Xmas entertainment

[Pwoffey]

Just chillin' down at the beach at Corny Point (tip of the toe of Yorke Peninsula). It's a shallow tidal beach on Spencer's Gulf. About 7:30pm noticed a tractor with trailer way up the beach waiting for its owner, fishing inshore in a small tinny. It's the last tractor of the day. It's in about 20-25 cm of water, all pretty normal for here. Just about getting dark when owner brings the boat around, jumps out to start up the tractor getting ready to haul the boat up onto the trailer. Starts OK, but through my binoculars I see the front wheels dig in and down, down, down till most of the rubber disappears. Next thing you see, the owner is running/wading through the water towards the beach obviously pretty worried. I don't blame him - a bit before my time here (back in the '80s) an old timer told me at least one tractor had been swallowed whole off the beach here. Anyway, after about half an hour you can just make out half a dozen blokes and another tractor about the same size as the victim trying to effect a recovery in the dark. No dice. That baby is stuck. Another half hour and night is turned into day by the lights of the biggest mother of a tractor I have ever seen. It was the size of a 5 story building, could have towed the Queen Mary uphill through cold treacle. (OK, perhaps a bit of exaggeration, but not much). Pulled the little feller out, no probs. Just as well too, wife full of Christmas spirit is saying "Don't you think you should go and help?" nodding at the Paj. Yeah, right. Let's go give the Paj a saltwater bath and do our very best to bend the chassis/frame till it looks like a canoe. Anyway, it all ended well, and seeing the quality of TV programming tonight I reckon I had a couple of hours of pretty good Xmas eve entertainment.

[ausGeoff]

LOL... thanks for that. I can just picture it all.

[GHendo]

You're sure right about the TV programmes. Good to hear it all ended happily for the bloke - sounds like a story I used to read my son about the digger and the bigger digger etc.

Merry Christmas

Geoff

[Dicko1]

Might as well throw the tv away.....

you had better entertainment for sure.. Enjoy your holidays.

[razorback481]

i know exactly how he felt

did the same at our family shack at Pt Turton but it was the rear wheels after taking a light short cut through the weed

father in-law just looked over his glasses and said " there's a fella up the top with a backhoe, see if he can get the chain and drag it out"
most likely cost you a carton !!

only just had enough chain to reach with the boom extended out and as he was pulling in i was driving up and out we came with about 10min to spare before the tide was up to the engine !!

we still go the the shack, and now we're rebuilding his boat that he build 50yrs ago, but the tracker has long gone and we have to use the boat ramp now

i miss the old man , he was the one guy that never got mad at me if i messed up !!! happy trails dad

[ticky]

Just chillin' down at the beach at Corny Point (tip of the toe of Yorke Peninsula). It's a shallow tidal beach on Spencer's Gulf. About 7:30pm noticed a tractor with trailer way up the beach waiting for its owner, fishing inshore in a small tinny. It's the last tractor of the day. It's in about 20-25 cm of water, all pretty normal for here. Just about getting dark when owner brings the boat around, jumps out to start up the tractor getting ready to haul the boat up onto the trailer. Starts OK, but through my binoculars I see the front wheels dig in and down, down, down till most of the rubber disappears. Next thing you see, the owner is running/wading through the water towards the beach obviously pretty worried. I don't blame him - a bit before my time here (back in the '80s) an old timer told me at least one tractor had been swallowed whole off the beach here. Anyway, after about half an hour you can just make out half a dozen blokes and another tractor about the same size as the victim trying to effect a recovery in the dark. No dice. That baby is stuck. Another half hour and night is turned into day by the lights of the biggest mother of a tractor I have ever seen. It was the size of a 5 story building, could have towed the Queen Mary uphill through cold treacle. (OK, perhaps a bit of exaggeration, but not much). Pulled the little feller out, no probs. Just as well too, wife full of Christmas spirit is saying "Don't you think you should go and help?" nodding at the Paj. Yeah, right. Let's go give the Paj a saltwater bath and do our very best to bend the chassis/frame till it looks like a canoe. Anyway, it all ended well, and seeing the quality of TV programming tonight I reckon I had a couple of hours of pretty good Xmas eve entertainment.

Was that 5 story tactor Lime Green and articulated?

[Pwoffey]

I didn't know Tonka toys came in green . Actually by the time the BIG MUTHA came out it was too dark and far away to make out details, just the bulk. For all I know it might have been one of these (with after-market headlights).