4 ms·

> off-road vehicles with “endless” tires. What are 'endless' tires? Google didn't help.

by Luc 4y ago

mkmk 4y ago
Not entirely sure but I think the point here might be that you need multiple spares, due to all of the punctures you'll get going off-road in this harsh environment.
- ljf 4y ago
  Exactly this - tires can be a bigger impediment to travel than fuel - can be easier to get hold of more fuel in the outback than the tires you need. If you read it with that in mind it makes perfect sense: Although the team knows of ten other carved boabs that, at least at one time, stood sentinel over the red-earthed landscape, they had no way of accessing them during their survey without off-road vehicles with “endless” tires.
jofer 4y ago
The vegetation there (varieties types of spinifex, among other things) tends to have thorns that are much harder and sharper than anything in the US or Europe. Even though modern off-road tires are way way way tougher than they used to be, it still tends to go straight through them. Note: I've never even been there, but my wife spent several years doing field work in the remote outback, so I hear a lot of stories. They carried 4 spare tires, a lot of patches, and typically completely destroyed all 8 in a field season. And they were mostly hiking... The vehicle was just to 1) drive 8 hours from Alice springs to get there, and 2) drive up washes and avoid needing to carry rock samples excessively far.
teh_klev 4y ago
I could be wrong but I think they're rubber tracks: https://patents.google.com/patent/EP1564118A1 https://patents.google.com/patent/EP1564118A1 or something like: http://www.americantracktruck.com/index.php?page=track-system-information http://www.americantracktruck.com/index.php?page=track-syste... https://mattracks.co/ https://mattracks.co/ Could be the article got their terminology a bit mixed up?

4 ms·

> off-road vehicles with “endless” tires. What are 'endless' tires? Google didn't help.

by Luc 4y ago

> off-road vehicles with “endless” tires. What are 'endless' tires? Google didn't help.

mkmk 4y ago
Not entirely sure but I think the point here might be that you need multiple spares, due to all of the punctures you'll get going off-road in this harsh environment.
- ljf 4y ago
  Exactly this - tires can be a bigger impediment to travel than fuel - can be easier to get hold of more fuel in the outback than the tires you need. If you read it with that in mind it makes perfect sense: Although the team knows of ten other carved boabs that, at least at one time, stood sentinel over the red-earthed landscape, they had no way of accessing them during their survey without off-road vehicles with “endless” tires.
jofer 4y ago
The vegetation there (varieties types of spinifex, among other things) tends to have thorns that are much harder and sharper than anything in the US or Europe. Even though modern off-road tires are way way way tougher than they used to be, it still tends to go straight through them. Note: I've never even been there, but my wife spent several years doing field work in the remote outback, so I hear a lot of stories. They carried 4 spare tires, a lot of patches, and typically completely destroyed all 8 in a field season. And they were mostly hiking... The vehicle was just to 1) drive 8 hours from Alice springs to get there, and 2) drive up washes and avoid needing to carry rock samples excessively far.
teh_klev 4y ago
I could be wrong but I think they're rubber tracks: https://patents.google.com/patent/EP1564118A1 https://patents.google.com/patent/EP1564118A1 or something like: http://www.americantracktruck.com/index.php?page=track-system-information http://www.americantracktruck.com/index.php?page=track-syste... https://mattracks.co/ https://mattracks.co/ Could be the article got their terminology a bit mixed up?