The spare tire thread got me to thinking
roswellnative
Member Posts: 10,158 ✭✭✭✭
have you ever been stuck , I mean stranded?
I was thinking back on time at hunting camp when I was taking a deer guts way to the far side of camp and was on the phone talking to my tree guy when I got a little too slow on a flat wet area… wow four-wheel-drive truck and I was stuck. It was so flat. All I could do was walk 2 a barn and find what they had. I had seen it trick where someone ties a log or board to the tire like a clock from 3-9 and have some stick out,,,…. Well, that didn’t work the pine log just shared off at the end so what I did I got a piece of 2 x 4 that was about 6 inches long and lashed that thing to the outside tread on the tire. The tire slipped about 90% and then grab about 10%. I could slowly go forward and was able to get out. It was a mess though usually I have a tree and a come along Weird to be stuck, no cell service and just the stars ⭐️.
Comments
Being a farmer for 60 years, I've seen some MONUMENTAL 'stucks'. Not just unable to move forward or back but BURIED to the frame. I've seen chains and tow straps broken and parts broken or pulled off attempting to 'unstuck' equipment and vehicles.
One incident cost a local guy his life when the trailer ball mount on the vehicle he was trying to unstuck failed and came through his rear window.
During the 60 years noted above, I've learned a lot about how much easier life is to just not get stuck.
There's a mountain road nearby that has a mud hole where many a 4x4 has been stuck. No cell service and the stuck-ee usually has to walk several miles to the nearest phone. A local had a 2 ton military truck and could pull them out. Mention "Bailey Gap" to any good old boy around here and they'll have a story to tell.
As for myself, been stuck several times in snow but usually was able to get myself out.
If you can get out, are you stuck? Don
Yes. Hope that helps. - Kevin. 😁
🇺🇲 "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." - Thomas Jefferson 🇺🇲
Driving one of my favorite trails one day, in my '74 Ford Highboy. There was a spot that was always a bit gummy, but I figured big truck, big tires, no problem. I toss the ol' divorced NP205 in low, and give the 390 full onion. Halfway through the hole, yep, problem. Right down to the frame, and almost touching the body. I spend about an hour pondering my life choices, when through pure luck, I hear a 4-wheeler coming up.
A young man pulls up, says "I'll be right back", and 20 minutes later, rolls up in a late-'70s Bronco, that had some of the biggest mud tires I'd ever seen, and a chain I wasn't smart enough to already have in my truck. Sounded pretty sporty too. He backs in, runs the chain to the back bumper of my truck, and I told him to give 'er hell. He winds it up in low, and out I came. Almost straightened the back bumper out, but I was free. We downed a couple cans of Coke, talked about poor life choices, and he refused to be paid for his effort.
Fast forward a few years, and I driving the same trail in my CJ3A. I come upon the same spot, and that little red dude on my shoulder with the pointy ears says "haha bet you can't". 2WD, high range, zipped right through it, never left first gear. Note to self; buy another old Jeep.
Temporarily stuck many times
1st time I was in my 65 mustang by my self middle of no where in the snow off the road while turning around
hillbilly engenering and stupid I took the floor mats put in front of the tires put the car in gear with the tires spinning I got out And pushed the car the floor mats gave some traction and me pushing got it back on the road
Jumped In stopped the car got my floor mats and lesson learned
One Of many times I was stuck in mud and or snow over the years .
At some point in my life, I finely learned to do my best to avoid getting stuck
Oh I ran out of gas once and only once learned the hard way the gas gage stuck or just not working correct I had to walk 3 miles in the freezing rain I was like a human icecyle by the time I got back to my girlfriends all my clothes and hair froze
D\R quote…..
Oh I ran out of gas once and only once learned the hard way the gas gage stuck or just not working correct I had to walk 3 miles in the freezing rain I was like a human icecyle by the time I got back to my girlfriends all my clothes and hair froze
Running out of gas along with girlfriends in the same sentence was never really a story about getting stuck in my younger years. 😁
I don't know if it counts, but off road Jeep advantures in the wilderness of Oahu Hawaii and Boones Farm does not mix well…..soooo stuck.
I was stranded in Illinois for many years before I was able to retire and escape !!!! 🙃
I spent twenty years in Texas one summer.😉
The most lost I ever remember being was on a boundary waters trip when I was in Boy Scouts back in the early 70's… Our adult leader was not real good with maps to begin with. It was a rainy day and we had hit some minor whitewater early in the day and missed a cut through between two small lakes.
It took us a couple hours to figure it out and a couple portages were there were not paths…. Two of us Sr. Scouts more or less took over the map reading from there… It was a little tougher in those days with no Cell phones and no Google maps !!!
Been here for 55 years……..but I'm not stuck
One somewhat foolish 'stuck' came to mind today. Back in the mid-80's I was working a full time job and farming at night. About 10PM one night I'd filled my wagons and proceeded to pull one back to the house with a 2WD pickup. Didn't quite make it to solid ground and spun out. Fairly inconvenient predicament but I figured I could work things out with the combine and a 20' tow strap.
I hooked the tow strap from the back of the wagon to the drive axle of the combine, leaving the pickup running in neutral. I climbed on the combine and pulled the hydro lever back just enough so the machine would barely crawl backward. Then I ran to the pickup and steered it to keep things moving straight. After several trips between pickup and combine, I got the pickup and wagon onto solid enough ground to move itself. Unhooked the combine and strap and drove home. Pretty foolish in after thought but it worked once.
About 40 years ago, we buried the 2nd smallest of our 4 tractors. So, we took the big tractor out there which had duals on the rear. It seemed like once we broke the top "crust", it went straight to the axle and would not move, even if disconnected from the first tractor. Our neighbor had one of those Steiger (spelling) tractors with all 8 tires being powered. Same thing happened to it, broke through, and all the way down front and rear. Another neighbor had one, if not the biggest Caterpillar dozer they made back then. We decided to try going from the other direction and just pull the smallest tractor out first by itself. Just that small tractor was enough to bury the dozer. Everyone was ticked off! They ended up spending about a week in there while things dried before we were able to get the last few remaining friends/neighbors to help us out. Somewhere we have a picture of those 4 things stuck in the field but I haven't seen it in years.
I was clearing out a large ditch when I sunk my backhoe up to the frame. The ground was too loose to pull myself out with the hoe. So I used what ever 2x lumber I could find as cribbing and the hoe's hydraulics to lift itself up. Then filled the holes & laid down more 2xs. I could only move it 2' at a time before moving the cribbing. It only took a day to reach solid ground.
I found the pic. This is close to where I sunk my backhoe. Yup, I told him it was a peat bog. Dozer couldn't pull it out. The operator finally got it out himself.
I had a similar experience fresh out of school. I got a John Deere 300 backhoe buried to within 6 inches from the top of the radiator in that old blue gumbo mud on the shore of Lake Catherine in Arkansas (Park Superintendent had insisted on working there and he was the boss). Fortunately he knew how to work a backhoe, too, and we finally crabwalked it out by coordinating him working the front bucket while I worked the rear boom and stabilizers. After all these years, I still can't believe that machine isn't still there!
I'm an off road recovery volunteer for 2 groups.
Missouri 4x4 Rescue (free recoveries):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1771744512960125/
And the Off Road Recovery Portal. This is nation wide all volunteer off road recovery group that also offers free recoveries. Volunteers might ask for some gas $. They have a phone number.
https://offroadportal.org/
A friend of mine gave me this sticker.
Getting stuck and using your recovery gear is part of the fun of off roading.
The local 20 something kids keep calling me to winch them out.
I've winched this kid's Grand Cherokee out twice now.
A buddy of his sunk a Chevy 1500 down by the lake. I started with a snatch block to get him out of the worst of it then switched to a single line pull.
He was in there pretty good.
No pictures but I winched the step dad of the above Chevy owner out of the lake a couple weeks ago.
Winched this Gladiator out of a mud hole in the Mark Twain National Forest. I used a snatch block for a double line pull. It belonged to a female member of an out of town Lady's Jeep Club. They left the vehicle there overnight and contacted the Missouri 4x4 Rescue group the following day. The owner's winch died.
Another fellow and myself winched this 40ft RV out of the mud. I used 2 snatch blocks and a winch line extension. The owner was moving it to his land when he got stuck. That's his his living area while building his future house.
I used a Kinetic Rope to pull this F150 out. I did the same for a Toyota Tacoma that was stuck next to him.
I keep a D-Ring hitch shackle in my Jeep to place on stuck vehicles.
This Tacoma busted a CV Joint in the local National Forest. I winched him out then showed them an easy way out to the main gravel road. They also left it overnight and crammed 7 people (4 adults and 3 children) into the 2 door Jeep (parked behind mine) to get out. They brought a flatbed trailer with them following day.
The owner of this 2500 Chevy thought it would be a good idea to drive it down hill to the swamp behind his house.
I winched him out.
I follow this guy on youtube, look at how many snatch blocks he used to pull this dump truck loaded with dirt out with his Jeep Gladiator.
Pretty impressive.