Actually the road has a crown to it. If icy and that much tonnage without traction on ice it is a lot to move up even a slight incline.
Also a lot of people keep saying why didn't he push himself out? If you have ever gotten a wheel loader stuck you would know that the bucket doesn't dump as far as a tractor loader bucket does . In snow in particular it is very difficult to push your self backwards. You can only get a few inches at a time and it isn't far enough to overcome what ever is making you stuck. then you slide right back to where you were or worse, right up against a parked car:confused2:
I agree with you. I think everyone over in the Power Trac forum can empathize with the driver of the articulated vehicle, although they will most likely agree that he and the tow truck operator are idiots for causing so much damage to the parked vehicles. They should have given up and moved the parked cars.
The road is crowned pretty good.
The loader most likely has very hard industrial tires, which provide really really poor traction on pavement in snow.
When you spin the tires on an articulated vehicle while trying to move forwards or backward across a slope (or crown) you are going to crab down the slope. It is the nature of articulated machines.
The operator could have tried a few things, and maybe he did before the camera and tow truck arrived.
He could have angled the bucket to the LEFT, then used it to lift the front tires off the ground and steer to the right. Then lift the bucket. Repeat as necessary until the unit is facing away from the curb. He would have to watch his back end on the parked cars.
Or, he could have steered full right and placed the right front corner of the bucket against the curb and then spun the tires to swing his rear end out to the left. But again, there are cars parked across the street, so he would have to watch.
He may have been able to curl and dump the bucket with enough pressure on the FEL arms against the street to back himself out. On the other hand, he may have tried that and not been able to get a big enough bite on the pavement due to ice, rounded bucket edge, who knows.
Of, he may just have no business driving an articulated loader on city streets! :laughing:
But, we may never know because we weren't there in the seat before the camera started rolling.