Landracing Forum
Bonneville Salt Flats Discussion => SpeedWeek 2018 => Topic started by: mgriffiths on March 20, 2018, 12:44:44 PM
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Can anyone provide any more detail about this new float that is being tested...
Here's the reference from the recent Straight away news..
"Last year Ed Fenn came up with an idea to build a large float to smooth the deteriorating salt flats instead of using the conventional drag. Under the auspices and scrutiny of the BNI board of directors this 3500 lb. float is being built and will be tried when the salt conditions are just right. This one inch plate 8 foot by 12 foot will have a round nose and will be used to flatten the salt-mud flats. "
Thanks, Mike (2718)
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Not much more to know than what's been written.
Call Ed Fenn at his shop as he is the one building it. 760-927-6099
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IMHO I think it should be out there ASAP to test in all conditions and applications.
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I agree with Brian. The salt is different today than 10 years ago, we should try something else. If we go early and TRY it if it works we can have more made....
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Idle curiosity here -- I'm not trying to stir up anything, k?
What's the float going to do to the surface that's different from the (new) wheel packer that was rolled out ( :roll: ) a year or two ago? Said packer did some good, I believe I heard. How's the float (flat heavy thing like a plate of metal with maybe a rounded nose so it "floats" over the surface vs. digging in) all that different from the wheeled thing?
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A float will move it around some where a roller won't. It seems like a logical tool to me so we'll see how it works, at least somebody's trying something!
After all the poking, prodding & eyeballing I've done out there I've found the golf ball dimples are actually in the dirt & probably created by the salt water sloshing around as it dries up & then it fills the dimple with salt when it dries. There can be up to an inch of salt in the middle of them but basically nothing on the edges so you can imagine what a drag does to it.
Sid.
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Somebody needs to come up with a huge "Salt Zamboni".
Doug :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
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A really big power trowel would likely make an improvement but it would need to dress the dirt before the salt settled on it. The engineering & logistics of something like that is way out there.
Thanks to the BLM we basically have a bucket of muddy water & we're hoping somebody can make beer out of it. :dhorse:
Sid.
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A really big power trowel would likely make an improvement but it would need to dress the dirt before the salt settled on it. The engineering & logistics of something like that is way out there.
Thanks to the BLM we basically have a bucket of muddy water & we're hoping somebody can make beer out of it. :dhorse:
Sid.
Sounds particularly unappetizing . . . . . . .
:dhorse:
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I'm not getting a real good mental image of this. Is it anything like a land plane used in farming to eliminate high or low spots?
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No.
Sid.
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I'm not getting a real good mental image of this. Is it anything like a land plane used in farming to eliminate high or low spots?
I get a picture like a toboggan only 8ft wide and 12ft long, front rounded up, but not as high and no sides.
Hey..they could even put water barrels on it if needed for weight.
Glad something is being tried, great idea :cheers:
JL222
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....Park a small truck on it
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sounds like a tractor pull sled ;)
Be a bit of trial and error to find enough weight to do whats needed and not too much that the tow vehicle leaves grooves
but like the concept
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Just an observation. Last year the salt seemed exceptionally wet. The hot mid day sun only wicked more water to the surface. I think the float is certainly worth a try. To me, it seems like the ground water level is too high. You could literally dig a small hole with your heel and come back 15 minutes later and it would be filling with water. Last summer the weather was hot and dry for months before Speedweek. I'm not sure what goes on with the pumping for salt restoration purposes, but why not stop pumping sooner and get the ground water level further beneath the surface and give it more drying time.
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The pumping is done by Intrepid (the mining company) at the appropriate time for them to remove as much salt as possible from Bonneville to their settling ponds. With the depletion continuing, how can anybody still think it is a restoration process? :dhorse:
Sid.
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The pumping is done by Intrepid (the mining company) at the appropriate time for them to remove as much salt as possible from Bonneville to their settling ponds. With the depletion continuing, how can anybody still think it is a restoration process? :dhorse:
Sid.
A lot of this has to do with the level of the water table. Lat year it was exceptionally high as indicated by the great salt lake in salt lake city. Its all one water table.
I think the float will be way better than the drag but there are even better options out there requiring way less hp and way less time consumption. The float is simple and should be tried by all means. I'm just saying that if it does not work, there are other options.
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An asphalt lay down machine :-D
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Someone suggested dragging chain link fence as they do for baseball diamonds.
Chainlike first followed by steel float? Chain link could drag salt off hard spots and float could smooth.
JL222
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Its all about the timing from when Bonneville turns from the lake to the dry (sorta) racing surface.
You get high dry ridges with wet shallow valleys, From what I was told, last year the high ridges dried and late rain washed the lower wet back into the mud, washboard.
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Was the new float used last year? If so, it must have worked.
Rob Freyvogel
#496
AA/BFS
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The exceptionally smooth surface last year was due to the unusual spring weather conditions that "didn't" create the usual divots in the thin crust.
Sid.
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Thanks Sid!!!
Rob Freyvogel
#496
AA/BFS