Stuff you see on Turkish highways

Driving down the highway in other countries can be truly eye opening.  FWIW, David Bradley, DR products, Troy built, and Gravely among others made similar power units, but trust the Turks and /or Chinese to hook up a trailer and make them into a family driver and freight hauler.......I snapped a quick picture of a new one outside a farm supply store. It is a small unit, but still has the bench seat in front and the footrests.... How would you like to get stuck behind one of those on a windy, hilly, mountain road? Oh, and FWIW, it has a 10 HP diesel power plant with electric start. A classy unit, not all the small diesels around have electric start....

 

According to the store manager this unit is 2250 NTL (or about 1250 CAD) complete with trailer.  As can be seen from these pics they do have the option of RWD via a propshaft through the articulating joint.  The articulating joint would be fairly easy to duplicate...

Did anyone catch the foot pedal for the rear brake?

Food for thought.  At this rate, I’ll have enough project ideas to keep me busy well into retirement...

Some of the things we see I’m not sure should be duplicated though..........

I'm going to try to remember my camera more. There's more stuff that is a bit startling, but defies description....

I guess you can only use a wand wash car wash for these... or get a good rain coat. They're a little short on creature comforts. They appear to be stripped down pick up frames with small single cylinder diesels of +/- 15 HP like an auger motor. Not at all unusual to see them toodling down the shoulder of the 4 lane freeway flat out at a grand total of 15 MPH stuffed to overflowing with firewood, field workers, families, or produce bound for the big city....

Some sport obviously homemade cabs while other are open station, fresh air machines.

Another difference. There are very few true flat beds around. Most trailers or open cargo areas have fold-down sides. Typically, the cargo is not chained down in any way. Just set it in the box and away they go...

'Course in North America, most people don't consider the Ag tractor a primary means of transportation. In other parts of the world, like Turkey, it is not uncommon to see a tractor and wagon making deliveries in the city, parked in front of the Chai house, or toodling down the highway with a wagon behind it. I counted 5 tractors on the streets of the little village I went to for groceries the other day. The trailers are a bit different too. These are pintle hitch trailers with hoists

Does the tarped load remind anyone else of an ant with a bread crumb?  Such loads are not uncommon.  The locals use a lot of wood for heat. The harvested firewood is cut into 1 m lengths in the woodlot and drypiled there. It is loaded onto trucks (body jobs or semis) and hand stacked to equally dizzying heights using other sticks for supports. Not real safe because if anything slips, it could spill 6" butt lengths of log a meter long onto the 4 lane or street from 4 or 5 meters up in the air.....

FWIW, I think this is a load of small square straw bales..... 

And let’s not forget the ubiquitous military presence. I was told 20% of Turkey is secure military area and has a military force in the top 5 for size in NATO. In fact, our exploration licence includes a live fire range. The guns can clearly be heard several kilometers away. There are several active miltary bases around. It is a little disconcerting to drive through the town past a guard post topped with 3 tier of sand bags and see a uniformed soldier with a rifle staring back from under his helmet. There is a lot of military traffic between bases.  It's even more disconcerting to round a bend on a back road and meet a convoy of 2 jeeps, a tandem troop carrier truck, and 5 - count 'em 5 tanks rumbling down the middle of the road.....