M925A1 Stuck on my own property. DOH!!! Winch to the rescue!

[Truckoholic]

So, I've been doing all this work to this truck since I bought it a couple weeks ago. Haven't driven it on the highway yet, because I haven't registered it yet, because I wanted to make sure I fixed it all up good enough to be road worthy first of course.

I've worked really fast on it, replacing the broken cylinder liner, and destroyed piston, and all of the other little crap that you do to make these things road worthy. I work from home doing a job that allows me a lot of time to work on stuff like this, and being the impatient person I am, I worked til late each night getting it all back together and running good.

So tomorrow is the big day! The day that I go to the DMV and get this thing registered. And so I just wanted to take one more quick little drive around the edges of my property to make sure everything was still looking good, and the engine and transmission were at the proper temps and things. So I head out into my field, and get to a particularly wet spot. But it was still moving along pretty good. But.....then it started to bog down. And I started to panic..... Because I knew there were no trees big enough to winch myself out of that mess in that area of my property. And I also knew, that there was no way for a commercial tow truck to reach me clear on that side of my property either. All these thoughts are running through my head as the truck is rapidly coming to a stop, and it's sinking up to the axles. I thought "This is just great! I bought this truck, didn't even get to drive it anywhere, and here it's going to sit for who knows how long til I can afford to hire a dozer to come pull me out or something."

There was a small tree up ahead of me, so I got out and dragged the winch line to that tree knowing it was not big enough, but hoped that maybe if I just pulled a little with the winch, drove forward a little, then pulled a little with the winch back and forth like that, that maybe I could work my way out of there without pulling the tree over. And at first, it actually did start to work. I moved forward about 6 or 8 inches using that tree before it got pulled over. So I went hiking in search of another stronger tree, but there really were not any trees big enough for about 400 feet away. I don't have that much cable or that many chains to hook together. But I did find three smaller trees, that by themselves were not strong enough, but they were in line with each other, so what I did was wrap the cable around the first tree, then wrapped it around the second tree, and then hooked it to the third tree. Went back and got in the truck, and thank heaven, those three trees together had enough strength that I was able to very slowly inch my way forward to more solid ground, and was finally able to get up out of there.

Stupid little quick test drive around my field turned into a real world, necessary use of the winch for self recovery. Ha ha Sure glad I had the winch and that I had previously made sure it was working! And what a workout for my skinny 180 pound self to pull that heavy winch cable out as far as it would go to reach those trees! Even with the cable pulled out all the way, I still had to hike back to the truck to get one of my 20 foot chains to give me enough length to reach the third tree.

I sadly didn't get any pictures of the truck stuck because my phone was clear back over in my shop plugged into the charger. The front bumper was only a couple feet off the ground. So I rode my ATV back over to take pictures of the aftermath. So yeah, that was my Sunday afternoon fun. ha ha



Made some massive deep ruts in my poor field!




Here's the first tree I attempted to use.


Because as you can see in this picture, all there really is, is shrubbery, and the next trees of any substance, are clear the heck over on that hill sticking up hundreds and hundreds of feet away.


Took me far longer to spray the mud out of the wheels, and brake drums and things than it took me to get the thing unstuck. ha ha

 

[Truckoholic]

I've been wanting to design a land anchor for just this sort of thing. A device that could be carried on the truck, that would have angled spades on it that would dig into soft ground and give you something to attach the winch line to when there are no trees. Would particularly come in handy in the sand I think if you ever got yourself stuck. Been working it out in my mind how to make it strong enough, and designed in a way that the more you pull on it, the harder it grabs on and deeper the spades go into the soft ground.

 

[rosco]

Stuck

Nice save, & that you had the trees. It takes about 8, two inch black spruce to winch to, & its best to have an axe to cut them out, when you winch up to them. I put a 24V cigarette lighter in the truck. The phone chargers will work on them.

 

[Truckoholic]

Nice save. I put a 24V cigarette lighter in the truck. The phone chargers will work on them.

Ha ha, I actually just today, a couple hours before this adventure, installed a 12 volt cigarette lighter socket in the truck. But since I was just going for a quick little drive around the property, didn't bother to get my phone first.

 

[jpg]

I've been wanting to design a land anchor for just this sort of thing. A device that could be carried on the truck, that would have angled spades on it that would dig into soft ground and give you something to attach the winch line to when there are no trees. Would particularly come in handy in the sand I think if you ever got yourself stuck. Been working it out in my mind how to make it strong enough, and designed in a way that the more you pull on it, the harder it grabs on and deeper the spades go into the soft ground.

http://www.danforthanchors.com/hitensile.html
If you have rocks, wrap a chain around one. If it's all sand or meadow, the danforth is designed for exactly that circumstance. It's sized for boats, where the direction of pull changes as the wind shifts, and the pull is very jerky as the swells pass. The pull is also largely up, toward the surface. A winch pulls in a straight line. steadily, with no "up" vector. That is *much* easier on the anchor. I have a 10,000 lb M1010 and a 18,000 lb winch. I'll probably carry the lightest danforth they make. I've never heard of anyone breaking one, but I'm sure it's possible. The harder you pull, the deeper it digs in.

This design has been around for many generations. They continuously refine the geometry of the parts, and upgrade them as new materials become available. I couldn't improve on its balance of light weight and holding power. I couldn't make a better one. They use alloys and heat treating that are beyond my capabilities. If I tried to build my own, it would be weaker and heavier.

Edit: There are lots of good anchor designs. The Danforth is the only one that folds flat for storage. That's why I mention it here.

Edit2: In very soft terrain (muck), under strain, the anchor will dig down until it hits something solid. Before you pull on the anchor, you can tie a recovery rope or tow strap to the horizontal round rods that stick out the sides. Then, when it's time to recover the anchor, you can easily pull it out of the hole it will have dug itself. If you think ahead and attach a recovery rope, it will be *much* easier to get the anchor out of its hole. It's like the difference between pulling an umbrella by the handle, or pulling it by the pointy end.

 

[Truckoholic]

Oh cool! I used to have one of those danforth anchors on my boat. I hadn't really thought about using one of those. Thanks! And in searching for other people using those anchors for land anchors I came across this. http://www.pullpal.com

 

[gringeltaube]

We have a very interesting TM in our library: VEHICLE RECOVERY OPERATIONS

See what the military uses in cases like this one...



G.

 

[jpg]

We have a very interesting TM in our library: VEHICLE RECOVERY OPERATIONS

See what the military uses in cases like this one...

The military approach involves items like big wooden stakes, which few of us carry, or digging really big holes. Given that he was stuck in a wet, low-lying area, any hole would have quickly filled with water. It always seemed to me that the guys who wrote that manual seemed to assume an infinite supply of available ditch-diggers, and that they probably never dug a big hole like that in their life.

I have used a danforth to anchor one end of a winch line on a featureless sandbar. I pulled out the line, and stomped the anchor into the sand as one would step on the back of the blade of a shovel when digging. One stomp and the anchor was set. No fuss, no muss. No heavy digging, or pounding heavy stakes 3' into the ground.

Most of us secure our winch lines to another vehicle. That's one of the reasons for never going out alone. When that is not an option, a small danforth will give you a good anchor point when a natural anchor is not available. Is it worth carrying? Probably not unless you go out alone. The OP could have used one...

 

[Recovry4x4]

Congrats on self retrieval and the success of creating a natural "Picket Holdfast". There are many great ideas put forth my members here and from that particular TM as well. Conditions are ever evolving as is the human mind.

 

[6x6guy]

What we did when I was doing more off roading is bring a bad tire with a rim a chunk of steel and a short chain ( some thing you could afford to live with out ), once you got stuck ( nothing or anybody to winch from ) just make a rectangular hole about 3 feet down ( angle the hole away from your position ), and slit a thin channel at a angle half way down-( width of the chain)- the slit will provide a channel for the chain once the tire is tossed in to the hole with the steel channel toward the back and the short piece of chain wrapped around the steel channel thus pulling and locking the chain towards you - now you have a anchor point that's guaranteed not to move.

 

[dmetalmiki]

What we did when I was doing more off roading is bring a bad tire with a rim a chunk of steel and a short chain ( some thing you could afford to live with out ), once you got stuck ( nothing or anybody to winch from ) just make a rectangular hole about 3 feet down ( angle the hole away from your position ), and slit a thin channel at a angle half way down-( width of the chain)- the slit will provide a channel for the chain once the tire is tossed in to the hole with the steel channel toward the back and the short piece of chain wrapped around the steel channel thus pulling and locking the chain towards you - now you have a anchor point that's guaranteed not to move.

A picture and or a drawing would be a very nice addition, and usefull to some members of your description of that get out of it fix..

 

[f800]

Never thought of a boat anchor, but it makes sense. Fortress Anchors are pricey, but are guaranteed for life. If you break it, they'll replace the parts for free (plus S&H). In addition, they have an adjustable fluke angle for soft mud

 

[therooster2001]

This is a pretty intriguing topic to me, so I googled the anchors and off roading. About seven different forums all came up with the Danforth idea, but not one of them tested it. Not one had definitive proof that it worked. Most said the pull-pal was great but bitched about the money. Anyone in here test the Danforth with a big MV?

And congrats on the recovery! This is the reason I bought an M925. (Not to get stuck, but the ability to get out)

 

[plode]

This is a pretty intriguing topic to me, so I googled the anchors and off roading. About seven different forums all came up with the Danforth idea, but not one of them tested it. Not one had definitive proof that it worked. Most said the pull-pal was great but bitched about the money. Anyone in here test the Danforth with a big MV?

And congrats on the recovery! This is the reason I bought an M925. (Not to get stuck, but the ability to get out)

I found this video on youtube...looks like it would probably work. I have a boat with a danforth, but don't have a winch truck, otherwise I'd try it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD3rmUGvmqw

 

[Truckoholic]

Very cool! Yes, I am definitely going to have to experiment with this. I just found two danforth anchors on Craigslist near me for $50 for both of them. ha ha. Can't tell how big they are. Maybe two of them together would be enough to help a 24,000 pound M925A1. I see a lot of videos of people winching smaller SUV's and Jeeps using land anchors, but I want to see how it actually holds up to something much bigger. I mean, it's all about pretty basic physics. I'm definitely looking for something that doesn't involve hours of digging and burrying something big. I mean, obviously if you were seriously stuck, you are going to do what you've gotta do even if that means spending hours to dig a hole or whatever. But I know there are better ways. And these land anchors show that. So the trick is finding one that will be quick and easy like the videos show, but be capable of withstanding the forces needed to winch out a 24,000 pound truck, and be something that can be carried somewhere onboard the truck.

I found this video on youtube...looks like it would probably work. I have a boat with a danforth, but don't have a winch truck, otherwise I'd try it out.

 

[Truckoholic]

I'm actually getting kind of excited now about the possibilities of carrying one or two of these danforth anchors in my truck, together with a snatch block. I'm picturing in my head various recovery situations where it would be handy to use the land anchor with a snatch block to winch someones elses vehicle out of a hole where you can't get a straight shot to them with your winch. We all are pretty much familiar with the concept of using a snatch block attached to a tree, but using one on a land anchor might be quite handy. I realize that the land anchor requires the force to be in one direction, so using a snatch block and pulling from the side, might cause issues, but it's definitely worth experimenting with especially if there is a situation where that's the only option for getting someone unstuck. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go try to buy these anchors from this guy on Craigslist as soon as I'm done working today and play around with them. I'll try to get some video of my tests.

 

[turnkey]

Cool stuff to look out for....Like a little test drive around the place....That what hiways are for....Nice recovery....Going to plant more trees??

 

[Recovry4x4]

I would also urge you to take a few minutes and look at FM20-22 that Gerhard linked above. There's a whole lot of good ideas in that FM that can really get you out of a jamb at
0-Dark-thirty on a Sunday.

 

[Truckoholic]

One reason I'm so interested in these land anchors, is because there are some sand dunes fairly close to me that I like to go to. Sand Lake in north western Oregon. And every time I've been there, I see multiple vehicles stuck where there are no trees around. This weekend I'm planning to take my M925A1 there for the first time, and while I don't anticipate doing anything stupid to get myself stuck, I want to be in a more prepared, and knowledgeable position with the proper equipment to effectively rescue others who get stuck.

 

[rhurey]

Looks like a ~40lb anchor can pull between 1,500 and 5,000 lbs.

http://newcontent.westmarine.com/content/documents/pdfs/WestAdvisor/2006-Anchor-Tests.pdf

Hmmm.... Need to see how the 80lb versions did.