CLASS C MOTORIZED PUMP

thought i'd throw a couple more up here from the tournament, here a an overview of the class C motor pump, now instead of a ladder the team comes out of the hole shot, drops 2 at the hydrant, lays hose down the track, drops off a couple guys who break the line, install a nozzle, and hit the target, flipping up the red indicator stops the clock for time.


coming down the track, the 2 nozzle men are already going to work

we have water on the way

and it's a hit

hitting the hydrant

this was a good run, notice the hydrant man is already charging the line, the water is chasing the team down the track

nozzle guys are on it, water is only 1 length behind the nozzle team at this point

hit on target

possible new state record, so much measuring and debate

record disallowed, too much water flow through the hose, sometimes achieved by charging the line until it's almost bursting it's such high pressure, and letting it sit overnight to stretch the inside diameter, also coating the inside with something such as wd40, here's where they got caught

and the run from the other end of the track

nozzle team jumping off

backup man after the nozzle hookup, has to flop right on the hose to hold it down so the nozzleman can control it, otherwise all hell breaks loose

 

[mSummers]

Nice series, Gary! ; Looks like another fun competition

 

[jbwolffiv]

That looks like a lot of fun. ; Our chief (back when I was a volunteer) would do "races" like this each summer at one of our training sessions. ; But where do you go to practice the part with the car/truck?