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We used this Land
Cruiser 78 Series to get around underground at Frood mine located in
Sudbury, Ontario. This 117 year old mine has lots of bumps, turns
and muck up to 28”, perfect for the Land Cruiser. I drove a 2002
chassis model modified for underground mining. I used the Land
Cruiser on a daily basis to access the mine as there is no longer a
shaft that accesses the mine from the surface, you actually have to
drive down via open pit, (as you can see in one of the pictures).
These Land Cruisers were actually imported from Australia to Canada
as Toyota does not sell Land Cruiser 78 Series in North America.
INCO operates about 8 mines in the Sudbury area. Kubota tractors and
even H1 Hummers were used in the past, but nothing comes close to
the power and reliability of Land Cruiser. Toyota Land Cruisers are
the vehicle of choice now for most mines in Canada. There was even a
12 year old Land Cruiser on the property with no windshield, no
doors, rotted out floors, no hood, no paint, etc…, and the damn
thing still runs. Note, the useful life for an underground vehicle
is about 5-7 years before it has to be scrapped as acidic mine water
from explosives takes a heavy toll on mining equipment. Options
included, roll bar, 2 sets of work lights, dynamic brakes on all
four corners, full size spare mounted on front roos bar, etc….
Mark Jutras - Sudbury Ontario, Canada |
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This is a 1979 Toyota Land
Cruiser BJ40 (canvas top) imported brand new to Norwegian embassy in
Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1980.
I bought this in 2005 for $7000. It was modified with bucket seats,
snorkel, alloy wheels etc and still in good shape. It has been installed
with a SkyJacker 4" Lift Kit with shocks I bought from USA.
Chamara K. Ratnaweera
Colombo, Sri Lanka |
GALLERY 1
