Author Topic: Stuck truck (Read 792 times)

Sourdough · « **on:** September 29, 2011, 10:08:28 AM »

I can hardly walk today, my muscles in my legs are so sore. Yesterday was bad, but today is far worse. I got the truck stuck Tuesday afternoon, 16 miles back in a logging area. I spent an hour trying to get it out, realized I needed help. I started walking. Decided I did not need to carry the Handi rifle, strapped on my Smith & Wesson 460 when I left. About one mile from the truck I started seeing fresh Coyote tracks. About 4 miles from the truck I seen the Coyotes, five of them. They were hunting along the trail. Watched them kill and eat a grouse. They were always too far to shoot with the pistol. I followed them for about three miles, when suddenly they left the trail. A vehicle was coming. I had walked 8 miles when a guy checking his homestead out in the area came along. He gave me a ride back into town, wanted to know what an Old Man my age was doing back in there alone. When we reached Ester, I called Michelle on my cell phone. Michelle picked me up when we got into Fairbanks. Drove home, got the big truck and a 4 wheeler and headed back. Since we were in a hurry we stopped at McDonalds for the first time in years. Later, as I left the highway, Michelle said, "I better text Sky, so he will know where we are". I told her, "Too late, you should have done that back in Ester, no signal out here for the phone". 12 miles in there was a gravel quarry, I parked there and unloaded the 4-wheeler. We went the rest of the way by 4-wheeler. 4-wheeler got the truck unstuck. Four miles back to the gravel quarry, load the 4-wheeler up, then 12 miles of logging road to the highway. Then 30 miles back to North Pole. Got home at 1:AM.

Sky was waiting up. He was mad, he yelled, "It's hell having old people as parents". "When you come home and they are not here you think, they are out to dinner or at the hospital". "Then as the hours go by, and they don't come home, you think they are at the Hospital". "You get to wondering, was it her or him". You could have at least sent me a test message. Guess he is right, I should have thought about that myself before we went.

I'm going back to that area and try calling once the legs are up to it.

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #1 on:** September 29, 2011, 10:13:35 AM »

glad you are out and hope ya get a yote !

no guns here · « **Reply #2 on:** September 29, 2011, 10:18:46 AM »

I didn't even realize you had song-dogs up there. Learn sumpin' new every day.

NGH

Old Fart · « **Reply #3 on:** September 29, 2011, 10:45:09 AM »

What happened isn't funny, but your son giving you what you probably gave him in years past is kind of funny.

Glad you made out okay.

Spirithawk · « **Reply #4 on:** September 29, 2011, 01:57:53 PM »

I can relate. I sometimes forget to turn my cell phone on when I go to town. My son gets rather worried if he can't reach me. Looks like I'm not the only old Buzzard here with sore muscles.

Take care of yourself will ya? I've not that many friends that I can afford to lose any.

Sourdough · « **Reply #5 on:** September 29, 2011, 02:12:28 PM »

No Guns: When I came up here 40 years ago there were no Coyotes. Then we started hearing about them down in Southeastern, the area between Canada and the ocean. Then about 25 years ago the first one got ran over on Eielson AFB. That confirmed they had migrated to the Interior of Alaska. Today their numbers are skyrocketing. They have been deemed the number one predator on Dall Sheep, especially Lambs during the spring. I have a proposal before the Game Board this spring for No Closed Season, No Limit, on Coyotes, state wide. I feel confident it will pass.

Old Fart: I informed Sky it's pay back, no differant than when he decideds to spend the night at a friends house, but does not call us till 3AM. He agreed, and said if we will text or call him, he will call us before 10PM.

Wife is laughing at me calling me Grandpa McCoy, since I am gimping around like Walter Brennon did.

magooch · « **Reply #6 on:** September 29, 2011, 04:07:52 PM »

Not knowing the circumstances of your stuck truck, I would ask if you tried letting air out of the driver tires to increase traction. This easy little tip has gotten me and lots of others out of sticky situations. Also, why would you not be equipped with a winch, or at least a good rachet block and some cables.? And as a last resort, a little dirt bike, or mountain bike would beat the heck out of walking.

Graybeard · « **Reply #7 on:** September 29, 2011, 07:34:49 PM »

Must not have been much of a stuck if a four wheeler pulled it out. When ya get one stuck down here ain't no four wheller gonna pull it out. Some times even another 4x4 truck won't.

pastorp · « **Reply #8 on:** September 30, 2011, 02:19:10 AM »

Dosen't matter much if your a little stuck or a lot stuck,

If you can't get out...Thats a long walk. I've walked further than that but I was younger and in shape.

Regards,

BBF · « **Reply #9 on:** September 30, 2011, 06:47:27 AM »

For your rebutal: Your son didn't think of calling the "horsepistol" to see if you were there?

Sourdough · « **Reply #10 on:** September 30, 2011, 07:51:53 AM »

Chevy S-10, 31X10.50-15 wheels. All four wheels chained up. Frame sitting on the ground with rear wheels over the edge of a bank hanging. That's when I started walking.

Tied 1/2" nylon rope to a large birch tree, pulley hooked to one of the tow hooks on front of the truck. Rope hooked to the back of a Kawasaki 750 (Big heavy 4-wheeler) with 20 ft of slack. Took five tries, hitting the end of the rope at full throttle. I had to pull the front of the truck 90 degrees to the side. Each pull moved the trucks front wheels about a foot. On the fifth try I moved it enough for the rear wheels to get a bite and out it came.

My son had decided to call the hospital if we were not home by midnight. When I opened the front door he was sitting on the steps beside the door waiting. He jumped up and did not believe me when I told him it was 1:30. He denies it, but he had fallen asleep sitting there on the steps before midnight.

lakota · « **Reply #11 on:** September 30, 2011, 09:43:47 AM »

You should get one of those Spot personal locator beacons. If there is no cell signal at least you can press the "OK" button and send an e-mail to your family members to let them know you are alright and in a worst case scenario you can send a distress call to search and rescue.

quickdtoo · « **Reply #12 on:** September 30, 2011, 09:55:26 AM »

Glad it turned out good Rog, but a fella of your age and health should be more cautious, not put yourself in that kind of situation without letting people know where you're gonna be, somewhat like Aron Ralston who almost lost his life because he never told anyone where he was going.

Tim

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/dec/15/story-danny-boyles-127-hours

Quote

Ralston had been climbing the narrow canyons of Utah alone when a dislodged boulder fell on to his right arm, trapping him against a rock. He was entombed in the wilderness of Bluejohn Canyon, carrying a small rucksack with just one litre of water, two burritos and a few chunks of chocolate. He had headphones and a video camera but no mobile phone – and there was no reception anyway. Most foolishly of all, he had not told anyone where he was going. He eked out his water, futilely chipping away at the 800lb rock and slowly entering a state of delirium, until he was eventually forced to cut off his trapped arm, with the small knife from his cheap multitool kit.

Brett · « **Reply #13 on:** September 30, 2011, 10:23:31 AM »

Berried an International Scout to the frame rails in red New Jersey clay mud one Easter. My friend and I tried everything we could think of trying to get it out but only proceeded to cover ourslves from head to toe in that red clay mud. So we walking. A good samaritan with a Toyota Land Cruiser and a snatch strap sayus coming out of the woods and offered to pull me out. No dice. Now we have two vehicles stuck in the quagmire. So we walk back to his nearby condo and call a tow service. They arrive on seen with a standard dually tow truck and hook the winch to the Toy first (since he was closer to solid ground) and pulled him free. My Scout is next but it is so far berried that the winch begins to drag the tow truck into the ooze instead of pulling my truck out. The driver calls for assistance and in a little while a rollback shows up. They chain the tow truck to the rollback to anchore it and finally winch my poor old Scout free.

For those who may not be familiar with the IH Scout they were/are quite robust 4 wheeling machines. My particular 1972 had a 345ci V8 mated to a Torqueflite 727 automatic and a hi/low transfer case. It's Danna 44 solid axles had limited slip difs in both pumpkins and I was running 31X10.5/16 General Grabber APs at the time.

lakota · « **Reply #14 on:** September 30, 2011, 10:33:13 AM »

I would love to find a nice Scout. Those were real SUV's

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #15 on:** September 30, 2011, 10:54:39 AM »

For those who may not be familiar with the IH Scout they were/are quite robust 4 wheeling machines. My particular 1972 had a 345ci V8 mated to a Torqueflite 727 automatic and a hi/low transfer case. It's Danna 44 solid axles had limited slip difs in both pumpkins and I was running 31X10.5/16 General Grabber APs at the time.

turned on a dime in 4wd right ?
Had a ford pu set up that way , it would go stright when all locked.

Brett · « **Reply #16 on:** September 30, 2011, 03:15:48 PM »

The IH Scouts had a very tight turning radius. Back in the 70s they had a TV commercial showing a Scout turning inside the turning radius of a Jeep CJ7. Easiest vehicle to parallel park I have ever driven.

billy_56081 · « **Reply #17 on:** September 30, 2011, 03:50:12 PM »

A good marine band radio goes a long ways.

Bugflipper · « **Reply #18 on:** October 01, 2011, 09:25:53 AM »

Sourdough, you might want to look into a come along. I run a wench that's on a receiver mount. It's pretty handy you just throw it into which rig your taking. Wenches can fail though so a come along is always a good idea whether you have a wench or not. I just have a box with different stuff to get me out and a bag to get me by if I can't get the rig out.

As for the IH scout, best 4x4 ever conceived in my very biased opinion. Here's my favorite one with farm tire apparel. It gets a little more capable in hunting season or if I go trail riding or bogging. As GB eluded to if you go offroad here you need something that will do well. If you get one stuck it can be an ordeal to say the least. Best to have every advantage to keep from getting stuck. And a good plan and the right equipment at your disposal just in case you do.

Sourdough · « **Reply #19 on:** October 01, 2011, 11:39:51 AM »

I have two come-a-longs, and a 6,000lb warn winch sitting in the garage. But the S-10 is not set up for the winch, no mount. I should have had one of the come-a-longs
with me, but I just never thought of it. I go out like this almost every day, and this is the first time I have any trouble while driving the S-10.

In the past I drove one of two Suzuki Samurai's, and neither one of them would have gotten stuck. But I got rid of them, they were just a little too small to be comfortable. They were just a bit too radical. Need to set the S-10 up better for off-roading. Mount a reciever on the front and run heavy wires to provide power. That way when I do get in trouble I can get out.

Oh Yea, made a mistake on the earlier post. The rope I was using was 1" nylon, not 1/2" like I said earlier. 750lbs of 4-wheeler, with a 250lb rider, hitting the end at full throttle would have snapped a 1/2" rope like kite string. That 1" stuff stretches like a big rubber band.

blind ear · « **Reply #20 on:** October 01, 2011, 04:53:57 PM »

floatation, floatation, floataton, small vehicle, small motor,wide tires and ground clearance. Works best in Mississippi "Gumbeaux" mudd/alligator clay. Pull chains,
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