Hello from Moab

[Stu Olson]

Just dropping by to say HI from Moab. Robert and I (and some friends) finished up a nice run about an hour ago. Awesome trail and excellent weather.

Wish some of you could have attended. Maybe another time.

Robert heads out tomorrow.....I'll leave on Saturday. The week has gone by very quickly.

[Matt Pascoe]

Wish I cold have made it this year...

I'm sure you guys are having a blast

Hope to see lots of pics when you get back.

[Joe Dillard]

Good to hear from you Stu.

I was very close at becoming a "late joiner" this year, but things simply didn't pan out.

Perhaps I'll go again in a few more weeks.

[Stu Olson]

Hi Matt.....yeah, it wasn't the same not having you along.

Joe.....there was a nice spring over YJ from Washington.....driver's name was Wendy. The rig needs some work but it is coming along pretty nice. By this time next year, I think it will be in good shape.

The temps are ramping up. It was bloody hot this afternoon coming off of the trail. The good news is that my tranny cooler kept thing between 180 and 195F. That was pretty good considering the only airflow through it was from the electric cooling fan. Still waiting to see how it does in the 110F+ Phoenix temps as summer rolls in.

We head back home tomorrow morning. Play time is over and it is back to work.

[Iceman]

yep, had a blast and except for a sliced MT/R on/in Coyote Canyon there's no damage as far as I can tell (except some more scrapes and dings on the body ).
Hit a whole bunch of new (to me) trails and some more challenging stuff (including Pickle and Mashed Potatoes today, which was a blast )

Heading back to TX tomorrow.

Thanks all for a great week and for those who didn't attend -> try to make it next year

[Tim]

thanks for the fun guys!
i left about 2 am and got home at sunset. almost 18 hours straight driving.
looking forward to the next time.

[Stu Olson]

Tim, glad to hear you got home safe and sound.

Donna and I arrived home a couple of hours ago. Caught breakfast this morning with some of the folks and then hit the highway. Quite the uneventful trip for us. (which is just the way I like them)

[Stu Olson]

http://www.stu-offroad.com/others/other52-1.htm for some of my comments on the run.

[Tim]

good write-up stu, and you touched on something very important.

the thank you's

i was suprised that one of the companies whos prize i won did not hava a e-mail address on their website so i had to snail mail them. the other prize provider has been chatting with me through emails.

the whole week was packed with good stuff. even the breakage was handled quickly and very well. what a great droup we had this year!!!

[Stu Olson]

Not to change the topic too much, but I will since a couple of Ready Welder II's were used on the trail....I found one locally, new in the box, for what I think is a great price. The welding wire still has the plastic wrap on it.

[Robert J. Yates]

Hey Stu,
Nice write-up as always.

So did you pick up the welder? Sorry I couldn't talk the other day - I'm still buried here at work.

Based on experience learned - I'm going to make sure I throw a set of marine terminals in the box for mine here this weekend - that was a bit of a shock finding out that the battery connections were NIC. Luckily vise grips were not in short supply I also think I am going to go for a lighter shade for the welding lense but other than that, I can't say enough about the leather helmet - it packs away nicely and keeps the weld spatter of your face and neck. Can't say that about the rest of me though

[Jeff Weston]

Originally posted by Robert J. Yates
Based on experience learned - I'm going to make sure I throw a set of marine terminals in the box for mine here this weekend - that was a bit of a shock finding out that the battery connections were NIC.

Unless my dad paid extra for them, his RWII came with some large alligator clips to clamp the cable to a battery post as shown in the picture from RW's website.


[edit]He uses those two clips and two marine fittings (which I'm not sure were included or not). BTW, looking at RW's website, they now have a "military version" that has an integrated cold switch and comes with extension cables.

[Stu Olson]

Jeff,
From what I saw in Robert's brand new (read virgin) unit, the "large alligator clips" are actually used with the supplied 2' cable and a couple of nuts and bolts to connect the + and - terminals of the two batteries together (assuming you are going to weld with 24 volts).

The 2' long jumper leads that mate with the large red disconnectblock come with ring terminals on them. We used two vicegrips to clamp them to the remaining two battery terminals to power the welder.

You can see three of the four ring terminals in the photo.

Years ago, I put marine terminals on my battery....makes it very easy to remove the vehicle wiring and provides the appropriate terminations for the RW.

[Stu Olson]

Robert.....$300 for a brand new RW II....the case is dirty as it was carried in the back of a 4x4 on a few trips. Inside, just as shiny new as yours.

Do you remember which lens you have? That helmet was pretty nice. I'm trying to figure out what I want to get.

[Robert J. Yates]

Nope - no terminals in my box although I hardly see where its an issue. Vise grips worked just fine and frankly, I should have done more than simply open the package when I got the welder from UPS. And yes, the alligator clips were included with mine but you also need the terminals to wire up the batteries in series.

The hot tip takes some getting used to but once you get the wire speed dialed in, its actually pretty nice to work with. The size of the spool gun also takes some getting used to, at least for me. I don't have good hand strength anymore so I wound up using both hands to keep the gun steady.

The military version just might be the better ticket for the instant gratification folks

[Robert J. Yates]

Originally posted by Stu Olson
Robert.....$300 for a brand new RW II....the case is dirty as it was carried in the back of a 4x4 on a few trips. Inside, just as shiny new as yours.

Do you remember which lens you have? That helmet was pretty nice. I'm trying to figure out what I want to get.

PM sent.

[Tim]

woo hoo!
me getting air without help on wedgie!

[Stu Olson]

Tim....can't get the link to work.

[Tim]

awwww mannnnn!!!
i'll fix it tonight when i get home.

[Tim]

anyways.. here's my little family getting some fresh air...

and me and jay after m&m flew home

pics are from bill and margaret.

[Stu Olson]

I need to drop Bill an e-mail and see if he has scraped his video off of his camcorder.

Good pics! Who is the guy driving your Jeep?

[Tim]

Originally posted by Stu Olson
I need to drop Bill an e-mail and see if he has scraped his video off of his camcorder.

Good pics! Who is the guy driving your Jeep?

i am also eager to see his video. margaret said she had been watching it and had some good footage.

me (clicking down gold bar rim)