the winch bed

I had decided to install the winch in rear and have winch batteries on the cargo bed. There was a heavy hook with air connectors in rear, so first I removed them, plugged air lines and started to sketch winch bed in hooks place.

As a starting point I bought 1m long square tube size 400mmx400mm and with 10mm material thickness.

The idea was to cut the tube open and place the winch inside.

This followed a lot of sparks and metal grinding.

 Here it starts revealing the design

First fitments can be done

And here it is in the bed with some welding done

First trials of installiny the bed to chassis.

I made some  reinforcment lines to keep the tube angles intact. There is also attachment rings below the bed with extra reinforcment lines, which should keep the winch itself in straight form. We'll see how it goes, when the hard pull comes.
Here is the finshed product.

Still to do is to have the wireless remote connected to winch. I'm trying to find a compatible connector, which I could just wire in. Then I could plug the wired or wireless control as I wish. Also the wireless radio could be a bit off from the winch, so it could get a better field if the controller is in cabin.

First Dip

Now that I had the Mog on road, I ordered an electric winch from Finnish winch shop. I waited for it a long time.... Long enough to dip the Mog.

Yep, that does not look bad, but the front is on nothing and rear is on ice. I though I waas driving a hard forestial road, which I had been driving may times. The thing is that I haven't been there in summer, so I did not know that there was a swamp/source in the middle of the road. It was drivable only in winter when it is frozen. Yep and it was a bit frozen, there was about 10cm ice cover and nothing but wet swamp under. I just drove it there, it was a bit warning before it dropped through ice and there it stayed. The bottom shield was against ice and front wheels were like floating in air and rear wheels were on ice without weight on top.
I got a 7 ton Valtra to get it out. And yep it was not stuck at all when we pulled it out. Valtra just draw the Mog against the edges of the dip and I had 4wd on so it raised on the road by itself. But without the pull, there was no way it could have come out there by itself.

So then I decided to get the winch. I canceled the Finnish supplier order after about 5 months of waiting. I contacted Electric Winch shop in UK and after 1 week I had the winch in my home. The choise was a 8ton Talon winch with 27m cable + 30m extra rope + 16 ton pulley. Next thing is to get the winch attached.

The Registration

Now the Mog was at home and I used the Transit plates until the plates expired. After a while I contacted Inspection officer and asked what is the process for registration. I took some pictures of the COC papers and the Mog itself and sent them to officer. THen hw told me that otherwise it should be pretty clear, but there should be a certification of the bed attachment strength, the bed cargo attachment point strength and a bed cabin protection strength.

Oops,so what this will actually mean, ther was no cabin protection on the bed. After digging the issue for some time, it turned out that I can build the cabin protection by myself and get the certificat for bed strengthness from an expert, who will be around during the registration inspection. I first had a session with the expert and he gave me instructions ofthe material to use for the cabin protection and how to build it. So I got the material 40x40mm tub, which I crossed as 5 vertical bars and 3 horizontal bars, welded them together. Finally I welded a metal net over the whole thing, which stops any sharp objects try to intrude the cabin.

No cabin protection here

Tubular protection with metal net

So that was it and then I ordered time for inspection. The officer was almost trying to buy the Mog from me and everything went fine. The plate number was a bit special TZY-999, which came as a bonus on top.

registered

I did not have any collected bonusees fortraffic insurance and the insurance price was a bit high for my taste, so I dicided to keep the Mog as "withdrawn from circulation" as much as possible so I don't have to pay insurance or taxes(tax on motive) for those days. (don't know the exact english translation for these legal terms)

The Mog Shop

The true story of collecting the Unimog from Holland. I'll translate this story here, from the Finnish motorcycle site where I wrote this in finnish. So basically I had the Unimog in my mind, but I was just going to see couple of them live. I was once again riding Africa Twin with camping gear packed behind.

The story starts by a boat trip from Helsinki to Travemunde Germany. On the boat I was in a shared cabin and there was a French guy, who was driving an old MB truck. The truck was a bakery and a shop combined. I heard some interesting stories, because the guy had been a security guard in Roland Garros Tennis yard. He had some pictures where he was posing with Djokovich, Federer, Sharapova etc. He had also couple of photos of a hunting hawk and his master. The hawks are used to keep pidgeons and other small birds away from the field during tournament. One of the behind the scene stories you don't read from newspapers.

From Travemunde I drove straight to Köln area and visited couple of Mog Shops. First one was in Kerkrade Holland and the one they were selling was a nice looking one.It was an ex Bundeswehr military truck. It had been a driving school vehicle with second foot controls in right side. It was model 1987, about 70t kliks in meter and I had a testride with it, not driving myself. The ride was ok and the Mog had tarpaulin covered bed so the plywood in the bed was ok. No rust or signs of abuse,  cabin controls were like new. The guy who introduced the Mog told me that they can arrange transit plates so I can ride it home.

Then I continued in German side and there was a lot more Mogs to choose. The condition range was also big with some good looking individuals to junk looking "spare part collections". When I went asking about the cars and how the deal would be made I learned that it wouldn't be that easy to ride one home. In germany the car must be inspected and I think it should've been also registered. Otherwise it should be transported as cargo. Well, all ex military Mogs are not registered so this was a bit of a problem. This made me thinking if the Holland case was true either, so I just decided to continue my trip south...

Now some bike stuff..., ah yes the bike is HondaAfrica Twin -97 with 350 000 kliks in the meter.
First thing I noticed there was some slack in front wheel bearing and the steering was not precise. I had just crossed border to France and I rode to next bigger village and went asking help in Peugeot car dealer. I told them I'm having technical problem with the bike and if there would be bike dealer or something close by. Straight away one guy jumped in a car and told me to follow him. After couple of minutes I was standing in front of a Honda dealer. But no help there, no bearings in the store nad mechanic was busy. I got navigation instructions to a general moto workshop, so I drove there. No bearings there either, they should order them. Then I tried to explain that the bearings are just standard stuff and in Finland you can find them in any store :). ThenI got instructions to drive couple of technical shops and finally I got the correct bearing and drove back to general moto workshop. After 10 minutes of waiting they took my bike in and changed the bearings. I did not ask the price in advance and was prepared to pay a bit extra for instant service. When I was cashing out, the price for the work was 12€ and bearings cost 10€ .... a very good price for the service. I thanked everyone in the shop with a handshake and continued my trip happy.

It was time to enjoy some landscapes, first to Clermont Ferrand and Puy de Dome. You have to take a train to go on top. 11€ for ticket. There was a bit too much moisture to see the Alps from the distance.

Next stop was Palais Ideal  in Hauterivers close to Vercors.
http://www.facteurcheval.com
Some postman had an idea that you could do something in your life. And he did that.

Combe Laval in Vercors.

Cevennes National Park

After couple of riding days I camped in Pyrenees close to Ax Les Thermes. Some touring in Andorra and checking if there would be good deals for helmet in Motocard. One day passing  Col de Port, Col de Port d'Aspet, Col de Mente, Col de Peyresourde, Col d'Aspin, Col du Tourmalet and finally camping close to Gavarnieta .
Virtual panoramas of  Cirque de Gavarnie and  Cirque de Tromouse , you should be able to rotate pictures if the web browser supports the feature.
After one rainy day I had a hike to the "Gate of Heaven" Breche de Roland.

Little tour on Spanish side in Ordesa National Park and then back to France and Alps.

Mont Ventoux

After mont Ventoux I went once again in Grand Canyon du Verdon and camped in Riez. In the camping I met a French guy who had some experience of Unimogs from Africa. He had been trained in Germany and he said that Mogs are pretty tough pieces. There is a Griffon Vulture population in the Verdon Canyon and they fly pretty close to edge in some places. They are really good spots to have nice photos.

Next ther was riding some Alp passes. First Gorges Daluis, Col de la Bonnette, Valberg and Col de la Cuillol. Sitten Col de Vars Camping was in Chateau Queyras. Next day first Izoard and here is Col du Calibier from a bit different angle.

Col d'Iseran

Camping in La Rosiere at 1800m alitude. One cloudy riding day visiting Courchevel and Val Thorens.

Once again some passes, first Petit Bernard to Aosta Italy, then gran Bernardo to Switcherland and straight to Chamonix France. It was raining so I continued riding north until it stopped raining.

I continued north until I was in Alsace and found camping in Kruth. In close range htere is Ballon d'Alsace , Grand Ballon and le Markstein one long day of riding around. Swiss Alps were visible fro mthe top of Ballon Alsace

 This was a point where I should make some decision if I'll get the Unimog. Thinking about it I drove more north and had a camp in the last place where I could turn to holland. I called to Holland andasked if it really is possible to ride the Mog back home. They ensured that it is ok, they can make transit plates and I can ride 2 weeks insode EU. I tried to ask if there is any air in the price, but no the Price they offered earlier was the final price. So I agreed that I'll visit the first visiting place in Holland again and we'll see if we'll make the deal.

So I drove close to Kerkrade and had a camping close by. Then I went to the Mog Shop, which was the Swinkels-Trucks in Kerkrade. The same Mog I had the testride was still there, waiting for me.

I guess the sales guy knew that the deal was already done. So basically I though that if I won't buy this one I propably won't buy any other Mog later, or I won't find any significantly better deal. One thing I asked as a favour is that they help me to load the bike on the bed. No problem, so it was a deal. We agreed that I'll pay with bank transfer using internet. It takes one or two working days to go through, so I chilled out in camping one day. Actually I got sime straps to secure the bike and some drink and food for the ride.
Finally they saw the payment in their bank account and they made the transit plates  and insured the vehicle. Then they checked lights and oops, the front left signal light did not work. It took two hours before we noticed that the wires to signal light were switched over and the power wire was grounded. The switch was happened when the cabin had been painted.
We lifted the bike with another trucks back lift and we pushed the bike on the Mogs bed and strapped it in. I had to remove mirrors and the windshield to get it fit in. They bolted the number plates on and I was ready to go. It wa about 30 years I had driven a truck last time and it was in driving school final test.

I decided to try driving at Travemunde forthe eveniong, since they take passengers in until midnight. So even though I was a bit late in schedule there was a change to getin the ferry in the evening. So first to fill up and 140 litres of diesel in. Then I drove to highway and a non-stop700km daytrip started with totally strange truck in German Autobahn. Many things could go wrong, but nothing happened, it was just a long drive north. Only diturbance was that I planned to drive A1 road as much as possible, but the Rhein Brucke was closed over 3.5t vehicles, so I changed the route plan on fly checking alternative route from the map. There was maybe 50km more distance to cover, but otherwise that also went ok. Some rain came and I learned the multifunction controls on the fly. One more fill up just before Travemunde.

I tried to go to the passengers lane, but they turned me around and told I have to go  through cargo ports and I have to buy the ticket in port office. I went to office and ok it was a new situation to port office also. I had a non registered vehicle, which was 5t truck basically for transporting cargo. Luckily there was no que, because it took some time to get the tickets, but finally I got them.

Travemunde port with Transit plates

When I got onboard I had a private cabin, I guess it is standard for pro drivers. All meals were included in the ticket so I was good.

In the Helsinki port I was a bit worried if the car will start, but there wa no problems, the Mog was willing to continue the trip.

In the port I visited customs to check if I have to have some paperwork to import a vehicle. After checking the custom officer told me that I can continue without any paperwork, since there is no import or other taxes on trucks. Also I could basically have the registration inspection straight away in the port area, but I decided to use the transit plate insurance until end.

So the port was left behind and one more 600km ride to home.

Mog has a new home now

Next thing is registration.

The Mogger

Couple of words about me. I'm a biker and this brings the rule number one for the Mog : It must be able to carry a bike.

Introduction of me in the nomadic tour / the nomad, there is a translator in the page. So basically I have more than 700 000 kliks in meter now with bikes, so I would say it is serious.

Travelling so far has been with bike only and  mostly camping. I've propably lived in tent for a total of about 3 years. Some tavelling highlights can be found here in my "local guides" page. There is about 400 photos at the moment with the position tag. If you scroll downthe page, the  tags appear on the map and photos appear on the left panel.
My Local Guides Photos

The Expedition Camper would bring a bit more freedom. The camp could be anywhere eg. in desert conditions for a week or so. Light weight bike is then perfect to explore surroundings.
Unimog gives a bit more access in difficult terrain as it can ford more than a meter deep water and it is easier to handle in soft sand. Not too soft though...

Tough terrain I've found in Iceland fording rivers and soft sand dynes in Tunis and Morocco.

Tunis

Morocco

Iceland

WTF is this ?

I think the idea was born back at 1997. I had my first visit to Iceland and there was some expedition trucks onboard as there always is. The very first sight I recall is of a white Unimog U1300L Ambulance rolling in Seydisfjordur. It had German registration and it was full of enduro bikes and bikers.

I also remember when leaving Iceland first time I though that I'll propably never come back here again. When I was leaving it second time I though ok this propably was not the last time I'll be there.

Now looking forward at the visit number 5, I have seen quite a few off-road capable vehicles. Most of them in Iceland and here you can see some samples of them.

Highland Trucks

Expensive

Highland Bus

Highland Bus

CZ version

Highland Truck

ReBuilt

Holiday appartment

Money talks

This looks interesting

Budget luxyry

Highland Truck

4x4 MAN

U1300L Unimog ambulance

8x8 MAN

Highland Trucks

Looks expensive. During the nomadic tour I met couple of truck drivers in Turkey. They were on the way to far east, Mongolia etc. I learned that if you buy a used truck and build it yourself, it can be affordable or at least there is some control how much the vehicle will cost. So this made me thinking...

Then a lot of browsing in mobile.de and other European car selling sites. There is a lot of used military Unimogs in Germany, Belgium and Holland. The price range was quite big. There is brand new ready built Unimog expedition vehicles for 200 0000€ downto basic used military models for 8000€. At 2015 I checked couple of places to visit during holiday trip and see couple of trucks with my own eyes....