The Saturday before this Octobers Minstead event saw some of the worst rain so far this year (it was also the Sodbury Sortout).  The morning of the event started dry although it had rained through most of the night.  As usual I had arranged for Jez to meet at mine so we could have a coffee and then head over to the event in convoy.  I finished throwing my tools and recovery gear into the back of the Hybrid and we set off (via the petrol station!!). 

When we got to site the burger van was set up and Kirk had been busy laying out the entry gateways into the site.  After a quick brief with Kirk on his requirements of me for the day I set off into the site with Jeff.  We headed straight out to the sticky part at the back of the site where we posted warning signs at each end and had a look to see how bad it looked (BAD!).  From here we took a brief circuit back to the car park to have a look at the rest of the site.  On the way back we met up with Justin and he followed us through the big hole in the main track.  This took a bit of care to traverse and as this was Justin’s first time at Minstead his inexperience showed.  He did not get completely stuck and with a bit of guidance from Jeff managed to extricate himself without needing a tug from me.

When we arrived back at the car park it was starting to get busy so I grabbed a coffee and then Jeff and I headed back out to the difficult section we had marked up earlier.  We had not been there very long when a group of vehicles lead by a Suzuki arrived.  The bobtailed Rangie in the group found the first big hole and needed pulling out by his mate in the 90.  Then all three of them headed into the next hole.  The last foot of the deep hole proved just a bit too much for the Suzuki so I gave him a helping tug.  His mate in a 90 with much larger tyres got through without a problem and then helped the last member of their party through in his bobtailed Rangie.

Just as this group cleared the hole, Paul Kavanagh and a chap in a very well sorted white bobtailed Discovery arrived from the other direction.  They had a look at the hole and with a little persuading the chap in the Disco had a go.  He managed to get most of the way through the hole, just getting caught up on his axles at the very end.  After a couple of goes he gave up and winched himself out.  Paul tried to take an alternate route around the hole but could not make it through so I winched him out.  I then had a go at the hole and managed to make it all the way through on the third attempt.  Paul decided to head around the other way as he did not fancy trying to get through.  On manoeuvring to turn around he managed to hook his steering guard over a stump.  He could not go forward as the stump hit the axle and could not go backwards because the stump hit the steering guard.  To extricate him from this I grabbed my Hi-Lift Jack, and with some expert spotting by Jeff I managed to lift and swing the truck far enough over to clear the stump and allow Paul to back up off it.

As soon as Paul had turned around another group of vehicles arrived and lined up to have a go at the hole.  One of these made it through without resorting to the winch, the others succumbed and had to get through on the end of a cable.  The little black Suzuki in the group had a good go at getting through but its narrower track, for once, did not help and it needed to be pulled out by his mate.  The last Rangie through had a really good couple of attempts at getting through but on the last attempt managed to clip the front off-side wing on the bank which took out the headlight.  Then as it reached the cross-axle part it landed a rear wheel very heavily and a really loud bang sounded the death of the rear diff!

After this vehicle was dragged out of the hole it had to e towed back to the car park as just front wheel drive will not cut it at this site.  Jeff and I made sure it cleared the woods and made it back to the main track without a problem.  We then went for a wander around the site before heading back to the car park for a burger and cup of tea.

After lunch we headed back out around the site.  During the morning it had been raining on and off but at lunchtime the heavens opened.  I’ve never see Minstead so wet.  It resembled something from a Malaysian rainforest rather than southern England!  Sections of the site became impassable except for those trucks with locking axle diffs, and even they had to pick their routes carefully.  Jeff and I came across a couple of people having difficulty during the afternoon although they all managed to extricate themselves without me having to resort to the winch.

One good section was the route out from the large bomb hole.  The only way out was to put your foot down and hope momentum would carry you through.  This was very entertaining to watch, especially as half way up there was enough of a lump to get both passenger side wheels off the ground!

After watching this for a while a group of us followed the main track around the corner.  The mud holes on the main track looked to be impassable so we found a tricky section down to the left of them to avoid the holes.  This involved dropping down a bank, through a stream and then back up the other side.  We took this one at a time and everyone managed to get through without incident.  From here we headed back to the car park for a cuppa.

As most people were starting to leave for the day Jeff, Rich and myself headed out to check for stragglers.  While we were out we decided to tackle the hole we had been supervising in the morning but the other way.  I made it most of the way through but even on the third attempt kept grounding out the front axle.  The only way out was to use the winch which dragged me out.  Rich then followed me through and ended up stuck at the same place I was.  I turned around and winched him through.  We then collected all the signs we had posted and returned to car park.  Jeff got back in his Rangie, and headed home, and I packed everything up and headed down to the vehicle wash at the gate.  I met up with Jem and after the obligatory wash down we left the site (turning left as requested to ensure we did not drop any mud in the village) and headed home.

I had a good day at the event, and I still cannot believe how wet and slippery the site was!  The site has maintained its reputation as a diff eater although luckily I managed not to break anything.  My rear diff is however now seriously grumbling and both front and rear bumpers have been remodelled!  It had the added bonus of not needing to wash the truck down when I got home as the unit Chris leant us did a really good and quick job of it!

Rob

For more pictures of this event click HERE.

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