May 2009
Stuck....Really Stuck
As I'm sure most all of you reading this have been really stuck. Meaning that you've buried a truck up to the frame and needed help from three friends and possibly a bulldozer to get out. This is a Tool Tale you'll appreciate.
I was working for the railroad (no names, gotta keep it anonymous) and on a particular job I had to drive into a location to begin work. It's at the tail end of winter so everything is dusted with snow. Enough snow that it's just slick enough to not get traction where you really need it. So I drive into my site not really knowing where I'm supposed to turn. Come to find out, I drove way past the turn. In the many attempts to turn around, I discovered the truck was just too big to do so at the spot where I was in the trail. So backing up was my only choice. I backed up for some 30 yards and slid a little attempting to miss several random trees that I didn't remember being so hard to drive around the first time in. Which found me stuck....really stuck. While still mostly on the trail, I've now got the rear end of the truck on one side of a large rock I had "uncovered" while sliding partially off the trail, and a 2 1/2 inch thick 5 foot tall sapling stuck over the rear end and between the fender and the fender support. Seems simple enough, right? Just move the truck in the opposite direction of the rock and the sapling should come out, right? Except the sapling wouldn't come out! And I didn't want to slide any further off the trail and risk losing a truck. So I sat for a moment, thinking of possibilities. The only immediate fix was to pull out my Leatherman Core and saw the sapling off almost at the ground. I figured getting that out would be worth while since it was keeping the truck from moving in the direction I wanted. And I figured it would be easier to explain the ordeal without a tree and roots sticking out of the side of my truck. So, I sawed the sapling off, threw dirt and what little gravel I could find under the tires, and drove out without another issue. And I still got the job done!
Adam E.
Laurel, MT
OK, you voyeur, you. Enough of reading other people's stories. It's time you told your own tale of gripping heroism or even just neat DIY'ism. We know there's a Shakespeare in you somewhere. Don't make us use the Steens to find it.