Cattle trucks - oh shit!

[The Wop]

I was following a cattle truck a few days ago coming out of the meat works on GT South Road near Otahuhu. As I was riding behind him, I got to thinking about what they do with all the "effluent" that the cattle must produce while in their metal moving cages.

Now admittedly I was probably following a little too closely and it was then that I found out what happens to all the shit. There is a pipe pretty low down on the rear of the truck and the next minute, a ripe-smelling concoction came spewing out of said pipe!

Luckly I only got a little on the bottom of the big scoot. If the pipe had been any higher, I might have needed a hose-down!!

[vifferman]

Bad luck, Dude!
Many of them have to have an effluent tank on many roads, but that doesn't really stop some effluvium escaping. Even the smell is bad enough - I've noticed three times in the last week a crappy smell when I've turned onto the motorway, which turned out to be a stock truck a kilometre or so ahead, evil vapours wafting along in its wake.
Worse still, part of my morning communt is along the path rubbish trucks take to the waste transfer station. If I happen to go along the road any time after one laden with something rotten has been along there, the road spooge is invariably tainted with putrescene and cadaverine. :sick:
Opening the helmet vents just fills the helmet with fumes that much quicker, and you can only hold your breath for too short a time...

[Ixion]

I was following a cattle truck


Well, that was your mistake right there. Don't do it.

[The Wop]

Well, that was your mistake right there. Don't do it.

I've learned my lesson!

[Motu]

Coming out of the meat works with a full load? Do they make cows there now? Or was it an empty truck? Maybe just washed out with a hose.

[Blackshear]

I've had the bikes ass almost quit on me going around a corner with a giant puddle of cow shit sitting there, I could see the headlines before I died.

"Boy slips on cow shit, now he's six feet in it."

At least most of them have the effluent pointing OVER the road as opposed to on it.

[MIXONE]

Welcome to the world of real biking.You get to experience everything in the glorious first person.You can't really appreciate the smell of fresh mown grass as you pass by some poor guy mowing his lawns on a hot sunny Sunday until you recieved a face full of of "cattle truck" on a wet winters day.

[slofox]

Har!

Now in MYYYYYYY day, (:whistle:) there were no effluent holding tanks on cattle trucks (its true - there weren't) - all the spooge flew out all over the road and everything on it...It was also in the days before full face helmets...yerrr you can guess the rest...riding through Maungaturoto one day, came up behind the cattle truck...over to your imagination....

[lb99]

I followed a cattle truck up the picton elevation recently, (was dirving a truck) there was litierally a wave of shit coming over the back, must have been from 4 hours on the ferry. thank god I wasn't on the bike.

the worst thing in the world would be followin em in the pissing rain

[ynot slow]

Being from the Naki,this time of the year is smell time,with calving comes casualties(dead cows)they get picked up if required,usually within 24-48hours of call,so the thing is never get behind a by-products truck.They also pick up from the freezing works,although that doesn't smell as bad as dead stock on a hot day.

My ex inlaws lived down the road from the by-products factory,20 years ago the air polution wasn't as stringent,many a time milking and wind in wrong direction,was smelly as.

The trucks can only hold so much effluent,the cockies are meant to take the stock off feed 24 hours prior to trucking so they should be empty boarding the truck.

Had a lady one day abuse me at a servo for not pulling over to let her pass.Was driving horse to stud in a 5 tonne truck,I explained I did pull over when safe to do so,you never passed,did it again 2km further up the road.I said it isn't safe to pull off the road due to banking of roadside verges,the horse gets unstable and can tip(was bullshit but she drove a remuera tractor).After letting her rant about not giving a whole lane width to pass,she went to her Isuzu bighorn,in between time I heard a trickle from the truck,underneath was quite a long river of piss,(horse hadn't peed since Hawera and we were at Te Rapa area)she walked through the horse piss,then realised it,and went spastic.I nonchalently grabbed the hose from truck,connected it to tap and sloshed water to clean up,managed to miss her with water.The best part,when she took off in a huff she smacked into a car,was mufti car hehe.

[ready4whatever]

Welcome to the world of real biking.You get to experience everything in the glorious first person.

Yeah every day I ride I come across all sorts of things on my journey. I see riding the bike as a mission. with the car its just another drive

[PrincessBandit]

I remember following one in the car once and when I got home I couldn't work out why it smelt like something had crawled up the front of my car, died, and was halfway through decomposing.

I looked for ages and ages, never giving the stock truck a second thought as I'd not seen anything "issuing forth" from it. It took my son to spot all the tiny shit spots (which added up to a horrendous stink) up under my front bumper.

As a result I never follow them closely on the bike!

just as an aside, I remember as a kid seeing Dad get a face full of a cow tail flick, complete with hu-flung-dung, while driving through a cattle drive with his window down......eeewwwww he was not happy. Neither was mum! 'Orrible little kids that we were, we thought it was hilarious.

[TomJ]

my local bike shop has warned customers about crap all over the Kaimai road. They had 2 bikes in the workshop well scratched from accidents due to stock effluent on the road

[Bounce001]

Can go one worse than following a stock truck. Was following a car and trailer carrying portaloos one day on the bike. Overtook pretty quickly after the car hit the first bump in the road and I realised the portaloos were obviously still full! Yes shit does splatter!

[junkmanjoe]

by law cattle or sheep truck are not allowed to discharge animal wast on to the road, while traveling.
all stock trucks are to have a collection chamber under the truck or trailer to collect shit..

with my experience, said truck would have just washed out if was empty.

you will find from time to time, some loaded stock trucks traveling up hill slowly, will discharge the storage tank along the grass on side of road.. not ment to but some do..

so moral of story don't follow so close next time.

JMJ

[Mom]

Har!

Now in MYYYYYYY day, (:whistle:) there were no effluent holding tanks on cattle trucks (its true - there weren't) - all the spooge flew out all over the road and everything on it...It was also in the days before full face helmets...yerrr you can guess the rest...riding through Maungaturoto one day, came up behind the cattle truck...over to your imagination....

Now that brings back memories :yes: I used to commute the Dome Valley 2 up on a trailly, complete with open face helmet and goggles with face mask attached. It has always been about the style for me you know. Filthy friggen stock truck grinding up the hill (this was before all the new improvements in there to save lives understand, it was a bit of a goat track) wet roads and copious amounts of shit streaming out of the truck. I had to ride in all this green misty rain shit for a while, till I could get passed.

I just knew it was not going to be pretty and had to actually hold my mouth closed, foul, smelly, and somehow gritty feeling on my lips. Got to work, I smelled like a cattle truck, the bike was green and my Line 7 zoot suit was green and yuk! Took my gears off and looked in the mirror, I had a green line on my forehead where there was a gap between goggles and helmet, and my cheeks had fine horizontal lines where this filth had got in between the gaps in the mask. Such a pretty look for someone that works in a bank I tells ya :lol:

I can not tell you how many letters I have written over the years about this disgusting practise, there is actually a law now that prevents trucks from dropping effluent on the roads, has not made a blind bit of difference!

[ynot slow]

The law is there,but the effluent tanks hold maybe 400ltrs.If stock were empty before travelling that would help,not many are,and as stated tanks are fixed,gravity works uphill and overflows.When the mass exodus of cows to Southland from Taranaki 10 years ago,I knew a guy whose uncle sent his stock down,they were left in loading race off cowshed,first load were left on concrete pad as required.Truckie said,be back in 7 hours for next lot from ferry.Was supposed to be taken a load each day,ended up the driver did a return trip every 7 hours from leaving to pickup.He managed two return trips within his driving hours.

[Elysium]

Worse then following stock truck is following a truck carrying bee hives. Happened to me on my South Island trip in Feb and my bike had honey all over the front of the bike, let alone the bees stuck in the radiator.

[Forest]

If I was being taken to the 'works' then I'd probably be crapping my pants as well.