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Skyline
08-04-2006, 04:09 PM
This happened almost 10 years ago, but it shows what you can do when you're desperate, and have nothing but a tow strap and a come along.

How we got stuck:

My friend and I where wheeling all day in my near-new GC in a "General Use Area" near Monticello NY. Nothing all that challlenging, but still lots of fun. All we had was a Topo map to go by, which had about 1/3 of the trails we found. So after being lost for several hours without a sign of civilization, we decided that if we kept a certain heading we would eventually find our way out. We were also getting a little low on gas. Sure enough, we came to a gravel road. After following the road about 1/2 mile, we came to a gate. It was a log in a support thing, chained and padlocked in place blocking the road. So we contemplated the idea of retracing our steps several hours back into the woods and out, and option two, of hooking the tow strap up to the gate and destroying it. Since the gate was in the middle of a hunting camp, we didn't much like either option. Option one involved the possibility of running out of gas miles from anywhere, and option two offered the posibility of getting shot at by an angry hunter. Either way, it would be a long time before someone found our bodies.

But by trying to be clever, we came up with option three; we figured out that if we made just the right path off the trail through the woods, we could bypass the gate. It worked pretty well untill we miscalculated our estimate of the Jeep's turning radius, and couldn't make it around a particular tree. We were only 10 feet from freedom back to the gravel road on the other side of the locked gate! OK, we figured we'd back out and pick another route, or if all else failed, we'd go back into the woods. How wrong we were. This is the point where we found out that the turning radius of a vehicle is very different in forward and reverse. We had gotten the Jeep wedged between about 5 trees, and could not back out. A couple of broken turn signal lenses and many curses later, we dicided we were completly screwed, and would need a chain saw to free the Jeep.

How we got unstuck:

Not having a chainsaw, and really not wanting to walk several miles to go get help, we looked for another option to free my stuck GC. The solution came with the come-along and tow strap. We picked the skinniest of the trees that was blocking our exit, which was about 4 or 5" thick, and wrapped it with the cable of the come along as high off the ground as we could reach. We then hooked up the come-along to the tow strap and hooked that to a very large tree about 10' away. We then were able to winch the tree to about a 45 degree angle. We then drove the Jeep up the tree, riding the front axle up the trunk. By the time the front end got a few feet off the ground, the tree gave way, and we were over the trunk into the brush of the tree, and in a moment we were onto the gravel road. The best part was that the sapling we winched over seemed to survive with the exception of a slight bend.

Lesson learned the hard way:

From that point on, I always carry a folding saw when going wheeling.

nate
08-04-2006, 07:53 PM
Had to leave 2 Jeep on the side of a mountain until it stopped raining and the trail dried. That about it.

Normally I go prepared with extra fuel, a chainsaw, tools, parts, welder, etc.

Hurricane 4x4
02-11-2008, 02:05 AM
When I was in high school I once got stuck for about 2 hours in a creek about a foot and a half deep with running water. During our lunch break me and a buddy with an xj decided to go mess around at a craphole wheeling place here in raleigh.

So I was driving around in this creek and I came across a tree about 6-8" dia. laying across the creek. I drove over it carefully and at a little bit of an angle. I got the first front tire over okay, but when the second front tire came off the log.... I grounded out hard and was sitting square on the tree on one of my LCA frame mounts. What I didn't know was that the current had made a big hole on the other side of the tree from the water flowing around it. I knew I was stuck good so we went ahead and strapped my jeep to the xj. With one pull I accomplished two things. The jeep moved far enough to get both front tires up on the log, but at the same time the rear tires had spun and dug in. My axle was now buried and I was sitting on my rear bumper. I was being very careful NOT to do exactly what I had just done, but I swear I couldn't help it. I think my rear tires spun over MAYBE 2 rotations, but that was enough to dig in to the creek silt. So I sat like this for 2 hours, with the front tires sitting up on the log and the rear end sunk down to the bumper. I got out of there by airing down the front tires so they started to wrap around the log a little bit and got more traction, and by digging out the rear end by hand.. which sucked.

zj95
02-11-2008, 02:46 AM
YAY FOR OLD THREADS!!

Heres one, i just copied and pasted it,

This was writin by my buddy (jsk8r1), i tagged along...

]http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/Jsk8r123/SnowwithDJ008.jpgI know this isnt a ZJ in the pond but figured you all could enjoy the XJ recovery. Got a call from a buddy of mine saying his friend had got stuck in a little puddle the day before and needed to be pulled out. Well it had rained and eventually began to snow... yes snow in Tucson so we figured we better get out there before the little puddle he was in began to get full of water, this is what we saw when we got out there.......
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/Jsk8r123/SnowwithDJ004.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/Jsk8r123/SnowwithDJ005.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/Jsk8r123/SnowwithDJ006.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/Jsk8r123/SnowwithDJ007.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/Jsk8r123/SnowwithDJ010.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/Jsk8r123/SnowwithDJ011.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h10/Jsk8r123/SnowwithDJ013.jpg
So we eventually got him out of the pond and the jeep started right up and he drove it back into town, ended up being a good rescue

piku303
02-11-2008, 03:19 AM
YAY FOR OLD THREADS!!

Heres one, i just copied and pasted it,

This was writin by my buddy (jsk8r1), i tagged along...

betcha that dudes balls were the size of BB's

jsteves
02-11-2008, 12:17 PM
But by trying to be clever, we came up with option three; we figured out that if we made just the right path off the trail through the woods, we could bypass the gate.

Thanks for sharing how you went off trail and bypassed a closed route. Way to tread lightly! :overkill:

ArloGuthroJeep
02-11-2008, 01:05 PM
Agreed...driving off trail and over a tree, way to go:smt084

piku303
02-11-2008, 01:14 PM
im sure that trails have just alway been there and that nobody ever did the same thing they did to make the "established trails"

AgitatedPancake
02-11-2008, 02:31 PM
im sure that trails have just alway been there and that nobody ever did the same thing they did to make the "established trails"

Dude your looking at it from the wrong perspective. No-one gives a crap about back then, the main reason we care now is because of all the environmentalist hippies who are looking for any excuse (such as not treading lightly) to close down trails, especially here in CA where they are winning.

Skyline
02-11-2008, 02:31 PM
Thanks for sharing how you went off trail and bypassed a closed route. Way to tread lightly! :overkill:

Actually, we were on an open trail on NYS land. It was in a multiple use area. We did not bypass the gate to get onto the trail....were were already on the trail and this gate was blocking our exit. There was no correct reason for the gate to be there at all, but I suspect some folks at a local hunting lodge put it up. There were no official postings at all. I am all for treading lightly, but this was an emergency. We were less than 1/4 mile from a major (paved) road, and to turn back would have meant more than 2hrs wheeling and backtracking, and I was not sure I had enough gas for that. It was either what we did, or break the crude log gate. I doubt we did any permanant damage, even to the tree we ran over.

SirFuego
02-11-2008, 03:07 PM
OK I'll post a story...

My buddy's family has a cottage about an hour southeast of Buffalo. He spent quite some time this summer cutting trails through the woods his family owned. He owns a TJ, so he cut the trails to be tight for him. He was sorta curious how a bigger rig like a ZJ would fit through them. He ended up inviting me since he knows body damage isn't a huge concern.

So we get to this muddy area, with a small mud pit and a small hill climb to get out. I watched him go through it and he got stuck on the hill climb out because he was open in the rear. So he winched himself out.

Seeing that, I figured I would be fine since I was locked in the rear and have a longer wheelbase. I hate mud and the mess that it makes, so I try to crawl through mud when I can -- and I did it here. Well, that turned into a really stupid and dirty idea...

http://www.wnyoffroad.com/thegallery/data/thumbnails/56/IMG_7030-400.jpg (http://www.wnyoffroad.com/thegallery/details.php?image_id=2234) http://www.wnyoffroad.com/thegallery/data/thumbnails/56/IMG_7031-400.jpg (http://www.wnyoffroad.com/thegallery/details.php?image_id=2235) http://www.wnyoffroad.com/thegallery/data/thumbnails/56/IMG_7034-400.jpg (http://www.wnyoffroad.com/thegallery/details.php?image_id=2236) http://www.wnyoffroad.com/thegallery/data/thumbnails/56/IMG_7033-400.jpg (http://www.wnyoffroad.com/thegallery/details.php?image_id=2237)

So my passenger side shackle was buried under about a foot of mud. So we decided to try to winch me out using the drivers side shackle. This pulled me into the hillside and damaged my lights (part of the reason I have the fugly robot lights now). So then I spend about 10 minutes sticking my arm in ice cold mud trying to connect the winch to the passenger's side shackle. Once I get that hooked up, he pulled me out. We continue wheeling and my passenger headlight assembly falls out and gets crushed by my tires.

Good times, but I hate mud.

jsteves
02-11-2008, 11:14 PM
Somebody please edit the idiotic posts out of this before one of the green groups sees it and uses it against us. You posted that you went off trail and ran over a tree. How is that not off trail? Regardless of whether or not the gate was supposed to be there you should not have been off trail. Know where you are going and travel prepared. I don't mean to be a dick but that kind of shit is stupid and causes trail closures!

SuicideTireZJ
02-13-2008, 04:00 PM
My best one involved me getting stuck on a snowbank outside my friends house last winter and getting strapped off by a Saturn coupe.

AgitatedPancake
02-13-2008, 04:45 PM
I got stuck in snow going downhill...

http://a30.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/44/l_291f8a8c170d932d2fcee2cd4663876d.jpg

And I wanted to see how fast I could go in reverse into about a foot and a half of untouched semi-iced snow...lol

http://a97.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/14/l_a84d10348188568f1e95c531f0434320.jpg




Oh yeah the snow on my hood is from what started as a friendly snowball fight, and ended in us pulling out the shovels and goin at it. The best part was when I got a shovelfull through the window of my buddies yota haha

Skyline
02-13-2008, 04:48 PM
My best one involved me getting stuck on a snowbank outside my friends house last winter and getting strapped off by a Saturn coupe.
Now THAT is embarrasing!

Skyline
02-13-2008, 05:06 PM
Somebody please edit the idiotic posts out of this before one of the green groups sees it and uses it against us. You posted that you went off trail and ran over a tree. How is that not off trail? Regardless of whether or not the gate was supposed to be there you should not have been off trail. Know where you are going and travel prepared. I don't mean to be a dick but that kind of shit is stupid and causes trail closures!
You obviously don't read too well. And you ARE being a dick. I do not condone going off a trail, but yes, I would do it again if I was in a similar emergency. Sometimes, if you plan a long point to point wheeling trip, on PUBLIC LEGAL TRAILS, you pass a point of no return in terms of gas. And if you come to an unforseen, impassable obstacle, you have to use your creativity to get around it.

jsteves
02-13-2008, 05:15 PM
Then carry more gas. I read very well, in fact, I teach it for a living. Sure, I am a dick and yes you were off trail b/c you were unprepared and didn't know where in the fuck you were. Have a nice fucking day.

jsteves
02-13-2008, 05:17 PM
we figured out that if we made just the right path off the trail through the woods
I read this just fine.

dangerousdave
02-13-2008, 05:29 PM
Somebody please edit the idiotic posts out of this before one of the green groups sees it and uses it against us. You posted that you went off trail and ran over a tree. How is that not off trail? Regardless of whether or not the gate was supposed to be there you should not have been off trail. Know where you are going and travel prepared. I don't mean to be a dick but that kind of shit is stupid and causes trail closures!

i understand being a eco-nazi but really. Jsteves im not targeting you, I just want to voice my thoughts on this.... It really dont matter what you edit, hide, or do to make offroading look good, a eco nazi is still going to hate it.

1) a car puts off gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect aka global
warming
2) just driving down a trail causes some sort of erosion.
3)My jeep is under all emission codes for those of you that dont have one that is they will bitch about that.

All im saying is you cant please everyone. I know that this is a green friendly site but at some point there has to be a line drawn. You will not please everybody. I agree the guy went off the trail and it was wrong... but its kinda funny how he got stuck. equally i would have done the same thing if i thought it would get me to gas so i didnt run out on a trail in the middle on no where.

ok so with that my rant is over. like i said Jsteves im not targeting you or anyone else. THis stuff just gets to be retarded after a certain point. especially when all of us have to do something that is bad for the environment. It might not be in our cars, it might be at home with letting run off from a car wash running in to the storm drain or letting a company illegally dump. nobody is perfectly green.

jsteves
02-13-2008, 05:32 PM
My point is this: that is the shit your eco-nazis will use to close trails. He did what he had to do. Whatever. There is no need to post it so it can be used against us.

SuicideTireZJ
02-13-2008, 07:35 PM
Unfortunately guys, he has a point. It might be different out East but we have to be careful to the point of being assholes out here in the west because pretty much EVERY trail is under some sort of scrutiny. Greenpeace and similar groups are immensely powerful and fight dirty. It wouldn't surprise me that some of the registered members on MC are actually anti-access. I sure as shit know a bunch of them on my local forum are. They read what we post and use it against us accordingly. It doesn't matter what "emergency" situation you're in. I'm sorry, but running out of gas isn't an "emergency." It's an inconvenience.

I honestly hate being a dick to fellow wheelers but there's so much of this grey-area that some people exist that isn't there. There is only one excuse for driving off a trail, and that is a medical emergency. If your rig is underbuilt, you shouldn't be there and you should turn around. If you break down, it is your responsibility to get it to an area that allows safe travel for other vehicles that isn't off-trail, regardless if it means more damage to your vehicle. If you get lost, that's your fault, not the sapling that you drove over getting out.

Have I gone off-trail before? Yes. Was it an emergency? Never. But I've been wheeling since before I was legally able to drive, and was uninformed on the consequences. I've since grown up (slightly), but I'm guessing most of the people on this board are older than me. So grow up, or there won't be much of a sport left for our kids.

alteredxj
02-13-2008, 08:33 PM
this is last Valentines day in my driveway my wife said i wouldn't make it in the drive well i did for the recovery after the driveway was cleared i opened the garage door and ran the winch rope out from my xj and out it came.
http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w320/alteredxj/Picture278.jpg

ZJ Pappy
02-13-2008, 08:37 PM
Have I gone off-trail before? Yes. Was it an emergency? Never. But I've been wheeling since before I was legally able to drive, and was uninformed on the consequences. I've since grown up (slightly), but I'm guessing most of the people on this board are older than me. So grow up, or there won't be much of a sport left for our kids.

You have a really good point in all of that, but if you look at the top of his post he says that was almost 10 years ago. Now I'm pretty sure he has "grown up" and gotten much smarter about how he wheels in the past 10 years. It's not like he did this last week.

ArloGuthroJeep
02-13-2008, 08:44 PM
ZJ Pappy you didn't read his respses did you? He clearly said he would do it again in post #16.

ZJ Pappy
02-13-2008, 08:49 PM
I guess I passed over that part. But even before that people were giving him crap for doing something 10 years ago. As for doing it again...I really hope that won't happen.

IndyZJ
02-13-2008, 09:19 PM
jsteves has a very good point. eco nazis are everywhere. hell, last year i "joined" an environmentalist group at school (IU) when they started dogging 'wheeling at their meetings and wanted to take action. a few of them had searched through pirate and other sites and found/ manipulated all kinds of pics and info to use against us to try to shut down trails in the midwest. i "joined" to show them that the vast majority of us are actually responsible and actually got them to stop their bs (tricked them into focusing on oil drilling in alaska instead... got them sidetracked until they forgot about it)... for now anyway. i'd really hate for them to get any amo from here... shit does happen when off roading, but PLEASE do everything you can to not go off of the trail and no matter what don't post up about it - people really do find it and freak out about it. i just want to be able to wheel (legally), as i'm sure most of the members here do, too.

SuicideTireZJ
02-13-2008, 09:28 PM
You have a really good point in all of that, but if you look at the top of his post he says that was almost 10 years ago. Now I'm pretty sure he has "grown up" and gotten much smarter about how he wheels in the past 10 years. It's not like he did this last week.

Still, it's better not to post up bragging about it (especially saying he'd do it again :mad:) because they WILL use anything they can against us, even if they have to alter it slightly. I've done some stupid shit but I'm not proud of it, and while there are plenty of funny stories, this isn't the place to relate them.

OverkillZJ
02-22-2008, 09:17 PM
Some of the arguments in here are just bad news for all of us. Yes, shit happens. No, you should NOT be talking about bypassing gates on a PUBLIC AND OPEN forum.

Yes we've all done stupid shit, doesn't mean you need to give them amo. You'd be amazed who reads forums such as these. Tread lightly when posting stories like this.

OverkillZJ
02-22-2008, 09:18 PM
You obviously don't read too well. And you ARE being a dick. I do not condone going off a trail, but yes, I would do it again if I was in a similar emergency. Sometimes, if you plan a long point to point wheeling trip, on PUBLIC LEGAL TRAILS, you pass a point of no return in terms of gas. And if you come to an unforseen, impassable obstacle, you have to use your creativity to get around it.

He's being a dick for using his head, and trying to protect our trails?