It Could Always Be Worse

So my schedule for yesterday did a big fat change Friday night.  Instead of the Palouse car show we decided to help Joe with a private Boomershoot party.  We drove the truck for simplicity sake and got out there a little bit late.  Late enough that everyone was at the Taj by the time we got there.

As I arrived I saw a set of tracks running through the field next to the berm down at 380.  Figured ok passage should be good.  I eventually get in a ways and see a small mud hole that doesn’t look too bad.  This thing was deep enough and wet enough it could have been used as a runaway truck ramp because that’s exactly how it behaved.  I hit it at about 20 to 25 and immediately stated slowing down I got to just the other side but the rear end was mired in.  I Tried backing up cutting to one side to try and get another run, big freaking mistake.  My front end sunk in absolutely no time flat.  When I got out this is what it looked like.

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The weight of the diesel block is what did me in cause notice how the front wheels sunk.

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We tried to pull it out initially by Joe doing a snatch with his Escape.  It didn’t work, I then tried to use the come along and with his rig as the anchor with the truck trying to pull out.  The Escape just started sliding towards the truck. 

We then proceeded to just move the bare minimum gear up there and were going to get the truck out after the party.  After the depressing failure of the fireball we went and grabbed the Cat.  Hooked it up to the back and pulled her right out.DSC_0150

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The ruts tell the story of how bad it really was.

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I have now joined the limited group of Boomershoot staff that goes out there so often that they have finally gotten stuck.

When I stopped to chat with some friends from work last night I was reminded of one very important thing.  No matter what, it could always be worse.  How much worse you ask?

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That is a Steiger Quadtrac 4WD tractor that sunk in the Palouse mud out here near Pullman.  How sunk you ask?  Well normally they look like the following and they have been known to pull stuck dozers out of the mud.

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About TMM

TMM is the owner, editor, and principal author at The Minuteman, a competitive shooter, and staff member for Boomershoot. Even in his free time he’s merging his love and knowledge of computers and technology with his love of firearms. Many know his private name and information however due to the current political climate, many are distancing themselves due to the abandonment of Due Process.

4 Responses to It Could Always Be Worse

  1. Nokinim says:

    oh… that sucks… how do you get worse than that? 😛 find a pick of a Giant Dump truck stuck 😛

    • Barron Barnett says:

      In the case of the tractor he just would have to let the clay solidify before trying to extract the tractor. It’d be like removing it from concrete.

  2. Ry Jones says:

    street tires aren’t gonna throw mud; they just fill up and turn to slicks.

    No evidence of scrubbing there, either. When you hit mud, you need to rock your steering wheel from side to side to scrub the mud off the tires.

    • Barron Barnett says:

      I was scrubbing to try and move forward with no real effect. When I popped it in reverse I got a couple feet. Then it mired in worse. I hopped out and put the wife in the drivers seat while acting as middle man. When she let out on the clutch all 4 tires just started spinning and digging with zero movement other than down. I should have had her crank the wheel to scrub but didn’t think about it.

      I hate mud tires because they’re expensive, pavement eats them, and I rarely need it (This was one of the few exceptions). I also hate throwing away good tires that haven’t had extensive use.