Vehicle recovery - this was a first for me

[bandit67]

A neighbor's teenager came knocking on our door late this afternoon looking for some help getting his 4Runner out of a "ditch".

I took the B3000 down to the "scene" to find that it wasn't a ditch, but a hill. How the kid kept the back tires on the road is beyond me. Road was snow & slush covered. The front end was still a few feet from the bottom of the hill, so there was still room for it to potentially head downhill. To make it worse, it was just about dark out, so the orange cones I put out a couple hundred yards from the switchback corner would be tough to see until headlights were on them. The truck was in the middle of that switchback corner, completely perpendicular to the road, meaning I had to have the tractor completely across the road to pull the truck out. It was so tight, there would be no way my F250 would fit across the road to pull it if the tractor couldn't handle it. The hill the truck was perched was a good 45* slope, and I didn't think there was any way I was going to pull it up and back onto the road.

I told the kid to get it switched into 4wd low if he could and back out as I pulled. After I got the tractor all lined up with the tow strap, he unlocked the brakes and tried to get it into 4wd Lo. Of course, down the hill it went so that the rear tires were now off the road and on the snowy slope. The tow strap kept it from going any further down the hill.

I would have driven it down the hill until it leveled out to get it onto a little dirt access way, but there was a tree in our way, and I figured the neighbors wouldn't be too happy if their kid got it stopped with no damage, then I put it into a tree trying to get it out.

To my amazement, the B3000 pulled it up the hill like it was nothing. I had the tractor in 4wd Low range.

I think the kid was pretty happy it all turned out well with no damage. Now we can harass him about it forever, but at least there was no expensive damage to go along with it.

Only problem is now all the neighbors may start bugging me to get them out of ditches, as it's a common thing around here in the winter.

 

[texasjohn]

good job, good post, good tractor, good luck on your next rescue job:thumbsup:

 

[creekbend]

Well done. :thumbsup:

 

[pmhowe]

A 45* slope is pretty steep. I'm impressed that the B3000 was able to pull it out. Speaks well for the tractor - and the tractor driver. I hope you made the youngster do all the hookups - and checked them yourself! Well done!

 

[bandit67]

I wish I could have gotten some pics, but it was getting dark, and I was a bit concerned with being in the middle of that corner for too long, so it was all business.

One elderly neighbor stopped as he was driving by and said "there's no way you're getting that thing pulled back up onto the road". I can't say that I disagreed with him initially.

 

[johnk]

Glad it had a Happy Ending. No one hurt and no damage only the kids ego..............

 

[bcp]

I saw a very similar situation-pickup over a bank about 45 degrees, tailgate at road level. The 350-450 class tow truck couldn't pull it out, the winch and boom just lifted the front of the tow truck. I had to leave so don't know how it eventually came out.

Good work with your tractor.

Bruce

 

[TRR]

Those little tractors are amazingly powerful. I had to tow a Dodge Dakota home with an L235. All flat land, but the transmission was locked in park and the kubota pulled it across 25 feet of asphalt pavement with the truck's rear tires locked and the tractor on sandy soil.

 

[love2farm]

bet that was one happy kid. Probably glad he didn't have to go home and explain how he crashed his car.

 

[Bob77064]

Good job, well done.