Ramps!
Seems like ages since we had an update.
Now I've got my import approval I can start getting her ready to export.
First job this morning was to measure how much room I will have in the 20ft container with the truck inside.
So I reversed up to the garage door and had a quick measure.
So that leaves me just under 6ft which should be plenty for all the retail boxes I'm using.
When the shipping container comes, it stays on the lorry. So the next job was building a ramp to load the truck into the container which will be roughly 4ft off the ground.
This fine trailer started life as a caravan in 2004. A few years later it was flipped on a motorway and so my mate bought it for £50 to use as a trailer.
With the trailer back at mine we could start jacking it up and seeing if it will work.
In low range and with the rear locker engaged I crawled up the ramp.
Trailer could have done with being a little wider, but with careful driving its usable.
The front A frame will be unbolted from the trailer when the container comes. The ramp will then be ratchet strapped/chained to the back of the lorry.
Safely back on the ground.
After taking the trailer back we drove to my my old works yard.
I didnt realise we have had so much rain. Never seen this bridge underwater before.
2 blue Toyota's!
I was curious as to how tight my truck will be in a container.
With the import rules being so stringent on imports entering OZ with regards to no mud/organic material allowed to enter, my truck needs to be spotless.
This is the beast that I thought would be best for cleaning her.
Me with my best clothes on.
Next I went and got the huge ramps that the farm use for the tractors. This pic was taken from the cockpit just before I went down a slight gradient and the bobcat tipped forward.
No harm done, and I soon had it back on all 4 wheels.
The ramps were just too big and heavy to carry 2 at a time.
Shame I wont be able to use these when I dinitrol the underneath.
I then spent the next hour underneath the truck steam cleaning everything. not a particularly pleasant job but it needed to be done.
The recovery in Wales when my truck had a lie down bent one of my 12mm thick recovery points.
Turned the truck round.
Loads of Lincomb sand came out from between the fuel tank and guard.
Engine bay came up a bit cleaner.
Done.
Took one of the ramps back and when I got back Mitch was seeing how his new disco flexes.
Drove back very slowly to avoid too much mud being splattered on the now clean cruiser.
Still couldnt get over how high the river is. Its usually 3-4ft below this bridge. Years ago we boated under it when we did about 10miles of boating along the river.
The truck is now parked up round the back ready for all the work to begin.
Next job will be giving it another wash. I will then let the truck dry out for a few weeks before the rust killing and dinitroling can begin.
or so my wife tells me, mind you it was all her fault really. When I turned 50 she said you must have a special present and she bought me a gliding course (fixed wing, not para), then for the next 10 years she hardly saw me, I was always up at the airfield. 
Even our friendly in-house ins company didn't come back to me with a quote which they had said they would do.
