Both legal and bio-mechanical
engineering advice was sought which recommended the discontinuance of the use of
wooden and wooden shafted sulkies. Correspondence was forwarded to all Council
Members and relevant Trainer and Driver Industry bodies as a consequence in
April 2002 and subsequently.
3. “Work” Sulkies
Drivers and Trainers when using
wooden and/or wooden shafted sulkies as “Work” Sulkies are advised to
exercise due care and judgement particularly when considering “fast work” in
association with other trainers and/or drivers. It is suggested that trainers
and drivers ensure that regular inspections together with proper care and
maintenance by either the sulky’s manufacturer and/or an industry acknowledged
sulky repairer are regularly undertaken on existing wooden and wooden shafted
sulkies.
4. Drivers Legal Liability Insurance Claims
Advice has now been received from
Liberty International Underwriters that they will exclude any insurance claims
arising from the use of wooden and wooden shafted sulkies by harness racing
drivers in races or official trials.
5.
Council after the Chief Executives and Chairmen of Stewards Meetings
recently held reaffirmed the above decision.
6.
The Chairmen of Stewards requested that the Current Sulky Standard as it
pertains to Metal Sulkies be reviewed and
the inspection procedures be developed
as part of this Review.
7. Technical
advice indicates and Council recommends to Sulky Manufacturers and/or Sulky
Repairers that the following
material be used in shafts:-
a.
38.1
Outside Diameter x 0.9mm wall thickness, hard drawn to minimum 950 Mpa yield. In
the case of this
material, it can be either Type 301 or 304, or
b.
38.1
Outside Diameter x 1.2mm or greater wall thickness “as welded” T304
Stainless Steel tube.
Note: It is recommended that annealed
stainless steel not be used in a shaft application.
8. Following
Council’s decision to discontinue the use of Wooden and Wooden Shafted Sulkies
as from 1st September 2002 there has been a number of enquiries to
State Controlling Bodies. Leading Australian Sulky Manufacturer Jim Walsh, A.S.T.C,
Managing Director R.J. Walsh & Son Pty Ltd has provided a detailed statement.
The firm’s statement is printed in full for the information of industry
participants:
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Regal
Sulkies
My company R.J. Walsh & Son Pty Limited does not recommend replacing
wooden shafts with tubular stainless steel shafts in existing wooden shafted
sulkies for the following reasons:
a. The
ride quality of a sulky is primarily determined by the spring in the shafts and
back bend. Wooden shafts are twice as springy or flexible as tubular stainless
shafts of the same outside diameter, therefore, if the metal shafts are
substituted for wooden shafts, they will flex very much less when the vehicle
hits a bump, and the ride will be very much harsher. Sports medicine specialists
have written that most trainers and drivers already have some back injuries, and
I believe it would be folly for a manufacturer to knowingly expose them to more
by supplying metal shafts as replacements for wood shafts on existing vehicles.
New stainless steel shafted sulkies are balanced to flex like timber shafts and
thus give an acceptable ride, but in most cases the old wood shafted sulkies
cannot be successfully rebalanced to give an acceptable ride when fitted with
metal shafts.
b. The
tubular steel back bend of most wood shafted sulkies has a wall thickness of
1.6mm, whereas nearly all metal shafted sulkies have back bends with a wall
thickness of 1.2mm, meaning that shafts made for all metal sulkies simply will
not fit the back bends of wood shafted sulkies.
The call for metal shafts reduced to suit 1.6mm thick back bends has declined
in recent years to practically zero, so that when my company’s carbide matrix
reducing tool broke earlier this year, we decided not to spend approximately
$1,000 on a replacement. So we do not presently have the capacity to make steel
shafts capable of fitting the back bends of the great majority of wood shafted
sulkies.
c. If
the above difficulties could be overcome, a suitable metal shaft installation
would also require a new cross bar and matching footrests. The total cost of
shafts, cross bar, footrests and fasteners would be approximately $830. I
believe few, if any, participants seeking to get by with replacing their old
wood shafts with stainless steel shafts, would be prepared to spend that much.
Far more likely is it that they would try and use their old cross bar and
footrests, and in so doing drill holes in the top and bottom surfaces of the
shafts. Those holes are very likely to lead to premature failure of the shafts.
d. The
great majority of wood shafted sulkies are 1.17 metres in maximum width. Thus,
even if the shafts were replaced with metal ones, the sulky itself is likely to
be below the minimum required width under current legislation of 1.2 metres, and
be banned from use on that account alone. It would be possible to replace the
back bend and undercarriage to get over this problem, but by then the cost of
the conversion would be about $1,450, and you would still NOT have a sulky
anywhere near as satisfactory as a new one which costs $1,625.
For the reasons outlined above, I am not aware of any satisfactory method of
replacing wooden shafts with stainless steel shafts in existing wooden shafted
sulkies. Furthermore, there is every reason to believe that the short of
replacements demanded by participants – and most likely to be performed –
may be dangerous as well as uncomfortable. Therefore my company does not offer
stainless steel shaft conversions, and would not do so if asked.
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The recent Chairmen of Stewards Conference advises that industry participants
note this statement. It is important to note the action recommended and stewards
will inspect sulkies and this leading manufacturer’s advice will be taken into
account when and where sulkies are inspected.
Given that the Members of the Australian Harness Racing Council will be running
Council’s own Insurance Fund on behalf of all drivers and trainers licensed in
their jurisdictions this statement above should be considered. Any subsequent
investigation of an accident and claim after 1st September 2002
involving a previous wooden or wooden shafted sulky will be taken into account
in any claim pursued through the Insurance Fund.
Please read the above statements carefully.
Rod Pollock
Chief Executive
AHRC
26th July 2002
