Shale Searcher

Yea, nowt said. Poor from Sky in my opinion......

Some light rain heading in to Swindon from the south west, looks very light on high res radar, and its about 20 to 30 mins away....

Bit condescending towards Leicester? I know we are struggling, but no need to be so "throw-away" about us...

PVA glue is water resistant when it has gone off.. If you then apply water and agitation, such as brushing, scarifying it rightly dissolves.. My point being, if it can stop the ingress of only 30% of rain during a day, then it might be enough to save a speedway meeting.. We need to try and find something that works if covers are to expensive/cumbersome/Labour intensive to be a workable solution.. Can anyone think of anything else that could be applied by spraying, that won't kill any seals, Dolphins, Ants, Newts and Worms?

Why bring it into the open at all then... Where has this £9,000 expenses wanted to ride SWC come from, and what is the race suit issue? If it was different I didn't notice it!!!! I may need to visit Specsavers if that's the case !!!!

****************||******************* Brief passage from cricket groundsman.. he ECB's playing regulations for the 2006 season include provision for the use of "Surface Stabilisation Agents" on one-day pitches, in an attempt to produce more durable surfaces. "The PVA glue binds and seals the surface," says Alan Fordham, the ECB's first-class cricket operations manager. "Glue pitches were a hot topic at a recent groundsmen's conference and a number of groundsmen have shown interest in conducting their own trials. The aim is to try to produce a pitch that remains the same for both sides and does not deteriorate." The glue, which is readily available at DIY stores, is sprayed on to the entire pitch in quantities of between five and 10 litres per 15 litres of water. The surface dries hard within two hours, giving the wicket a glaze and turning it grey. So, you wouldn't use that sort of ratio...!! I will discuss with someone to see if it's viable to test..

See what you did there with a Low Pressure alternative description!!! 😉

Once the rain has stopped, you would them lightly wonder wheel the surface.. I am confident the small amount of PVA glue involved wouldn't make the track more grippy than without the PVA being there... You are tyre packing until just before you would stop, then applying a really fine mist of PVA onto the outer surface of the track, I done mean flooding it with PVA, or even a paintbrush thick layer, just enough to keep 25%/40% of the rain out the shale and down the drains... Does anyone know if this sort of idea has EVER been tried?

Has this ever been tried? PVA glue may not be the answer, but there must be something? You add it to a crop sprayer and spray the race surface during the final tyre packing stage.... Got be worth a try or two, even if the PVA doesn't work, something must??

Covers would have saved this meeting, ok, I know the rhetoric over covers, so perhaps a different solution... If, only 25% to 40% of the rain could have been prevented from being absorbed by the track, it would also have gone ahead... Surely, and i've mentioned this before to no avail, perhaps there's something that could be added to the shale when tyre packing to prevent water ingress.... Perhaps something similar to what gets sprayed on cricket wickets (when they mention its a glued pitch) Something like PVA glue, or something that helps seal the track surface.. Anyone have any thoughts/alternative methods to waterproof the racing surface (obviously, it has to be environmentally safe)?

Yea, didn't really want to buy it again..... But if I have to, I will.. Yes it's a really enjoyable film, hadn't watched it for a couple or three years, and just fancied it again yesterday!!!

Hi folks, I went to watch DVD of "Once A Jolly Swagman" yesterday, and the disc has somehow got corrupted and won't play .. 😭 Does anyone on here have the DVD that would be prepared to make a copy for me? I have put it through a really good DVD cleaner but to no avail.😭 Cheers Shale Searcher...

Ok, how do we make sure that no team builds to a much higher standard than the other teams in the division? I know that to much rider control is bad for the sport, and we can't afford to water the league down any further than it already is, but there has to be a way to ensure a fairer spread of at least team number 1's...

Agree.... I was under the impression, that once the referee arrives at the track, he/she takes over control of the track, in which case he/she would have made an inspection of the air fence/mesh fence on straights, and kickboards, kerb, and walked on the track.. So surely, the referee has to take some, if not all responsibility of the meeting going ahead or not?

********weather watch************ Although it's not on the met office forecast yet for Swindon, there is a chance of one or two heavy showers tomorrow afternoon/evening triggered by the warm(er) temperatures... They shouldn't be heavy enough to effect the meeting going ahead or not, but if you've had some heavy rain overnight, it will need some track work tomorrow to hoik away any laying water.....

I bet none of them are against Leicester!!!!

Blimey!! Can't even get through the first page of a new thread and the insults are flying... Tip.. Never advise a potential newbie to have a gander on the BSF to find out a bit more about how speedway works! They'd run a mile!!!

Think Weatherwatcher perhaps ought to modify the thread title, and admit to not reading the website thoroughly before steaming in with his posting.. Just a thought WW....

Yes, whisperer, I know, I was just trying to visualise race insurance and possibly why EL is more expensive than PL.... PL rider is Panda EL rider is Jaguar

Yes, you assume correctly.. And yes your are right about clubs not keeping its fans updated with info.. There's so much in speedway that is out of control, some you can take control of, and should.. Inc keeping supporters updated with team news, mind you, with the reactions you get on here, perhaps they can't risk losing 50+ to a meeting because their star rider is in some other way occupied abroad, and their best "7 rides, rider" is performing in a meeting a division or two lower down the leagues!!!

I can't answer that one, the days of the referee having the final say seem long gone.. Leicester didn't help the cause, none of them had changed, and that sends out the wrong message... Also, every man and his dog had been out onto the track on turn 2 (pits entrance/exit) and had kicked, heeled, scraped, stubbed their feet all over, and that made it look far worse than it was... In the old days, pit gates were shut, with signs up saying "Riders Please Keep Off The Track" until the pit gates were opened by the clerk of the course.. There are riders that just don't like riding on wet tracks, and its worse now than at any time I can recall, and the Elite League is far worse than the Premier League.. When you have adequate drainage, decent banking and clay to shale bias, if you pack it down with tyres, whilst it's damp, it forms a almost a skin, which will allow a lot of the falling rain to make it down hill to the drains. However, once the surface is disturbed, it will leech water down through the track. If rain is forecast, you need to moisten the surface, and tyre pack and tyre pack and tyre pack, then get off the track, and leave it well alone until the ref wants to look at it.. And most of all, keep the "track kickers" off until official pre meeting track walk..

When the call off decision was made on Friday Morning, the forecast for the remainder of Friday, and Saturday was really not very good.... However, I am staunchly against calling meetings off the day before, based on a weather forecast, for exactly how Saturday turned out!! Had it not been called off Friday, there is absolutely no doubt that the track would have been nigh-on perfect for the race meeting.. No rain at all, of any consequence fell race day, against a forecast of heavy rain during the morning, very windy, with then heavy blustery showers for Saturday afternoon and early evening.. You really can't win at this game, damned if you don't, damned if you do!!! This season has seen some horrendous speedwayless gaps, no wonder the sport loses supporters, they will and do find other things to do, and get out of the habit of going.....

A 2L Jaguar is more expensive to insure than a 1L Fiat Panda

Doesn't anyone have any information on this? Surely someone "in the know" must have an idea on Gerhard servicing and costs so far.... Compared to a GM. Also, has anyone "blown" a Gerhard engine up yet? You know, a real crankcase smasher....?

A friend was on one of the JAPS, and basically the track hadn't been tyre packed sufficiently to keep the rain out the shale, to allow the majority of it to "run-off" down the banking to the drains.....