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..