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Failed Rescue

Crispin

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On my way home this evening I came to a 7.5 ton lorry (full of fridges) which had tried to make a U-turn on a patch of grass. As all his weight arrived on the grass he sank in. In his efforts to get free he had dug himself in about 3-4 inches up the rear wheels.

I pulled over and offered to try and pull him free. I had a 15m strap, there was plenty of room for me so what did I have to loose?
Very thankful, they said let's give it a go. Damn! I left my strap at Tony after Sunday's muddy outing. Urm, no strap is going to get us nowhere fast.

They offered up their tie down straps which I thought would snap but hey, let's try. Doubled up, I did not have enough distance to make it to tar leaving me on the same mud they had sunk into. ATRAC tried with all it's might but all I was doing was digging 4 holes one wheel at a time. :(

We decided to try a single span which game me enough distance to get my wheels onto tar. As we were about to try his boss called back about the recovery. Not a happy man. Gave the poor guy hell about it saying he would not pay if the strap snapped etc etc. (I did say that if the strap snapped and hit my car that's my problem...It was my choice.)

Anyway, the recovery truck was 40 minutes out so after them offering me a beer at the pub who's lawn they were on ( :shock: ) we bid farewell.

Bummed that I could not pull them but any momentum was killed as he tried to climb out of the hole he had dug. The Grabbers could not hold onto the mud either :(

Next time :D
 
Crispin, I recall pulling a 7.5t TNT lorry (as in the courier not the explosives) out of a ditch 2 winters ago. We used every trick in the book. Waffles under the wheels to bridge a stream, Lil Blue lashed to an oak tree, double snatch block - the lot. We go him out and were in the process of recovering him to the road, one length of winch cable at a time, when I got so far back up the road, I was able to tie off to the massive stone gatepost of a local hall. We ran the winch out one more time and the slinger shouted 'couple more inches and we're there. I obliged only to look down to see the end of the cable in my hand. I had pulled it out of the notch in the winch drum. Putting it back on there at the time would have meant that I had to take the whole bumper off and take the winch out etc. Not going to happen. Not in the middle of the road. And there the lorry rested until the thaw a few days later.

The benefit is that I now get a fantastic service from this driver when they are carrying a parcel for me and I'm not in!

There is something satisfying about rescuing someone so stuck that they have lost all hope. Nice warm feeling. Now pulling out another 4x4. well that's just a smug feeling. :thumbup:

Chris
 
Ah man, I so wanted to come out and help.... bloody kids football :roll:
 
Ah yes, forgot to mention I called Tony to see if he wanted to play :cool:

Chris - I was hoping for "my time" but alas. I'll have to wait for snow and stuck puntos
 
PUNTOs!! Leave them, They deserve everything that's coming to them. I bought on once, I shall tell you the tale over a beer sometime. What a mistake.

Chris
 
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I never tow little front wheel drive cars.
Always go for the big stuff, the bigger the better, gives you a nice warm feeling even if in the end like Chris and Crispin it fails. At least you gave it a shot :D :D :D
 
what a bummer - you need to get some extra recovery strops, i carry about 5 of them, 8metre and 5metre ones.
i recovered a stuck Nissan Navara, Jeep Cherokee and vovlo XC90 in snow last winter! very satisfying, with the landcruiser

but i tried to recover a car that got beached on a grass berm in a carpark this summer, with my subaru forester, using a tow rope and it snapped...
now got a proper recovery strap in the scooby too!
 
Just last week, on a lane day out to the Peak district, I had the satisfy feeling of towing a 4x4 uphill.

If any one know's Monsal head?
Well from the river bridge crossing at the bottom, going upwards. know it?
Just after you go through the tight narrow right hand bend, (for those who know)
Half way up is a stuck Frontera, stuck on the upwards incline, on the rocks.
I am sure it was a Frontera. Just standard.

I was actually about 200 meters infront, when I heard this guy is stuck, so casually, as you do, reversed the 200 meters to where the stuck 4x4 was.
I put a strop on the stuck 4x4, a couple of 'D' shackles, and said to Ryan, ( not his vehicle he was just steering it ) just to let me pull him up, and not to try drive it.
I didnt want the tow rope, tight then slack, then tight and slack etc.

So I pulled it all the way to the top, effortlessly.

Some where thee will be pics and video, as there was plenty peeps about.

Graham
 
i know that exact spot Graham - i have mountain biked there a few times, after stopping for a beer at the excellent pub at monsal head itself

well done! nice to show a fronterra how it is done!
 
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