Anyone know how to move this truck?

We had great adventure this weekend, on the road Friday from 7 am to midnight driving to and then re-locating our ne 1975 Motor Home, up again Saturday at 7 am to a leak where they installed a window air unit, and trying to seal said leak..........

We tried to move it behind the old farm house on our homestead, and it got stuck 50 feet down the drive, and I mean stuck.

Can you imagine 2 men trying to help a chrysler 360 engine move 5 tons of motor home 20 more feet, in 15 inches of mud?

Ann, a 46 year old (woman) with 2 hours of driving time on the street, trusted me and got behind the wheel. I told her "its already in 1st gear, give it a little gas, and pray- it isn't gonna get unstuck and take off".

Well we moved it another 6 feet, and tried again, but that was it.

Anyone know how to move this truck? Maybe chains? (I think the mud is too deep (right now) for chains to work. A truck load of gravel? We don't know anyone with a tractor. The truck is dual rear wheels, with traction on the drivers side. We will go back in a couple of weeks and try again.

Thank you Father, for sending us rain.

-- Rick in SW West Virginia (Rick_122@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002

Answers

When stuck really bad I've had more success using a come-along attached to chains attached to the front axel or such of a vehicle. Of course, you have to have something stationary and in the right place to attach the comealong to. Its a slow process but I've pulled really stuck tractors out and up hill several times. Also, if its slidk or really muddy its better not to even turn on the motor of the stuck vehicle.

Wish you success

-- charles (cr@dixienet.com), March 17, 2002.

Thanks Charles. There may be a tree strong enough to do the job.

Can anyone tell me the difference between a come-along and a winch?

I would be interested the name of the best place to buy one.

I looked on ebay a few weeks ago for winches, but I only found antique ones.

-- Rick in SW West Virginia (Rick_122@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

One possiability is to wrap cable on the "spool" made by the space between the dual tires and anchor to a large tree. With 5 tones I would suggest you use at least 1/2 inch cable; of course this works best when going backwards and you would need cable on both sides.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), March 17, 2002.

a good tough rope,, attached to another vehicle,, doesnt matter what vehicle,, just tie it off,, and drive off,, fast,, the rope withh stretch,, and as long as you have enough momentum,, the other vehicle with follow,,unless of course its REALLY stuck,, in which case,, maby, jacking it up,, and placing something under the tires?

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), March 17, 2002.

I have very vague memories of my uncle getting his car stuck in sloppy clay mud when I was a kid. I think he waited to get it out until the mud was a little stiffer, then jacked it up with the jack on a piece of wood and put boards under each wheel. It is very possible for a board to shoot out the back when you do this so DON'T have anyone behind you!!!!!!!! After that he laid down boards to drive on until the house was finished and the driveway could go in. As the boards dissapeared into the mud he added others on top.

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 17, 2002.

Sounds like a fun adventure! I think any of these methids would work, but in the interest of safelty and if you are doing it alone, a come-a-long will do the trick. It is an inch by inch prospect!! You might also cut some brush and lay along the front of the tires to give it something to dig into... We have been stuck pretty badly before also!!!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), March 17, 2002.

I'd try the boards and winch, or go out and meet someone with a tractor ; )

come-along and winch are the same thing. You can buy the common 2.5ton come-alongs at Sears or Walmart for under $20 last I saw. I have always kept one in all my vehicles. I can recall a few times in the snow where they were worth their weight in gold. The more expensive ones come with longer cables and handle alot more weight. I have on but can't recall the brand.

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

Thanks for the input.

We will get a come along.

I like the idea of meeting someone with a tractor.

-- Rick in SW West Virginia (Rick_122@hotmail.com), March 17, 2002.

Make sure he has 2 tractors, they get stuck too...

One time I got my pickup stuck. Went and got the stakebody truck to pull it out and got it stuck too. Went and got the IH 584 55hp tractor to pull them out and got that stuck too. Each one right in front of the other. Had to get the neighbor to bring his big 70hp Case to save me. I was still in High School so I had somewhat of an excuse. ; )

-- Dave (multiplierx9@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

Deep mud is hard to handle by brute force methods. Do you have any scrubby bush or brushwood that you have been waiting for the incentive to clear? Cut plenty of it and lay crosswise where you want the tyres to go, this forms what was once known as a 'corduroy' road.

-- john hill (john@cnd.co.nz), March 18, 2002.

I like the corduroy road idea, but have a suggestion I've used with 100% success. Virtually any type of tracked vehicle (bulldozer, for example) works great for this. It has tremendous weight, good power at low torque and with the tracks is very unlikely to spin and bury itself.

An electric winch with the cable run back and forth a couple times through pulleys has pulled me out of a couple tough spots, too. Just remember every pass back almost doubles the pulling power of the winch and also increases the time to move the truck the same distance.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), March 18, 2002.

There is no electric other than the motor home batteries, and the unused solar panels, at this time.

We may try the brush idea, and while I know a guy with a bulldozer, he doesn't have a trailer, and it needs a new pin(s). He does have a pick-up truck, and maybe we'll pull it back so the truck can pass it, and pull it into place.

-- Rick in SW West Virginia (Rick_122@hotmail.com), March 18, 2002.

I heard today that the former homestead owners son got the MH free!

He hoped I didn't mind. He found the spare key that the neither the previous owner, nor I knew was hidden. He's a car head, and wanted to hear the engine purrrrr, next thing he knew he was getting it free from the mud!.

-- Rick in SW West Virginia (Rick_122@hotmail.com), March 27, 2002.