Home-built ups and downs add to riders skills
Home-built ups and downs add to riders skills
By Edward Newman
THERE are no hills on Richard Daltons farm in the Cambs fens, so he had to make some to provide the challenging conditions he needed for his 4×4 and ATV off-road driving course
During the early 1980s Mr Dalton was farming almost 80ha (200 acres) of high quality fenland near Wisbech. Half his acreage was in continuous wheat and the rest was used for fruit production. His most important crop was 28ha (70 acres) of strawberries and it was the crops harvesting operation which ultimately persuaded him to stop farming and start a new career as a machinery instructor and off-road driving course operator.
The machinery instruction started when he was employing large numbers of pickers during the strawberry season, and these included students who drove his Sanderson forklift truck.
"The students were excellent, but none of them had any experience of driving a rough-terrain forklift," he says. "I decided to give them some instruction in forklift driving for safety reasons and to reduce the risk of damage to the vehicle. That started my interest in training, and it also made me realise the importance of providing machinery operators with proper training.
"The other thing that made me think seriously about the future was when I was offered some Polish strawberries. We were processing fruit at the time, and I found I could buy imported strawberries for less than the labour cost for picking my own crop."
Mr Dalton was soon spending more time developing his off-road driving course and working as an instructor, and less time farming, and for the past 13 years this has become a full-time business. Apart from about 10 acres used by the off-road course, the rest of his farm is rented out on short-term agreements, mainly for growing potatoes and vegetables.
Mr Daltons business, called Venture 4×4, is partly leisure activities and partly training. The leisure side started in 1987 with 4×4 driving, but the ATV activity is now the growth area, and he can also offer a wide range of other activities, including clay pigeon shooting and digger driving.
Customers using the leisure activities include members of organisations and family groups. Corporate entertainment programmes for companies wishing to reward or encourage employees or customers, with charges starting at £40 a head for the corporate entertainment.
Operator training is the most important part of the business, and as well as 4×4 operation and ATV driving, Venture 4×4 can also provide training courses in a range of machines from diggers to brush-cutters. Even leisure sessions include some instruction because most of those taking part have no previous experience of ATV operation or off-road driving.
Mr Dalton is a fully-qualified ATV driving instructor, and he has the option to call in Gerald Beckett – also a qualified instructor – to help with special events or extra large courses. Most of his ATV courses are for those using quad bikes in farming and forestry, and he also assesses Lantra (ATB) instructors. Clients for training courses include employees of some of the leading ATV companies and he has trained actors who have to ride a quad bike in a TV programme.
Training facilities at Venture 4×4 start with a well-equipped lecture room where the course is outlined and theories of correct operation are discussed. Practical sessions for ATV courses then move to a flat grass area where even a complete novice can get used to controlling a quad bike while doing what Mr Dalton describes as "party tricks" such as manoeuvring around traffic cones or driving over obstructions such as old tyres or logs.
Off-road course
The ATVs – two Hondas, a Polaris and a Kawasaki – and their riders then move to the 7-acre off-road course Mr Dalton developed from his flat fields. As well as the steep hills, this also includes some special challenges including a muddy area, plus a narrow ravine where the rider has to position his body correctly so the weight helps to manoeuvre the ATV round awkward corners.
"There is a lot of skill in using an ATV correctly," says Mr Dalton." Using your body weight plays an important part. We see a wide range of abilities, but just occasionally we get someone who is just naturally brilliant – and that is magic."
To supplement the natural features designed into his off-road course, Mr Dalton has also developed some special equipment. A see-saw balanced on a single pivot point provides a tricky test of balance and control, but only for the more competent riders and 4×4 enthusiasts can use a Land Rover-based roll-over simulator which tips upside-down to allow the driver to practice escaping from seat belts in an overturning emergency.
Another home-built challenge is a portable hill built on a trailer. It can be dismantled for travelling on the road and is used in ATV driving demonstrations he provides at the East of England and other shows. It is also useful when he travels away to hold an ATV operators training course. If the course is on a farm with no hills, he brings his own.
"I prefer to hold the training courses on my own site if possible. We have all the facilities and equipment we need, and we have had trainees from as far afield as Northern Ireland, the north of Scotland and Cornwall," he says. "Obviously the top priority in the ATV courses is safety, and we put a lot of emphasis on safe driving. But training is also about getting the best from an ATV, and my aim is that anyone who goes through one of our courses is not only safer but more efficient as well." *