Snowy Vehicle Recovery

[257Tony]

Good for you on helping them out! Would a chainsaw have allowed them to continue on their way down hill? Lucky for them they were able to walk out, we've had several people in my state never make it back to safety when attempting that .

 

[Guy M]

Good for you on helping them out! Would a chainsaw have allowed them to continue on their way down hill? Lucky for them they were able to walk out, we've had several people in my state never make it back to safety when attempting that .

Thanks! Ya, a chainsaw would have gotten them through the tree, but nobody else had ventured past that fallen tree yet, so they would have been pushing through unbroken snow. Not sure if they could have made it out that way or not. I think that would have been shorter, and it was also downhill. Certainly an attractive option!

We had a couple of bow saws in our group yesterday, but no chainsaw. A couple of my buddies always have a chainsaw when driving off-pavement. A good saw is a great piece of gear!

Guy

 

[hunter67wa]

Great job. I had to dig and winch myself out 4 times the other day elk hunting on my sxs. But I went prepared to do such. It makes a big difference when you have the right gear.

 

[Rick Richard]

Well done sir!

 

[WyoHunter1]

Tire chains, winch depending on which vehicle I am in, shovel and a sat phone?
Almost never leave home without them. Almost.

 

[ctw]

Excellent team effort. Good job Guy. ctw

 

[Don A Parsons]

Don't leave home with out 4 tire chains, repair tools and extra links, claps and cross rails,,, a few extra pounds helps keep the tires planted.

I've done lots of reveals over the years,,, lots of cross threaded & sideways on the roads back there.

 

[Gregg C]

In the desert at minimum a decent come along and a shovel. Slid the right side off a road once-carved into the mountain with 1/2:1 or steeper on both sides. All I had with me was a shovel and a 3" ratchet strap. Lucky for me there was a 5" diameter mesquite tree on the uphill side.
Bet those folks remember that whole adventure for the rest of their lives! Exciting good time! At least, after it was all over.....

 

[ShtrRdy]

Nice going! Thanks for sharing the story, with pictures.

 

[sp6x6]

Good job. Ive pulled alot rigs out in my jeep,rolls on 37

 

[wildbillb02]

Very nice.

 

[LanceK]

Last big snow we had, my neighbor called saying she was stuck up the road and asked if I could help. Now we are in the city and the snow was not that bad, I had a long enough strap where I could stay on dry pavement, put it in low and just ease her out. By the time I get out the door and down the road some guy had a strap already hooked up. Good, I'll just observe and go back home. That's when it happened.... the guy backs up gets about 5 feet of slack in the line and hits the gas! He slams the end of the rope as I am hollering at him to stop, he backs up to do it again and I get him to stop. He says, it's a strap, you have to do it that way. I bend down, unhook his strap and as politely as I can, ask him to move. I hook mine up, put it in low let the clutch out and ease the suburban out of the drift. After that I go make sure my wife knows to not let anybody other than me hook up to her car. A couple hard hits could have broke whatever the first guy had his strap hooked to. Sometimes you just don't know, hopefully that guy learned something from me, but I doubt it.

 

[MtPockets]

After that I go make sure my wife knows to not let anybody other than me hook up to her car.

That is one of the cardinal rules for vehicle recovery. I have done a lot of both- pulling others out and pushing on a rope myself- but I never EVER let anyone else hook up to my rig and I also check how they have theirs hooked up.

As for the jerking, with a GOOD strap and a solid attachment (and NO chains used in said attachment), I've never had a problem- but then it also is seldom necessary. A good, damage-free strap actually works to help you pull but again it's not always necessary.

Good job, Guy, on a fine damage free recovery!

 

[Guy M]

I thought it was interesting, that we used many different tools and techniques to get that Armada out of there. The steep, snow-covered hills we had to ascend were difficult. I recall a moment of trepidation on the way in, as we were going down, down, down, one snowy hill after another... I was thinking "I might have trouble getting out of here, let alone helping another vehicle out!"

We used:
tire chains
recovery straps
winches
max trax boards
shovels

It was quite the operation. Glad everyone was level headed. BTW, the guy 'n gal we helped have become good friends to all of us. Nice folks!

Guy