Stuck Stories - share with us your stories of getting Stuck or Unstuck.

[Ben Rumson]

In response to my post, "No power trying to pull out a stuck Ford", some very fun and enlightening stories of getting other people unstuck were shared. Some great 4x4ing tricks/methods were also mentioned - each one adding wisdom of what to do in the real world of 4x4ing.



Let's all take a break from the serious technical Q&A stuff and have a little fun sharing our own "Stuck Stories" with each other. Be sure to mentioned WHAT YOU LEARNED from the experience and include any ingenious methods of environmental modification used or devised.



Perhaps we could even have a little fun scoring ourselves...



If you got stuck - minus 10 points.

If you eventually got out and learned something from it: +20 points - even if someone helped you, remember you learned something from this and we want to as well.

If you got someone else unstuck - +20

If you got a Ford or Chev unstuck - +30

If there were witnesses - +40

and so on and so on...



Let us hear your Stuck Stories (sand, mud, snow, rivers, etc) and have some FUN with this. How did it happened? How'd you get out? How'd you get them out? What did you learn? Stories For Guys Who Like Stories



Diesel Dan and BHaner - I hope your listening. Let's share your stories with everyone as well.



Thanks!

- Bruce Adams

Smithfield, Utah

 

[Sled Puller]

-10- Stuck in my own field, dragging an old truck bed smoothing the - circle track! 94 auto, no power to clean the mud off of the wheels. Pulled out with my tractor, no Ford witnesses.



What I learned: Get a standard and BOMB.



+20-20, I pulled out same tractor, with new truck, from a creek crossing different years. I was driving the tractor once.



What I learned: That hole is always worse than it looks. Had to set up the cable blocks, it was nasty, trees, on the side of a hill, no paint scraped.



+30 Pulled out Ford mechanics truck. Stick in sand On I-69, sunk like a rock.

+40 Witnesses, the Ford owners brother! And, a guy in a Celebrity that drove a circle around the Ford, then left. heheheh



So, total 60. That should be easy to beat. Some of you guys make a living at this!

 

[illflem]

Was at my local recycling center when one of the work release from jail employees drove a hard rubber tired forklift into deep gravel, stuck up to the axles. I thought no problem hooked up their chain, couldn't pull it in 4H. Shifted into 4L and proceed to pull it 25 feet to the asphalt. Turned out the twit on the 15,000 pound forklift had the parking brake on, dug a foot deep ditch though the gravel and stretched the chain so tight that you could stand it up in a corner.



Never been able to get my truck stuck even though it should have been.

 

[Don M]

Last year in Idaho I was going to do a little hunting for predators with my rabbit call and the snow had been falling all week long. I knew of a way to get into this area where the fence was down and I forgot about the steep drop off from the road to the pasture or field. I went right down in there without even thinking, was going about 20MPH and by the time I started to sink down it was too late. The snow was coming over the hood at that point and my truck weighed in at 8975 pounds loaded last time so... . I was stuck bad. I was in a remote area very far from anyone and it was going to be dark in less than 2 hours. Bout 9 degrees and lightly snowing but the wind was strong.

I always carry a good shovel when hunting or when going into the boonies with me. I shoveled for hours, way past dark. Finally got out. No cars past on the road above me the entire time I was digging. Way out of cell range. I was determined to get out and did. Took almost all night and probably put about 10,000 miles of wear on the clutch rockin' it back and forth.



No predators, dern near froze to death, and went back the next night to try again.



It took three more tries before I got me a fox. Little one.



Don~

 

[fest3er]

A friend was coming over to do some work on his Blazer, so I figured I'd park the Ram on the lawn right next to the driverway. It had been raining for a day or so.



It was dark when I decided to put the truck back on the driveway. I started it, put it in reverse and tried to back out. No go. 4LO and try again. Still no go. So I got out to check and the front end was sunk to the axle. The front tires has just sunk straight down!.



Fetched my neighbor who tried to yank it out with his Ranger, but there was no joy. Then he got his come-along, attached one end to the hitch and the other to a stout oak tree and proceeded to manually winch the sucker free.



So now I'm a little more picky about where I park and drive! If it might be soft and muddy, I go elsewhere! (Like in that case, I should've driven around and parked in the nicely paved area in front of the house!)



Fest3er

 

[Jff24Gordn]

My dad got my truck stuck. He was showing a guy where to put field tile to drain the field. My dad was just ilding along in 4x4, and it stopped, he tried reverse, didnt work, so they waked out, and came back in a few hours with a AC 8070FWA with a 8. 3CTA. Went back to the house, and got the big forklift and took them both. The truck had sunk till the floorboard was on the ground, and the bumpers were underground. Chained the tractor to the front and the froklift to pickup on the reese hitch. it came right out.

1 witnesse who was able to see why it got stuck when he got a setiger stuck there a few weeks later

mental note, drive faster, need better tires than stock



me...

idling on a wet clay road with a little grade to the side. truck slid sideways into a ditch, no hope, couldnt open passanger door. but there was a international 1266 right behind me, out in one tug. lots of witnesses, on my way back to party in a field with lots of 4x4's and a tractor, and I had the keg of budlight so i was taking it easy (20years old at the time )

mental note bald coopers suck, but better to be pulled out than shake the beer



me... not sober at a party around a mud hole

went for the "little hole" pushed hard clay with the bumper, and front axle, the rear axle must have been an anchor in a prevoius life. pulled out by a 82 ford bronco on 38" hawgs... . shot it again... just made it. witnesses 10-15

moral if it almost makes it the first time, a few more beers and try try again, also bald Remmington Mud Brutes better than bald Wrangler GSA or Cooper AST

 

[eGarwood]

One night I was having a party at my house when the cops call me. It seems one of my buddies ... who is a detective two towns over. . has gotten his truck... REDDAWG... A Maroon Red 95 phord 350 SRW ex. cab 4x4 sour stoke diesel. . stuck in the bay mud trying to drive out a trail at low tide... . He's been stuck 2 hours and his 3 mo. old truck is going under. . the tide is coming up! I told the dispatcher that I've been drinking and shouldn't be driving... He tells me that my detective friend has been also... that's why he's stuck, and why their calling me. . if his superiors find out ... well you get the picture... Sooo, the dispatcher sends two patrol units to my house, WOW this is cool I have a police escort to go pull somone out . . and I'm WASTED!!!

Well, when I got on scene there were 3 trucks pulling on REDDAWG and he's up to the door bottoms in mud,... an 89 4x4 phord 150, a 79 phord 4x4 250, and an old Chevy Stepside 4x4 1/2 ton. My buddy told everyone to move their trucks, as they had been pulling on him for 45 min. and had only suceeded in burrying him more. The plan was for me to line up for a straight pull and then the others line up beside me. Well, they never got the chance, as I was tightening the slack out of my 35' 23,000 lb. strap, I misinterpreted someones hand signal to stop and in 4 low 2nd gear, I gave her a little foot. When the slack went out of the strap I thought I was going thru the windsheild. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a Cummins doin what she's born to PULLIN!!! Soon I was aware of a sound that I thought was going to implode my eardrums... A giant sucking sound, and cheering... then forward motion. I put the clutch to the floor and everything came to a stop. The Dodge did it, all by herself, everyone was amazed. . even me I have to say. That night my truck earned the nickname of a legend. BABE is what my freinds call my truck... BABE the Blue OX. Sooo, if you ever hear a story about an OX saving a DAWG from drowning... it's true ... I was drivin' the OX!!!!!

 

[Hummin Cummins]

Buddy calls says he has his new warn winch hooked up and wants to test it. We find a spot to stick his chebby 454 powered dually. Broke through the ice, and we were done. Broke the rest of the ice in front of us and hooked up the winch. Snap the cable, crack another beer, and start walking to get my truck. After boring through the mud to get to him, yanked him out with no trouble. Then, like the ego twisted soul that I am, had to show him one better and make it through myself. He is now the proud owner of his third Cummins powered Ram 4x4 dually



Lessons learned, never trust a winch, not enough pockets to carry all the beer you need to walk home, NEVER 4 wheel with only one rig.

 

[WDaniels]

Got stuck in my own drive way! But... . there was a F*** stuck before me and there wasn't any where to go. What happened was that it was snowing that real wet mashed potato snow that as soon as you drive over it, it turns to ice and off you go into the drainage ditch on the side of the drive way Well, I got my 80,000 lb. snach strap, hooked it to the pintle hook on the back of my 96 3500 cummins 4x4 and gave it to my buddy to hook to his 250 F***. He proceeds to hook to the bumper. Tried to tell him that that wasn't a good place but he insisted that that F*** bumper would handle anything I could dish out.

Lessons that I learned. It's no problem pulling a F-250 bumper out of the ditch.

 

[Pthomas]

stuck in my own drive way too

Damn that Snow!

tried to pull in my driveway after a big snow and the plows have done thier dirty work on the main road into my driveway and I diddnt get a good enough start to blast thru the 5 ft mountain. "all four wheels floating away in mid air" had to do ALOT of shoveling that day! No ford whitness but a fellow ram stoped by to offer a hand.

 

[moparguy]

It's a wet winter and I'm delivering a coupla hundred bales of hay on my 30' gooseneck hay trailer. Miss the road to the customers house and can't find a place to turn around.



Finely see a farm shop (outside Stuttgart ArK. ) with a road around it. And from the looks of things no one is home at the house. So, turn off, start around the shop and get to the back side and the gravel runs out and the buckshot mud starts, I hit 4whl. dr. , go about 10 feet further and the truck and trailer set down to the axels.



The wife walks a couple miles to a farm house we can see, calls a buddy who doesn't have a working winch on his jeep but wants to pull anyway (didn't let him try, broke his heart)



I spot a big John Deere farm tractor coming down the road, has duels on both ends, articulates in the middle, a Big Boy. I get in the middle of the road waving both hands and of course he stops.



When he hooks up to the 30K strap I already had in place, he never even broke an idle as he pulls me back to the blacktop.



I was one happy guy. Contacted the farmer later and he said not to worry about the road, he needed to finish it anyway.



Lesson learned, get out and walk out those strange places, and don't miss your turns.

 

[JoeyD]

How much were you drinking when you were typing that one eGarwood. 3 trucks pulling one at the same time, and could not do it then somehow you can get more traction than 3 trucks with one?

 

[DieselDoghouse]

STUCK!!

OK here goes: 1. stuck 2. While sitting still (!!) 3. field tested the Warn M15.

Parked in my own barnyard next to a recently trenched and refilled ditch. Musta shut the truck door too hard 'cause I started to put it in gear and felt the truck sinking tBlazer & horse trailer as anchors for the winch - - pulled 'em both 15' with all wheels locked. Six trees, a hi-lift and 2 4x4's later I was out. Winch worked...

Points: got myself out, there WERE witnesses, there are pictures!!:--)

 

[eGarwood]

12 or 17 or so...

Seriously, I didn't have a drop while writing the story..... The main reason I got him out and three trucks couldn't... I attribute to my 35 foot strap, which put me a considerable ways from him on hard packed sand, with the advantage of a running start. The other three trucks were using 10' lengths of 3/8 chain... . and when I got there it looked like they were all pulling against each other, kinda like a starburst configuration.

Ed3

 

[SLang]

Episode 1:

-20: Pulled into my cousins driveway (a downward slope) and could not get my 2wd Cummins to move.



+10: A smart**s in his 4wd 94 S-10 Blazer was heavy enough to move my truck. I was in reverse helping him and when my rear started to slide I took him with me.



+10: My cousin has a 96 Cummins with a Banks kit. Even though I make fun of him for too much money for not enough power he was kind enough to pull on me. He want wheel speed so he in 4WL and 4th and I'm in 3rd. Picture purfect moment when 2 modified Cummins spitting out streams of Black smoke. Filled the whole valley. I talked him into "walking" the truck around the side of the hill. Worked out fine.



+40: Four hardcore GM fans saw the power of a Cummins



Total: +40



Episode 2:

-10: I was wheeling my 31 shod 88 S-10 Blazer with a stock Toyota. I hit a hole that was deeper than my hood.



+10: After scubba diving for the rear hitch the 'Yota pulled my out.



+10: The 'Yota driver had as much "liquid curage" as I and tried it.



+10: I was already wet so I dove in for his hitch and pulled him out.



We went in for lunch and a couple more large contianer of "insperation in a can" and headed backout around 1:00 PM.



No points: 'Yota trashed his clutch and we waited around 1-2 hours for it to cool.



Around 5:00 we got to the bar and met up with some friends. One with a 33 shod 6" lifted Toyota and the other a 33 shod 78' K5 blazer. A few more cases of the "Good stuff" and went back to the trail.



-10: On the way back to the trails I was following the unmodified Yota (yes the one with the toasted clutch). He was in "Speed-racer"/"Baja 1000" mode and I was trying to keep up. We came around a turn and my aired-down tires came off of the bead. My Blazer flipped up on to it side. As a side note no "liqiud refreshment" was harmed or spilled in this adventure. I was driving, my brother in the passenger seat, and a friend in the back seat. My brother and I exited the vehicle and my friend was lying on the side glass looking like one of those Garfields dolls with suction cup hands that people stick in thier windows. Since he was whining my brother and I grabbed the roof rack and put the truck back on it's wheels. By the time we go the wheels off my Blazer the 33 shod Yota caught up with us. We threw the wheel in and went to the local Gas station.



+40: We checked all fluids and put the wheels back on. Only minor body damage and all glass in one piece. Time to continue wheeling. Beside it's only 8 O'clock we have plenty of time.



+20: We wheel for a few hours and the 33 shod Yota ussually shows us up. So we head down to where I was stuck earlier that day. I hit it hard and skimmed across. He hits it easy and sinks. I pulled him out without a trouble.



+40: There were 3 trucks of people to see the Mud ready Toyota get pulled out by a junk Blazer.



+20: His new girl friend was in the passenger seat of his truck. He was bragging to her at the bar earlier on how great his truck was in the mud.



Total: 130 points and 1728 ounces of the "mind stimulating juice"



I have more but I think the is long enough.



Scott,

 

[JCockrell]

Lessons

1. Never go anywhere without at least a 20 ft chain and a shovel.

2. Never go anywhere without a 20ft chain, shovel and at least a come-a-long.

3. Never go anywhere without 2 20ft chains, shovel, come-a-long and a Hi-Lift Jack.

4. Never go without a second rig, not so much "pat and ben"



My personal best advertisement for the Cummins. A friend of mine stuck a 24ft Ryder moving truck in a bar ditch. The truck was full to the gills with household and garage goods. Of course all the new neighbors were there in observance. The nay-sayers "gonna hafta call onena them big ol' tow trucks". I drove out thru the front yard, hooked up, dropped it into first, layed down a little rubber, (needed new tires) and pulled him right out. The usual oooos and ahhhs were in the air after this and the men gathered around asking all the usual questions.

Cummins rules !!!

 

[BHaner]

stuck dorF

I pulled my room mates dorF 350 4x4 diesel backwards out of a 10 foot deep ditch after he went around an icy corner too fast. Due to the extreme side angle I recommended that he did not start his motor because there wouldn’t be any oil to suck into the pump. So with about 450# of extra weight in the back, a 25’ transport grade chain and not much traction on the icy road I went to work. Before I go on I think I need to tell about where I was. This was a back road with no traffic and the closest house was about 500’. I started at about the white line in 4 high. Once the boost got up all I would do was spin. So I went into 4 low. Now I would spin as soon as I touched the pedal, however there was a lot less noise and no black cloud. I noticed him move just before I lost traction. So I just started stabbing at the pedal. For some reason this seemed to work… Every time I hit it he would move a little. So here I am in the middle of the road hooked to what looks like nothing but a ditch and my truck looks like it is humping the road. Just when it was starting to get a little old, something cut loose and he started moving. I punched it, and out he came with only a few dents, a bent mirror and a little more respect for an icy corner and the Dodge Cummins turbo diesel.

 

[gitchesum]

I guess I get a cool 190 points, Man!!! All in the matter of about 30 minutes.



Here's how ya do it.

Brother in Law calls me at 9:30 at night, "Hey Man, can you pull me out??". I'm already in bed so I tell him to call Scott. Now, Scott has this HUGE crew cab 4X4 Ford F-350 SRW with about a 6 inch lift and 36in. mud tires. "I got stuck pulling Scott out" was the reply. Now I know these guys are in deep doodoo. "Call Ricky" I say. . Ricky also has a 4X4 Ford. "Well, Scott got stuck pulling Ricky out" was the reply once again. I'm out of 4X4 guys now.



Now everyone knows my truck is not anywhere set up for any off-road activites, but I figured what the heck, I'll give it a shot. We could always get a tractor if things get real bad.



I get out to the spot and sure enough, there are 3 trucks, in a line, in the mud. Chevy-Ford-Ford. All I have is a 20ft strap. Luckily, they also had a 20ft strap and a 20ft chain. The 20 ft strap was just enought to get my rear tires on some somewhat solid ground. We hooked up to the Chevy and I start to pull. Lemme tell ya, highway tread tires are absolutely no good in any type of dirt, wet or dry. Neither trucks move. We try it a couple of ways and nothings working. Finally I just told him to get in and hang on. Back the truck up about 6ft and start jerking the heck out of him. After about the 5th yank the Chevy gets out.



Now the fun part. I got enough straps to pull the Big Ford out but we don't have enough to get to the first truck that got stuck. I suggest just chain the two trucks together and use my truck to pull them both out at the same time. Granted, both trucks only needed a little pull to get them started but the sight of my 2WD dually with street tires yanking on two big 4X4 Fords with mud grips gives me braggin rights.



So here's how I scored it

pulled one Ford +30

pulled second Ford +30

pulled one Chevy +30

Pulled some one else X3 +60

Plenty of witnesses +40

190 points

 

[Hale on wheels]

OK, where do I begin? I think I began getting thinks stuck in the mud when I was about 2 years old riding in my old Tonka Dump truck But I'll skip all that, because you guys may want to grab a "confidence in a can" just to read this one.



My high school buds and I went camping (i. e. drinking in the woods so the parents couldn't see us) with my jeep and 2 4-wheelers. After a few rounds, several of the guys loaded up on the 4-wheelers and took off down the road to other freinds' houses. After a while, I got the great idea to go looking for them. So the 3 of us loaded up in my jeep and started navigating the logging trails to get out and to the road. Since I couldn't see too clearly by this point, I took the wrong trail and ended up in a canyon that a log skidder had been stuck in. My jeep was not nearly as tall as said log skidder, so after a while of not moving anywhere and fish swimming across my lap I finally realized I was pretty stuck. I climbed out, and could see the windshield, roll cage, and half my dash of my jeep above the water. After about 17 hours of trying to unstick the jeep and sticking two ~50 hp tractors trying to get the jeep out, a guy with a Toyota and a 12k# winch comes to the rescue. Had to triple line the tractors, but yanked my 2400# jeep right out with a single line.



Lessons learned: Get a winch, bigger tires, and lay off the juice while navigating. Now I am glad that that hole was there because there is no telling what damage I could have done to myself and my friends had I made it to the road!

 

[Ben Rumson]

Photos anyone?

I look forward to each new post. This is both FUN and USEFUL. I'm learning a lot.



Wish I could have been there to see BHaner's rig gettin' jiggy with the road.



We should add an additional 10 points for anyone how is fortunate enough to have any PHOTOS of these adventurous happenings. I know that taking a picture is the last thing most people think of in a situation, but hey, it might help us laugh at ourselves easier as time heals our wounds, scars, and egos.



Hopefull there's a few out there.



Keep the stories coming!



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