• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

 

Stuck in my yard....TWICE!!

dm22630

New member
1,424
42
0
Location
Front Royal, VA 22630
Well......today is by far one of the most disappointing days for army trucks that I can remember. It was bad enough when I got stuck in the woods behind my house, but today....I got stuck in my front yard, TWICE, with a M818 & M813! It took me all day to get out.

This morning I went down in my field to move the M872 from its current spot, to an area directly beside my driveway, since the new owner's shipper is coming to get it this week. Since someone stole my jack handle off of the M872 while it was still at Ft Meade, the guy I had bring it to my house apparently just unlatched it & pulled forward letting the trailer drop 10" onto the ground. When I pulled my M818 up to hook it up, the 818 was way too high, so my neighbor came over w/his tractor that has a bucket & we dug a 12" deep hole 8ft wide & 10ft long (so both rear axles could drop & get under the trailer. That did not work, what it did do though was get me buried up to my axles all the way around.

So.....I thought, oh well.....let me get my M813 & just pull it out. HA! I guess I shouldnt have tried to drive by it to get lined up, the same underground river that had filled up our freshly dug hole, had also soaked 1/2 my front field. As I was going by the 818, the 813 stopped & the front axle had sunk into the mud also.

By this time I was pissed, and needed a break so I went up to my garage & organized. Well, the more I thought about getting stuck in my own yard, the more pissed I got......So, I got 4 chains that were about 100 ft total in length & got ANOTHER 813, stupidly thinking that I could pull the other 813 out of the mud. That didnt happen, what did happen though was I almost got 3 trucks stuck.

More time went by, I got madder.

Then I pulled an 813 in front of the stuck 813 (about 100 ft between the two) & figured out how to use the winch......somewhat (keep reading). After continuous trial & error, I pulled the winch cable up the the other 813 & with my neighbors help, I winched myself out of the hole I was in. I then put the front 813 away, & was going to turn around & winch the 818 out. Weeeeeeeeeell.....if you put the winch in neutral & dont also push the control lever on the side of the winch in, then you will hear what I heard.....POP!!!. I thought "oh crap....what did I break now". Since I had slack in the cable, I had wrapped the extra around the front bumper & now that slack was super tight & the winch chain had luckily gotten locked around the front passenger side dring. That took a sledgehammer to get off. Now, the winch would not pull in, unspool, nothing.....after closer inspection, I found that I had broken my shear pin. Still, I dont know why I can unspool it freely by hand.

Anyway...

Since the next 2 days are calling for heavy rain, I thought that I really should get the 818 out while I still could. Well.....no winch = back to the chains. I hooked up the chains & got my 813 on dry(er) ground & tried to pull.....it moved maybe an inch forward....tried again....nothing. So....we hook another 813 in front of my 813.....then pull with both at the same time....this time it moved 6 inches. It is now almost dark, the rain is about to start soon.....I am more angry than ever. Finally we hooked one 813 to the drivers side dring & one 813 to the passenger side dring & it slowly came out. VICTORY!!!

I still dont know what I am going to do about the M872.....I guess I will have to get a track loader over here to move it.

Let me say this.....if scrap prices were as high right now as they were this time last year, EVERY truck here would be crushed tomorrow.

I will not buy another MV without a winch. I hate sprag, but with 5 tons, there is nothing that you can do about it. I HATE NDT tires! I hope 16.00-20s wont suck as bad as these did.

It was truely a pathetic display at my house today. I will not be going down any offroad trails anywhere, if I get stuck in my own yard.

Here are the pics.....
 

Attachments

SETOYOTA

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,394
419
83
Location
georgia
Now that is what i call stuck. How long did it take to dig down to the axles?
 
Last edited:

EZFEED

New member
880
0
0
Location
Lafayette, LA
Damn Dm22630.......I like just cringed when I got to that second pic where the axle is on the ground......damn bub:|

I know what your saying, having to go through all of that I wouldn't want to go offroading again for fear of getting stuck either....

.........damn:cry:
 

maddawg308

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
10,852
723
113
Location
Front Royal, VA
You could've called me for help! Might have been easier with two folks driving trucks....

Those NDTs were called "grave diggers" in WWII. GIs commented that under most conditions, they were great. However, in really wet dirt, they would dig straight down into the mud, essentially, "digging a grave".
 

mudguppy

New member
1,587
15
0
Location
duncan, sc
any second now, someone's going to get on here and say "i have no idea why that happened, NDTs are the bestest tire in the world. i never get stuck w/ my NDTs. you must've been using them wrong." :roll:


sorry to hear about your ordeal. i've had days like that: we had 3 818s w/ loaded SMPs stuck in the sand/silt of a wadie. we had a HEMMT wrecker. got two more trucks stuck in the process. got the wrecker stuck 4 times... 7 hours of continued extraction to get everything out.
 

dm22630

New member
1,424
42
0
Location
Front Royal, VA 22630
You could've called me for help! Might have been easier with two folks driving trucks....

Those NDTs were called "grave diggers" in WWII. GIs commented that under most conditions, they were great. However, in really wet dirt, they would dig straight down into the mud, essentially, "digging a grave".

I almost did.....but I had my neighbor help me get the 813 out & then my brother & my buddy came over to help w/the 818. If I didnt have someone in each truck, there is NO way I would have gotten out.

NDTs SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They dig a hole & then turn into racing slicks. They are good on rocks/gravel.....but definitely not mud. I guess weighing about 25K didnt help much either! ;)
 

Stretch44875

Super Jr. Moderator
Super Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,958
28
48
Location
Tiro, Ohio
Our trucks do good, but 20,000lb 5 ton on NDT's and soft ground is a problem. Hate it when crap goes wrong and your working under a deadline.

Dennis
 

EZFEED

New member
880
0
0
Location
Lafayette, LA
.....I have no idea why that happened, NDTs are the bestest tire in the world. I never get stuck w/ my NDTs. You must've been using them wrong....... :-D
 
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website like our supporting vendors. Their ads help keep Steel Soldiers going. Please consider disabling your ad blockers for the site. Thanks!

I've Disabled AdBlock
No Thanks