Getting Stuck While Solo.

[MDarius]

Check out my thread from my solo gone wrong here. Some good lessons learned and lots of excellent commentary, but must of it had been said in your thread.

A couple I would reinforce though.
1. Go out with a local club. My first time was this month and it was a great experience. Watching others take an obstacle in front of you adds a new level of confidence and capability to your driving. I watched one guy go up and I said, "yup. He's going to get stuck right there. I've done it." And then he does, but then he gets out of it in a way I hadn't thought about. I got to watch the maxtraxx in action and learned some other valuable lessons. Just one trip.

2. A way to communicate in the back country. Ham radio, SPOT tracker with an active subscription, Delorme, whatever. A few hundred dollars means nothing when you're sticking overnight in subfreezing temps.

3. Always go prepared to break down or be stuck. Expect it and you won't be miserable or dead. Plan for at least 3 days. I can live off beef jerky and trail mix for a long time.

4. If you must go alone make sure people know your plans and your plan b.

5. Make sure your vehicle is in the best working condition you can make it.

6. Take maps.

7. Take pictures.

 

[JohnVee]

3. Join a outdoor/4x4 club - Haven't really looked into it because I'm not comfortable camping with strangers, especially if it's with my kid(s). But I always see people of forums planning trips that I'd like to join.

Get to know the club, then they won't be strangers!

 

[White Stripe]

One thing thats especially risky about going solo. If u have to walk out and leave your truck. When u get back to your rig, you may find your truck raped-as in stripped and rattled with bullet holes. Seen it happen to a nice Bronco. I only do easy populated trails that I am familiar with solo. I also tell someone where I'm going and that I will call them at my planned return time so they no when something is amiss. Otherwise I don't go. Even if it's not a long walk out, what if u fall and break an ankle? 3 or 4 miles is a long way out when your injured, and u may find yourself alone and injured in the dark and cold. And if you have people with u in your vehicle and you make poor decisions, things can get really bad.
Last time got stuck solo was when I was a teen. I was buried in mud up to the rockers and my borrowed comalong wouldn't reach any trees. I gave my father's phone number to some guys on dirt bikes. Couple hours later my Dad winches me out. If I had walked out and left my truck their, it was one of those areas where a truck could be raped.

 

[hiluxjeremy]

Telling someone reliable where your headed is always a good start, even the fact your going 4x4ing in a general area and rough time frame narrows things down a long way. To borrow a phrase, go prepared. Skills plus gear means options. Now days I've got two winches and an extra 100' of cable, but Ive also got the same old Jackall (Canadian Hilift) and the couple chains I can use to turn it into a winch, four feetish of pull per rig up. A couple experiences where the front winch was useless and going back was the best choice, the jack was my saving grace. I also carry an axe, spade and chainsaw with plenty of fuel/oil and a saw file or two. All the tools I'll ever need with a few handy odds and ends, but more important is the time spent maintaining the vehicle to the best of your ability ahead of time.

Dual batteries are nice. Three batteries and two pairs of booster cables are better. I once sheared off a tie rod when out by myself. A ratchet strap held one tire straightish and I could kinda steer with the other. I eventually ran into a fellow wheeler from whom I borrowed a third optima and the aforementioned second set of booster cables from. These items combined with a selection of welding rods and an appropriate lens all of which I had on board meant I could weld my tie rod in the bush and consequently drove home. This is something I had heard about and tested as a teenager, while several years of professional welding later I had the skill to make it happen. Skills plus gear.

If anybody wants a run down on the how and why of battery welding ask away.

Discretion is definitely an asset when wheeling solo, taking a walk to check out exactly what your getting into is always advisable. Ditto food and water for many days longer than expected, along with clothing and/or camping gear suitable for the worst possible local conditions. Plan for the worst, and anything less is a pleasant surprise.

A quality VHF radio is on my short list of gear to acquire, but most of the time where I'm out and about, there just isnt anybody to hear, let alone get where I might be. For now I make do with a commercial handheld programmed with the main Alberta road frequencies.

The best choice is always to go with two or more vehicles. Nonetheless, its only a matter of time until I'm out on my own again.

 

[traveldud]

. ....

So far the most useful tools I've had aside from the winch- which obviously you can't use often- are a trenching shovel, the factory bottle jack, various blocks of wood and some ratchet straps to chain he axles to the frame. I've been surprised it would've been able to get myself out of just with those tools right there. After that it's just some good old huffing and puffing to get back on the trail again.


Pete

Pete, can you please sure what ratchet strap being the axles to the frame accomplishes? Thanks

 

[half k cruiser]

How about a series of long spikes pounded into the ground? Anybody tried that? I remember seeing it some Australian video.

Pete

In rope rescue there is a form of anchoring where you tie back to pickets like you mentioned. For belaying two people it requires four 3-4ft long pickets at a specific angle and you have to tie correctly to get the weight distributed correctly. I wouldn't want to try it for winching, would think you'd need a very long picket.

Pete, can you please sure what ratchet strap being the axles to the frame accomplishes? Thanks

When you ratchet or chain the axle to the frame it keeps the suspension from flexing. So when you start to raise the vehicle with the jack you don't have to take up all the suspension flex first.

 

[peteinjp]

Yep that's the idea- tie the axle to the frame so you don't have to raise the truck so far off the ground to get the wheel up in the air.

As far as the picket anchor goes you could certainly use one for winching with a 3/2/1 arrangement but it is not a quick solution nor is it easily done by one person. The pickets would be long steel spikes.


Pete

 

[traveldud]

Thanks guys! Does the 1" strap work or something stronger? Is there a manual type of winch effective enough to use in the rear in leau of another electrical winch in the rear receiver?

 

[Live to Ski]

Delorme in-reach should be #1 on list, imho.

 

[tlaporte]

Yep that's the idea- tie the axle to the frame so you don't have to raise the truck so far off the ground to get the wheel up in the air.

As far as the picket anchor goes you could certainly use one for winching with a 3/2/1 arrangement but it is not a quick solution nor is it easily done by one person. The pickets would be long steel spikes.


Pete

@peteinjp you posted up about getting stuck in quick sand in the What did you do this week thread, care to expand on your solo recovery efforts in this thread?

 

[half k cruiser]

Thanks guys! Does the 1" strap work or something stronger? Is there a manual type of winch effective enough to use in the rear in leau of another electrical winch in the rear receiver?

1" webbing is what I keep in my pocket at work. I would trust my life with it to hold me and a good friend. I would not trust it to hold my vehicle. If your looking for straps go to a rigging sight. They will sell you actual rated straps for the same price or less than ARB , smttybilt, etc.

 

[peteinjp]

Well I was alone but it's not a chance I would've taken if I was out of the middle nowhere- this was in an urban area. I had been driving on the sand already but I should've known that the sand was different just from looking at it. I had however already scoped out anchors that I could pull two before I proceeded.

Also in this case having another vehicle wouldn't have necessarily been helpful. I'd guess pulling my truck out was in the 6 ton range. With no firm ground in the surrounding area it would've been hard to keep another vehicle from just sliding towards my truck. If I couldn't get the truck out myself the only other option would be to have someone come with a big backhoe or tracked vehicle.

First thing I did after getting the tires forward a bit was drop the air pressure to 5-8psi. I have a compressor with me that day so once I got back to firmer ground I can pump it up to safer pressures. I also dropped tire pressures earlier in the day to get through some snow and it works very very well. So as per the original post based on my recent experience I highly recommend a compressor for a solo truck without a winch. In fact it might be my top recommendation after a shovel.

Anyway I started a new thread about the recovery here:

Recoveries- successes and failures- post'em up

Thanks guys! Does the 1" strap work or something stronger? Is there a manual type of winch effective enough to use in the rear in leau of another electrical winch in the rear receiver?

Better than a ratchet strap would be a length of chain with a chain grab hook on one end.

Pete

 

[Live to Ski]

peteinjp: Good call. I had not placed that high on the priority list out of ignorance. It's moved way up on my list, though still below the inreach.

 

[Jeepster09]

Just get a Pul Pal and be done with it! You get what you pay for. I have one and it has paid for it self many times. Plus what are you going to do when the Zombies are coming and you get stuck before you can re load?

Pull-Pal winch anchor, foldable land anchors for 4x4, Jeep, ATV, UTV, off-road, all-terrain-vehicles

 

[NyNomad]

A compact 1.5ton floor jack and 2x4's are good to carry too

 

[cruiserpilot]

A compact 1.5ton floor jack and 2x4's are good to carry too

I knew of a desert racer who mounted his compact 1.5 ton floor jack on a skateboard deck. No sinking, wicked idea!

 

[peteinjp]

I knew of a desert racer who mounted his compact 1.5 ton floor jack on a skateboard deck. No sinking, wicked idea!

I'm going to consider this. Even a good idea for a bottle jack.

 

[Tin basher]

N

This was a weekday out by myself not even a hard trail I was turning around and it fell over this was as far as I could get it over with just the winch I had all my tools and recovery gear in a lock box like you would mount in a pick up truck that was bolted into the truck guess what that fancy latch mechanism won't open when the stuff in the box is laying on it
So make shure your storage box latches are. On outside of box
Luckily another lone week day wheeler helped flip it the rest of the way onto its Wheels didn't break the mirror or the park light

 

[MDarius]

"I was turning around and it fell over..."

Ok, you can't leave it at that! Off camber? Did that stump at the front end have anything to do with it? It was just tired and gave up?

I'm glad you got it upright. Other than looking a little battered and needing a new windshield it seems ok.

Good job getting it there... And back again.