Deuce vs. 79,800 lb rig: Fail

[Hunter2506]

Well, found the limits of the big bad deuce yesterday. The girl I'm seeing has an older brother who drives OTR for a living. Well, trying to swing his fully loaded rig around after all the moisture we had out here last week proved disastrous when he hit a soft spot in the yard and the rig sunk in mud down to the fuel tanks







He had tried to free it for awhile before she called me. I didn't realize how bad it was until I got there. We first tried pulling with chains, both forward and from the back of the trailer. Didn't budge with the trailer attatched







So we did a bunch of digging around the tires, and got some timbers under the trailer gear to try to separate them. At this point, the duece was able to make some headway, but I was digging some serious holes with all 10 tires.

So next we decided to try and winch it from across the drive. I set the brake, put the winch in low and kicked 'er up to 1,600 RPM. It seemed promising, then cable ripped out of the ferrule.







Ran to the hardware store and got some heavy clamp type ferrules and put 'er back together for another go. To no avail. after dragging the deuce toward the Pete with 10 tires locked, it broke my last spare shear pin.







We decided to keep trying the old fashioned way, and ran another chain and put an F-250 diesel on the end of it, but that didn't help one bit.

We got the little truck out f the way and put the deuce about 3 feet from the truck to try and get some up force on the nose as well as weight on my tandems. This was making progress, but we finally conceded that even when I got the tractor out, the trailer was still stuck.

Ended up calling in a 36,000 pound winch wrecker. He drug himself backwards and sideways a good bit before finally flipping the stabilizer feet and digging into the earth. Took a little doin', but that got it.

I was kinda bummed that I couldn't save the day, but it was a losing battle from the start. That rig was resting on the front axle, fuel tanks and rear pigs, so it's drives were doing nothing. And even the mighty deuce is up against insurmountable odds with something that stuck that outweighs it by a factor of 5 and then some.

 

[Hkx3]

Thats a lot of ground contact for that much weight.

I tell people here all the time, weight suspended above ground, with only tires touching, thats one thing.

Distribute that weight along a frame rail, and dig in a couple axle assemblies and things get to the impossible area quick.

I pulled a Uhaul truck out on the framerails once. Was the biggest Uhaul available, the 30-something foot one.

Used my GMC ton single rear wheel. Extended cab long bed. Locked in 4LO, first gear. Used enough chain to keep my GMC on blacktop. Poor ol girl eased it out, but things were popping and complaining. I always attributed the abilities of that truck to its length. Almost like it leveraged the rear axle so hard it had no choice but to pull.

 

[BFR]

where are your snatch blocks?

 

[dozer1]

Wow, really buried 'er. I can definitely see where that was more then a deuce or prob a 5 ton could move considering it was loaded. (Although I might hear it from the 5 ton guys on that, esp wrecker trucks) I just wanted to throw this in there. If anyone ever wondered why there are 2 receiver holes on the front of over the road trucks, it is so you pull on both frame rails evenly when you bury em like that so as to not tweak the frame--big mess.. Dean

 

[Hunter2506]

where are your snatch blocks?

Never needed 'em to pull myself or anyone else out. Wouldn't have mattered, though, with the soft ground and the huge weight disparity. Just would have pulled me toward the Pete at a lower speed.

Yanking on it forward was moving the rig, but the commercial wrecker was necessary to get the trailer out.


Time for an M123A1

 

[tm america]

snatch blocks make all the difference they double the pull force for each one you use. . you would be amazed what can be done with the right rigging and a 10000lb deuce winch

 

[mudguppy]

snatch blocks make all the difference they double the pull force for each one you use. . you would be amazed what can be done with the right rigging and a 10000lb deuce winch

if the deuce was sliding with the single line, what makes you think that a double line would have made a difference? as the OP noted, it would have only pulled him closer at a slower speed.

unless you meant that the static line was anchored at a location other than the deuce, right...?

 

[Stalwart]

Buried that deep, I'm not even sure my 39,000 lb. HEMTT would get that out. With a Deuce I wouldn't have even tried.

 

[Hunter2506]

I'm not even sure my 39,000 lb. HEMTT would get that out

I bet it would have. Lot's more weight and footprint.

I didn't figure I'd get it, but it was worth a shot. Big rig tow bills are huge.

Didn't hurt the deuce at all, just got it muddy.

 

[Hkx3]

Not to change the topic, but can anyone explain why the OP was 'thanked' for a helpful post?

What did this post do to get thanked for?

I ask because Ive been away from the site for a while, and it seems just looking in to be a slight 'good ol boy' pat on the butt for the secret squirrel club. I notice it used on other plain ol' posts.

??

If Im missing the big picture, please enlighten!

 

[Recovry4x4]

if the deuce was sliding with the single line, what makes you think that a double line would have made a difference? as the OP noted, it would have only pulled him closer at a slower speed.

unless you meant that the static line was anchored at a location other than the deuce, right...?

Would have been worth a try with a 3 part line and a scotch anchor which could have been cobbled together with a 6x6 or chunk of tree trunk and 2 chains. I also agree that attaching the static end to another fixed object would have created less pull at the deuce.

 

[tennmogger]

Smart A$$ answer, a post can be entertaining, and deserve thanks, whether it's useful or not. The thanks is for the effort to post an adventure, not that we'd like to duplicate his lack of success.

He even had PICTURES!!!

Bob

Not to change the topic, but can anyone explain why the OP was 'thanked' for a helpful post?

What did this post do to get thanked for?

I ask because Ive been away from the site for a while, and it seems just looking in to be a slight 'good ol boy' pat on the butt for the secret squirrel club. I notice it used on other plain ol' posts.

??

If Im missing the big picture, please enlighten!

 

[Heavysteven]

The truck driver should have reilized he was stuck instead of digging himself deeper. Hopefully, you live you learn.

I did the same thing in a f-250 when i was 17, kept on spinning and spinning till it was buried. Now I stop, ask for help.

I enjoyed the pictures and story for what it's worth

 

[jimmcld]

Missed out on another chance to use my wrecker.

 

[zout]

I hope the driver owned his own tractor and Fre (hopefully) will not see their trailer advertised like this.

As as fleet perspective and from a safety review board: was there ANYTHING this driver could or should have done to eliminate this accident. Incidents are accidents.

The driver would have been charged back the full amount for a winchout - clean up and inspection of the rig if it were a company tractor. It appears this is a OO rig and Fre trailer.

It is not a negative comment and no need to fluster feathers - it just what would have been done from a fleet managers position.

I am glad you were able to finally get it out as it is a lot of dead weight and a couple members that have winch out experience pointed out a couple facts.

I am not one to pont fingers because I helped winch out a couple tree cutter rigs from our power lines - after thought - it was not a smart idea and they should have just gotten a wrecker and listen to the neighbors bitch. We gave a lot of thought before starting to tug on em.

 

[hemichallenger]

Got to say bottoms up to a 100 percent try.

 

[Stalwart]

I never try to use anything to it's maximum, when you do, it often results in breakage and/or injury. A 14,000 lb Deuce is not strong enough, frame wise, to be tackling such a task. Wreckers often have double and triple frames with winches to match. A Deuce's winch was made for self recovery, not for pulling out a vehicle that weighs 6 times as much, mired in the mud. You could have VERY easily broken something or worse . . .

 

[Floridianson]

Buried that deep, I'm not even sure my 39,000 lb. HEMTT would get that out. With a Deuce I wouldn't have even tried.

I would be willing to bet it would.

 

[SixSpeed]

Well, an A for effort at least.

That rig was sunk though! Wold have been an easy recovery if it wasn't buried up to the frame!

 

[Stalwart]

That rig was sunk though! Wold have been an easy recovery if it wasn't buried up to the frame!

Agreed, in my experience once you get in that deep you may need to pull almost as much as the rig weighs. The front straight axle makes an excellent earth anchor.

I stuck my H1 Hummer to the body in mud (OK a little deeper) and a 12,000 lb Warn was nearly maxed out pulling it free. It would have taken less effort to lift it straight out vertically.