Fuel Capacity

Fuel and water become critical considerations when planning remote outback journeys in Australia.  This year I’m thinking of crossing the southern deserts using the Anne Beadell Highway.  Of course the word ‘highway’ is just Australian humour.  It’s a 1400km 4WD track from Laverton in Western Australia to Coober Pedy in South Australia.  The track was built by the legendary outback surveyor Len Beadell to support the tests being conducted at the Woomera Rocket Range in South Australia.  The scientists needed to know where the rockets landed and as there were no roads Len was tasked with building them. 
Len named many of the roads after his family with whom he was separated for many years during their survey and construction.  Anne Beadell was Len’s wife.  Connie Sue is named after his daughter and the Gary Track after his son.
The Anne Beadell highway was also the access road to Totem 1 and 2.  The Ground Zero points for the British above ground nuclear tests.
I know from my 2018 trip across the Gunbarrel Highway towing a trailer the Isuzu fuel consumption can be as low as 12.6 litres per 100km.  On good unsealed roads in 2WD we managed to achieve 8.2 litres per 100km.  The Anne Beadell is similar to the Gunbarrel, although less frequently travelled.  Therefore I’m using the figure of 12.6.  A distance of 1350km means I’ll need at total of 170 litres.   However the lIkurlka Aboriginal Roadhouse is located on the junction of the East-West Anne Beadell and North-South on the Aboriginal Business Road approximately 570km from Laverton.  The roadhouse is owned by the local Spinifex people and it’s primary purpose is to support the local aboriginal communities.  However it does sell fuel to travellers using the Anne Beadell highway.  It also has efpos facilities.
Provided the roadhouse does have diesel for sale the journey will consist of a 570km leg and a 780km leg,  My estimated fuel consumption for each leg is 72 & 100 litres. 
The Isuzu 4WD has a fuel capacity of 65 litres which means I need to carry more fuel.  It is possible to replace the factory tank with a larger ‘after market’ version which would increase the capacity to 114 litres.  That is sufficient to complete the track provided I can refuel at Ilikurlka.   However the larger tank would cost approximately $1400.  Additionally, this would mean all the fuel was in one tank under the vehicle where it might get punctured leaving me stranded.  Towing a trailer provides me with the ability to carry fuel in multiple containers.
The off road camper trailer already has carrying points for two 20 litre jerricans and after looking closely at the trailer I identified a location where a third can could be fitted. 
Today I cut up some old angle steel from the bench I demolished in the garage and fabricated a 3rd jerrican holder.

Angle iron around the base
  
Another angle iron bracket to secure the top.  The rubber strap will prevent it bouncing out of the holder.
Next I started thinking about the front of the trailer.  There’s a large aluminium box on the front which contains the 12V freezer.  I think I can fabricate a mounting for two jerricans in this location.
The front of the aluminium freezer box isn’t vertical.  The top leans forward.  This means the jerrican mounting brackets will also need to lean forward.  I’ve started cutting up more of that surplus angle iron for my jerrican bracket.

‘B’ is the face of the freezer box which isn’t vertical.  I’ve started fabricating mounting points for the bracket.  It’s a slow job as I have to cut all the steel by hand with a hacksaw and it’s tough going for an old fella!
The result of all this is the ability to carry five jerricans (100 litres) on the trailer and 65 litres in the 4WD tank.  A range of slightly more than 1300km at 12.2ltr/100km.    Obviously not quite sufficient to complete the journey without stopping at the roadhouse.  Moreover I haven’t factored in a reserve.  However the 12.2ltr/100km is also worst case.
Mick I hadn’t realised the GoDaddy domain name was set to auto-renewal and wonder if that might be a reason for the significant increase.  It will be interesting to see if I get a lower subscription figure after the current subscription lapses on 10 Jan.
Dave have you noticed the significant increase in advertising on Farcebook? 
Hi Ade, I agree blogging will still be here for some time.  My assumption is Farcebook purchased Instagram because their young subscribers were moving to it.  I’ve never looked back at the old posts (a good solder never looks behind   The bushfires are particularly bad in NSW and Victoria this year.  They are also the two states most prone to major bush fires.  My own opinion is the reason things are so significant this year is the drought (climate change?) leading to very dry conditions.  Additionally there has been a failure to do sufficient ‘controlled burns’ during the winter months to reduce the amount of fuel (bark, leaves. etc) on the ground.  I suspect the latter is a result of financial cuts and the influence of conservationists.  Whilst the combined area of land destroyed by fire equates to the size of Ireland it’s also important to remember Australia is a vast country where 90% of the population lives close to the coast.
Just a Reminder
If you stop seeing our blog posts it is probably because we have not renewed our blog domain name (www.narrowboat-waiouru.co.uk).  We have reverted to the Blogger address www.narrowboat-waiouru.blogspot.com.blogspot.com.