I got stuck in my 2 wheel Silverado early this spring - wet grass with pure clay underneath. Slicker than a greased eel in a barrel full of snot.
Tractor pulled me out.
I did learn a useful trick though and have used it once since then - scrap carpet - 5 or 6 feet long. Jute side up, fiber side down - if you're not in axle deep it will feed itself under the tire and let you lift yourself out and start moving. Stay in second and EASY does it. .... Of course having a winch on the front bumper is better.
Paula
__________________
Today is a gift. That's why they call it "the present"
2WD is for going into the fray.
4WD for strategic retreats.
When back wheels try to pass front wheels at near zero speed there is a pit-of-the-stomach feeling that once experienced (with hours of invoked shovel work) forever lurks in the subconscious mind, or seat of the driver, which ever is smarter..
Winch & chains & cables & straps & block/tackle rigs to tie 4WD mud guppy to anything or series of things to retrace entry trajectory.
The single best recovery I've seen was my 88-year-old G'Uncle in his $80,000 Lexus snatching his golf cart out of a freshly harvest wheat field's clay upwelling "wet spot"...
great story. sorry for your muddy misery. my brother made the same vow after his experience in a Georgia farm field softened by 3 day soaking last Thanksgiving. My monster truck made quick work of it though so he didn't suffer long.
I think experiences like yours are why EVERYONE switches to 4WD.
Well, folks, sorry about the lack of photos, but generally when I enter an out-of-body state of frothing rage... I'm not "camera friendly."
As a Montana native, growing up in beater 2WD trucks and being part of a logging family, I've been stuck a time or two or twenty. My standard "load out" when traveling the back country includes a hi-lift jack, a come-along, blocks, chocks, 100' feet of heavy duty chain, tire chains and a chain saw. In fact, my V bar chains were responsible for my rear yard rototilling. I was tempted to deploy the come-along and chains to my neighbors tree... but I thought it best to keep the rodeo limited to the backyard. Of course, that was before I ran over the tomato cages.
I hate getting stuck... mostly because I can think back to a moment before I was stuck when I thought... maybe this is a bad idea? Rather than listen to this very intelligent, very tiny part of my brain, the larger, stupid portion of my brain sends the signal down my spinal column telling my hands and feet to do something idiotic... like putting my arm around my date to the 9th grade dance. This is how something that would have been a nominally stupid move, like parking in backyard, becomes a specatularly stupid move, like getting horribly stuck in the backyard with an audience.
I realize 4WD is not a panacea. When I'm several stages beyond pissed off neither is having opposable thumbs. It is quite possible to get a 4WD even more stuck than a 2WD... but I would like to delude myself into thinking that having 4WD would give the small, too often ignored part of my brain that sends the "Danger Will Robinson" signal to the rest of the cortex a little more time. Of course, I'm probably just kidding myself, but when I'm calm and not covered in mud, I'm capable of higher level functioning like rationalization.
I assure you that you are alone in hearing that little voice that says "maybe I shouldn't do this, nah, what the hell, let's try it, maybe it'll work", accompanied by a stupid grin.
I assure you that you are alone in hearing that little voice that says "maybe I shouldn't do this, nah, what the hell, let's try it, maybe it'll work", accompanied by a stupid grin.
Gene
I was pretty sure it was just me, Gene.
Actually, and this is something some expert on synapses can probably explain, but it's not like an actual thought or even a grin. It's more like the "low fuel" light that I seem to notice in my wife's car, but that she does not.
I definitely see the light... and have the poor sense to mention it occasionally. My wife, on the other hand, has some odd tangential awareness of the light, but on a purely subconscious level. Her conscious awareness only kicks in after the light has been on for 40 miles or so... while I am growing every more uncomfortable with the prospect of running out of gas.
There's a part of my brain that knows better... about so many different things... but it occasionally "disconnects." Often after I've done something really stupid, I'm aware that I kind of knew it was stupid beforehand, but just wasn't paying attention. This is, to me, much different than looking at the situation and saying, "Hell, yes, I can make it," and then pouring on the coal.
There's a part of my brain that knows better... about so many different things... but it occasionally "disconnects." .
Enjoyed the post....fortunately (or unfortunately) for us it is soft, white sand that fools many locals and visitors alike. That secluded romantic site on the beach becomes a real nightmare when you're sunk up to your axles.
As far as a brain disconnect.....happens a lot here in the South.....many times at family reunions/functions, and preceeded by the now infamous statement, "Hold my beer, and watch this."
Chief
__________________ Dream like you're going to live forever, live like you're going to die tomorrow, and dance like nobody is watching!
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