How do you use your Haflinger?

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heinkeljb
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How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by heinkeljb »

I am curious as to how and why people have Haflingers.

Do they use them for work or are they purely to take to shows? Do they drive them to the Treffens or just put them on a trailer / other transport?

Do they even drive down to the local shops?

Why own one? Just because they want to relive fond memories of one from their childhood? Had the use of one for work?

Me? I saw one at a microcar rally in the 1980's and just thought "I want one of those!" Well, it has taken a long time to get to the point where I have been able to say - I now own one.
Unfortunately, it has lost a bit of its shine due the fact I am having to spend time and money dealing with god knows how many years of neglect. At present I am having to rebuild the front hub from the ground up so to speak.... It also looks like it is going to have to spend more time on the ordinary road than driving down muddy tracks unless I take it to the various "pay and play" places. We seem to have very few green lanes round where I live that actually allow you drive any other than a horse and cart down.

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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Julian B
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by Julian B »

I am fortunate to have a couple of small areas of land (~45 acres & ~80 acres) on which to use mine, and the smaller plot has some very steep ground.

I get the impression that many of the Halfingers in "mainland" Europe are better restored & looked after than they are in the UK, and spend more of their time on roads / at shows. But in the UK many seem to use them off road & enjoy getting them muddy - if not stuck! :D

Sadly true Green Lanes are getting fewer and fewer :cry:
Julian B
W Sussex, UK

| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
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AustHaflinger
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by AustHaflinger »

I am a 4wder and all of my vehicles (except one) are 4wd. I have always one and one came up I snapped it up. I have National Parks and State Forests about 20km west of home that cover about 6000 sq km that are open to 4wds so I am looking to use my Haffie there. Also if I go away further a field I can take it on the back of my 4wd or tow it on a trailer so will also be useful for exploring.

At home I have been putting the miles up on my car doing the shopping and going back and forwards to Maccas (MacDonalds) for my morning cup of coffee so the Haffie will be good for that.

While I certainly accept people have different ideas on how they want to use their vehicles - I am not into concourse and such things and when I do show my vehicles it is warts, dirt and all. So for me - the Haffie will be an offroad vehicle.

Cheers

Garry
Haflinger 700AP (73)
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Rick K
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by Rick K »

I'm lucky to only work 10 minutes from home, so I will sometimes drive my Pathfinder haffie to work and back. Although I can only get it to 80 km/h, it keeps up with Sydney traffic very well. It's certainly a head-turner, and I quite like that. It also gives me a feeling of how life was once before the nanny state. Recently I had a chap jump out at a set of traffic lights and run towards me. No, it wasn't road rage- the over excited bloke used to own a haffy and had to come and tell me.

My Australian army haffy has had only limited use thus far, it had its debut at the Corowa Military Vehicle 'swim-in' last March ( where in the past up to 4 haffies can attend). I also use her on fire trails and bush motorbike tracks behind the Wedderburn airfield. She and 2 others live in a Hangar there.

I tend to consider these as veteran vehicles, and so I don't want to abuse or stress them at all. I guess I'm more of a collector/ enthusiast, and preservation is more important to me.

Thanks Julian!

Rick
1963 Haflinger 700APTL (ex- Hydro Tasmania)
several Puch scooters[/size]
pathfinder700ap
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by pathfinder700ap »

I would say that in Austria, you have very few chances to take the Haflinger off-road, especially if you don't live in the countryside. The best thing would be to own some land with woods and other interesting off-road possibilities, where you can play whenever you want. Or maybe know someone who owns land and who lets you play. There used to be a very good annual event over here where someone from the countryside asked in his neighborhood for permission to do some off-roading in the woods - it was great! We went on old, abandoned, narrow and steep tracks in the woods, through small riverbeds etc... I believe this is just what the Haflinger was built for and what I would call "elegant" off-roading.

On the larger treffens over here, you usually have the possibility to go off-roading in gravel quarries or coal mining areas, which is also fun, but cannot really keep up with the Austrian woodland.

In summer I use the Haflinger to drive around in town, but also not as a daily driver. In winter, the Hafs stay in the garage since the roads are salty.

Best Regards,
Constantin
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AustHaflinger
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by AustHaflinger »

Rick K wrote:My Australian army haffy has had only limited use thus far, it had its debut at the Corowa Military Vehicle 'swim-in' last March ( where in the past up to 4 haffies can attend).
Here is a pic of those that went in 2011. I went down last year but only for the morning of the final day. I doubt I will be going this year.

Image

Garry
Haflinger 700AP (73)
Range Rover Sport TDV6 (07)
Landrover FC 101 (77)
Landrover Series 1 SWB Station Wagon (57)
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heinkeljb
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by heinkeljb »

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos but over the weekend Lurch had to earn his keep:

I took a friend of mine for a drive on the nearest bit of "green Lane" - basically unmade up road where powered vehicles are allowed to drive. Took about a three quarters of an hour to drive along it. Couple of patches would have prevented a ordinary car from getting through, but for the most part it is just a farm road.

Then, as a reward for letting my friend have his first drive of a Haflinger, I forced him to help with the removal of old fence panels and brambles from the back garden. Hopefully I will be able to pave an area on which i can park Lurch and possibly even build a car port / shed he can live in.

So 3 trips, 2 with old fence panels and 1 with brambles down to my local amenity point (rubbish dump) - only to be accosted by several people who wanted all the details about Lurch - most common of which was "is it amphibious?"

If I remember tomorrow I post a picture of the bolt on plywood sides I put on to hold the rubbish.

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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AustHaflinger
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by AustHaflinger »

heinkeljb wrote:So 3 trips, 2 with old fence panels and 1 with brambles down to my local amenity point (rubbish dump) - only to be accosted by several people who wanted all the details about Lurch - most common of which was "is it amphibious?"

John
Driving my Landrover 101 around I attract a lot of attention but as I do not drive it much on a daily basis it is easy to live with. However as I intended, I am now using the haffie as my daily run around vehicle - doing shopping, getting coffee etc. It now gets used at least once a day.

I parked it in the local shopping mall carpark yesterday and came back to a guy with a camera taking pics, last week I got late night munchies and parked outside the hot dog van the cameras and flashes came out - the kids at Maccas even know it now and I was asked if I have a few - the kid thought a 101 and a Haffie were the same type of vehicle - yes they are twins I said.

Does it float is also the major question I get.

John it is great that it has all come together for you and you are now able to get out and enjoy Lurch. Pics are a must :)

Garry
Haflinger 700AP (73)
Range Rover Sport TDV6 (07)
Landrover FC 101 (77)
Landrover Series 1 SWB Station Wagon (57)
Landrover Series 1 SWB (57)
Jaguar E-type Roadster V12 (71)
Jaguar XJ12C (76)
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heinkeljb
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by heinkeljb »

Took a couple of photos of Lurch with my make shift plywood panels on to stop the rubbish from falling off the sides or the back. Actually, volume was more of an issue than weight carrying capacity as wooden fence panels don't weigh a lot neither do Brambles.

Really nice thing was I had put hinges on an ordinary 4 foot by 6 foot high fence panel, so just opened that and reversed Lurch in through the gap. Had about 2 inches to spare on either side!
side view with panels.jpg
side view with panels.jpg (200.94 KiB) Viewed 1442 times
end view with panels.jpg
end view with panels.jpg (178.26 KiB) Viewed 1442 times
They are just held on with a few bolts and screws in the top cross bars to stop them expanding too much...

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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Julian B
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by Julian B »

heinkeljb wrote:I am curious as to how and why people have Haflingers.
Pretty much the last time I used my Haflinger was to pull someone out of a muddy ditch :oops: :lol:
Julian B
W Sussex, UK

| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
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heinkeljb
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by heinkeljb »

HAHA! We were two up and trying to get through in two wheel drive!

Still, I think that is what they are made for..... Getting stuck and being pulled out / pulling out stuck relatives!

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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Minipnz
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Re: How do you use your Haflinger?

Post by Minipnz »

I go to the local stores for beer, car parts, groceries, etc. Otherwise my Haffy sits in the garage. I average about 100 miles a year so far, and I've had it less than 3 years. I need to get it out more!
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