Pulling stuck vehicles out of the ditch with a tractor

[TurbineGuy]

Where I live the LEOs advised to be aware of the operator's condition. If they are inebriated or DUI, I could be liable for any accidents they may cause after I pulled them out of the ditch.

 

[DarkBlack]

Where I live the LEOs advised to be aware of the operator's condition. If they are inebriated or DUI, I could be liable for any accidents they may cause after I pulled them out of the ditch.

….And if you yourself, are inebriated… don’t stop there either

 

[farmerobrown]

I did it often long ago. But modern cars are so delicate, and with people and insurance companies looking for someone to take the blame, I don't any more, with a few exceptions.

Bruce

Exactly, I have heard of pulling the front end off of these newer cars.

 

[JRH02]

Our (logging) trails are extremely rough and steep with sharp turns. The area is thick forest and off grid. They are all private and available for other land owners via easement or fire, EMS and LEO. The trails have no end of PRIVATE ROAD, NO TRESPASSING, 4WD VEHICLES ONLY, ENGAGE 4WD, etc. There is no cell service. There have been multiple people getting stuck over the years, usually from spinning on the ice in the wheel ruts and go sideways. I have collected no end of plastic car pieces and have the stuff attached to a tree where the trail branches off from the marked minimum maintenance county road. These things only happen in the worst conditions.

The very first words out of my mouth are "where are you going?" if I don't know them. If it is someone snooping, joy riding, poaching etc they are out of luck. I will call for them while they wait outside and the dogs are ready to wreck their day if they do something stupid. I doubt they can even give a recovery truck directions to their rig's location. They should not be where they are. Period. But if its a neighbor they get invited in for a hot drink while I am getting suited up an warming the tractor.

In addition to all the other cautions provided in this thread I am not inclined to cold start and warm up my equipment at that time of year. And if our 20,000# machine gets into trouble am I going to have repairs or recovery covered by the trespasser? AM I being the &$$hole?

 

[POGuy]

At my old place the neighbors girl friend got stuck in the snow drift the town plow had put across their driveway.
A couple of us saw this from my place so we walked over to see what was going on.
She needed a small push to get over the drift.
Tried to sue us all for the damage to her brake lines and steering alignment. Also one or more of us was responsible for putting a big dent in her trunk lid. It had obviously been there sometime and had rusted where the paint was missing.
I'll call the local tow truck if you want.
Push/pull no way.

Plus if you call a tow truck yourself, it is almost always cheaper and more reasonable than the police/Gov. official making the call from a rotating list of vendors. They will bleed you!

 

[sreeb]

 

[Topzide]

^^^^^^^^^
Perfect reason of not to do it!

 

[DarkBlack]

Yup. Youngsters

 

[Rita]

Thanks guys. I will see what I can manage, attaching to the rear hitch with the blade raised. If I can't get enough clearance, I'll try attaching directly to the boom of the blade and go carefully. At some point I would like to get a hydraulic top link which would enable me to get that rear blade right out of the way.

I do used a dynamic recovery strap and, if possible, request stuck person to attach it to their vehicle, in the hopes it absolves me of any liability. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part?

Most people don’t know where to hook a rope or chain. They will hook it on a tie rod then blame you for not telling them where or you not doing it for them. It’s a no win deal either way.

 

[Deanes]

It's all good advice, but I want to emphasize that it must be an extreme emergency for me to hook up the car. One scratch, one dented or busted plastic bumper, and you will wish you had stayed in by the fire. One commenter said all modern cars have a tow hookup. I didn't know that and will look into that. always learning..

 

[bcp]

Many, not all, have a removable tow point, but is is mainly for moving a rolling car, not for pulling out a stuck car, other than minor stuck, and definitly not for yanking.

Bruce

 

[Paul McILwain]

If I can’t find or reach a suitable towing point on the vehicle I put my strap thru the spokes of the rear wheel ( if towing from behind on a front wheel drive car) or if from the front make sure the driver is not trying to help. I prefer to use the tow bar on the rear of the tractor and not on any 3pt hitch implement as it is then pulling on the 3pt hitch arms. Also don’t like to attach to the loader as it can get bent

 

[5030]

Long ago I not so fondly remember pulling a CJ out of the ditch down the road and I had the driver hook up my chain to his Jeep and he hooked it on the tie rod and I gave that Jeep a serious case of bad wheel alignment as in both front wheels were pointing inward. Oh well.

 

[RayIN]

Long ago I not so fondly remember pulling a CJ out of the ditch down the road and I had the driver hook up my chain to his Jeep and he hooked it on the tie rod and I gave that Jeep a serious case of bad wheel alignment as in both front wheels were pointing inward. Oh well.

Yup, I never attach my tow strap to a vehicle that does not belong to me for that reason.
I don't like to use a chain to tow a vehicle, I use a nylon tow strap. It's easier on both vehicles, plus the rebound effect of the tow strap gives an extra uuph to getting the towed vehicle out of the mud/snown.
I have 2 tow straps, a 10K# strap in my truck and a 100K# strap i use with my tractor. (it's way too big to haul around)

 

[YoungMark]

NEVER use the Tow Ball. You are putting the cheap bolt in Shear. A special tow hook is available for your receiver.

Also keep all spectators well behind the towed vehicle and/or well off to the side. A dozer was pulling a stuck vehicle with chain a while back and a shackle let go - a bystander was killed instantly. Plenty of Youtube videos about damage and people getting killed from failed towballs.

 

[RayIN]

Also keep all spectators well behind the towed vehicle and/or well off to the side. A dozer was pulling a stuck vehicle with chain a while back and a shackle let go - a bystander was killed instantly. Plenty of Youtube videos about damage and people getting killed from failed towballs.

steel rope can do the same thing, that's why wrecker operators will direct bystanders to move away.

 

[DutchInNZ]

There are several videos on YT where people think that vehicle pulling is best started with a very hard jerk. Those guys here would have been helped a lot better with a simple shovel instead of a tow. Wonder why the happy looking guy stopped laughing when he had even more reason to, seeing such comedy from so near.

 

[5030]

My 'towballs have way more balls than that....

 

[tjandrews]

In truth it's been at least 20 years since we had to tow a vehicle that wasn't ours. We live on a main highway that is cleared before anything else, and such incidents are rare. This time, though, it was a neighbor's daughter. We used the Case SC that time, because it didn't have any attachments on it. The Case is 2WD, only about 30HP, but those with bigger tractors are often surprised by how much an experienced operator can pull with it. And since we had all learned how to drive a tractor on my grandfather's SC, we were experienced.
Long story short, we pulled her out without incident, refusing any attempts at payment. But the following spring the neighbor, who owned a small engine repair business at the time, pulled into our driveway and dropped off an old garden tractor that he had taken in on trade, with mower deck and snowblower attachments. It needed some minor repairs, but was too old for it to be profitable for him to repair for resale.
We still have that garden tractor. The attachments wore out long ago, but I mounted a sprayer on the back of it that we now use in places where the tractor sprayer is just too big. Oh, and we are still good friends with that neighbor...

 

[WranglerX]

It's all good advice, but I want to emphasize that it must be an extreme emergency for me to hook up the car. One scratch, one dented or busted plastic bumper, and you will wish you had stayed in by the fire. One commenter said all modern cars have a tow hookup. I didn't know that and will look into that. always learning..

Only tow hooks I have observed on vehicles seem to be on front of pick ups.... Sort of seems like he man bling for trucks....