It's always good to do the right thing especially when you need it done right and quick....
About 4 weeks ago (Jan 21) we had a good (8") snow which quickly turned to ice. We live on what's turned into a major secondary 2 lane road that gets plowed by 2, 3 or 4 truck plows in tandem about every 30 to 40 mins. About 10:30 that night wifey says she sees lots of lights through the blinds, we look out the front window and see a 3/4 ton chevy van stuck in the front ditch that's just taken out my mailbox - knocked the 3" steel post buried 2 ft completely out of the ground and don't see the box at all. 3 young men where walking around, pushing and trying to rock the van out in the pouring, blowing snow. I quickly put on my coveralls and went out to protect my interests. I was quite upset that they hadn't knocked on the door to announce their presence and dilemma in MY yard. I walked out angry and I could tell they were shaken, could have been my .357 in the holster belt slung over my shoulder. English, it seemed, was their second language maybe even 3rd or 4th. My house is only 25-30 ft to the ditch, so they were all over my front yard. They were from Maryland were working late in my area and trying to make it home in the 'black ice' of the night with hardly any tread on their tires, lost control and slid off the road across my driveway. Anyway the driver apologized for not knocking first and they seemed sincere enough, not beligerant (we're only 40 miles from DC and always read about crazy violence) and offered me his driver's license before I asked and asked if I knew of and could call a tow truck to get him out. He offered to pay for the mailbox and any damage to the yard. Well being late and not wanting to drag out this ordeal I brought out my BX1860 from the garage just 25' from the scene. The other 2 guys blocked traffic and the driver started and put the van in reverse after I hooked my tow chain to his frame - no tow hitch - and to my fel hook. My little BX rocked a couple times in 4X low range and pulled that heavy*** van out of the near 4' deep ditch. The whole thing took maybe 30 min and 15 of that was warm up time for my tractor. When I got his van out on the road I saw my mailbox buried in the snow under where he was stuck - whole, not damaged at all. He was on his way - no cops, no tow truck, no wasted time. Next day, still in sub-zero temps, I reset the post with digging bar and manual phd's and reattached the box - only needed a new piece of plywood to set it on, so didn't even miss one day's mail. Between that and plowing out my 75' long X 12' wide circle driveway with the fel it took me about 3 hours. Best part is knowing just how strong my little tractor truely is.
