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Nearly lost the Defender!!!


Mutley

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As the title says, went out to do a bit of pigeon shooting yesterday morning before the weather turned bad (according to MET it was going to snow/rain from 15:00 onwards).

The field was at the top of a hill and runs along the ridge for about 600yds. I had seen pigeons dropping in on this field a few dsys before so fancied my chances. Any how being a good guy carefully drove along the bottom edge of the field as there was a grass stip the width of a tractor.

Only go in about 200yds and set up for pigeon shooting. Well the MET OFFICE LIED!!! Grrrrrrr.....It started to snow about 10:00 not heavy but enough, and decided to give it best after another couple of hours! Reversed the Defender up the edge of the field to where i was shooting and packed up, slowly and i mean slowly make my way back. Now there is a bit of dip to negotiate nothing major, but as i drive down i just touch the brakes and the truck slides left and the near side goes over the edge of the field!

At this point no great concern, it's a LR right!?! Go anywhrer motor!?!...Well this 1 wasn't!!! The more i tried the further over to the left it was going and the drop off was even steeper. Only a flimsy hedge to stop it going over if i lost it then x2 concrete water troughs below to finish the job off nicely!

Such was the angle i struggled to climb in and out, and was unsure of getting out in the 1st place in case i was the counter balance? Even the young dog wouldn't sit passenger side, she fought with me for room on the drivers seat!

Eventually mate with heavy farm machinery turns up! Yipee saved!!! NO, NOT so simple! Hooks up to tow rope and as he pulls i go EVEN further left and at a greater angle!!! Brown stuff quickly filled my pants! Keeping tow rope tight we both stop matey and i to asses the situation? Conclosion NOT GOOD!

The fear was if we take the tension off the tow rope, woul the truck go over!?! But we had no choice as we need the tractor to pull at a more acute angle. With me having 1 hand on the rope and x1 hand on the bumper matey eases the tension off! More brown stuff fills my pants!!! But it holds!

Quickly matey moves into place, and even more quickly i reattach the rope and we are set to give it another go. The ground was that soft matey in his tractor was struggling for grip and was sinking at the same time!?! And HOW much brown stuff do these pants hold!?! Because i think there could be more!?!

After what seemed an age the tractor manages to grip and very, very slowy i feel the truck coming up and out! Finaly on level ground, well more level than where it had been! The relief was unreal, the surge of adrenaline left me as weak as a kitten. Don't ever want to be that close to loosing the truck again!

20180121_140709.thumb.jpg.cb4043e66ba17a7af955b7990433b2f9.jpg20180121_131707.thumb.jpg.97949cd60a0714c79c25848ef1beb46a.jpg

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Both photos above where before matey comes with tractor so the truck goes further in and over, but didn't have time or inclination to faf for photo shoot. Plus the photos dont seem to show just how bad the angle of tilt was and the drop off. Just as well, not sure i want to see it again myself.

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Yikes not a nice experience! No, photos never do angles justice, but reading your description I get the idea!

An idea for the future could be a winch and an anchor, just a slow cheap Tmax or whatever would've been God-sent in that situation!

Glad everyone is OK

Edited by Soren Frimodt
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Cheers guys, dont know who was more relieved, me or the dog? She wasn't happy and always knows when somethings not right!

30 minutes ago, Soren Frimodt said:

Yikes not a nice experience! No, photos never do angles justice, but reading your description I get the idea!

An idea for the future could be a winch and an anchor, just a slow cheap Tmax or whatever would've been God-sent in that situation!

Glad everyone is OK

Not sure a winch would have helped much, as i contemplated this whilst waiting for matey? Mainly as the ground was that soft i dont think the ground anchor would have taken the stain enough to work plus there was nothing top side to fix the winch rope to.

When my mate turned up and he first saw my motor his initial thought was that it HAD gone over and was in the hedge!!!

The hill side is quite steep and goes for about 900yds...... along way and an even longer time to have to watch your pride and joy roll, bounce, tumble and smash it's way to the bottom! Thankfully not this time and i sure as hell wont be getting that close ever again!!!

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Close call.....
Side slopes, esp. on wet grass, are always ........ interesting in a brown way.

Good to hear all went well eventually !

...and yes - most of us have been there at some time....

2018-01-22 = RRC in the ditch.jpg

2018-01-22 = RRC in the ditch II.jpg

Took some serious winching to get the RR out again...

 

Edited by Arjan
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6 minutes ago, Mutley said:

Cheers guys, dont know who was more relieved, me or the dog? She wasn't happy and always knows when somethings not right!

Not sure a winch would have helped much, as i contemplated this whilst waiting for matey? Mainly as the ground was that soft i dont think the ground anchor would have taken the stain enough to work plus there was nothing top side to fix the winch rope to.

When my mate turned up and he first saw my motor his initial thought was that it HAD gone over and was in the hedge!!!

The hill side is quite steep and goes for about 900yds...... along way and an even longer time to have to watch your pride and joy roll, bounce, tumble and smash it's way to the bottom! Thankfully not this time and i sure as hell wont be getting that close ever again!!!

A modern competition style Anchor probably would have a hard time in a soft field yes, especially when you're on your own. I was more thinking along the line of an oldschool "hammer-in" type like this one (though obviously bigger and not for climbers)

 http://www.angloaccess.co.uk/anchors/ground-anchor-set.html

Back in the old days we used these in competition, they were forged and had 16mm (ish) rods in them, took ages, and a lot of sweat to setup but boy could they hold!

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Arjan that's  quite impressive think that could have been at a greater angle than mine ended up? Trouble was that the near side dropped sharply and if the wheels had gone over just that bit more, it was gone!...

I know LR's are supposed to go anywhere but i prefer mine to do it upright 😁😉

 

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I think it's when you're sure you know what you're doing that it all goes wrong, not when you know you're trying something very difficult. Good to hear that you don't need to start a rebuild thread! 

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It was an interesting angle....

2018-01-22 = RRC in the ditch III.jpg

The only thing stopping the RR going further down - another 20 ft or so. - were bushes..

Fatigue played a big role here.....

Edited by Arjan
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1 hour ago, Soren Frimodt said:

A modern competition style Anchor probably would have a hard time in a soft field yes, especially when you're on your own. I was more thinking along the line of an oldschool "hammer-in" type like this one (though obviously bigger and not for climbers)

 http://www.angloaccess.co.uk/anchors/ground-anchor-set.html

Back in the old days we used these in competition, they were forged and had 16mm (ish) rods in them, took ages, and a lot of sweat to setup but boy could they hold!

That's not dissimilar to MoD ground anchors, but they have a single sturdy length of steel angle with a shackle at one end and a set of holes along each side of the angle so the pins go in to the ground diagonally to spread the force.  Similar to the one in the link, but simpler and more compact for storage.  No idea if it works any better or worse.

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2 hours ago, Snagger said:

That's not dissimilar to MoD ground anchors, but they have a single sturdy length of steel angle with a shackle at one end and a set of holes along each side of the angle so the pins go in to the ground diagonally to spread the force.  Similar to the one in the link, but simpler and more compact for storage.  No idea if it works any better or worse.

That sounds exactly like the one I was trying to describe :D The one I linked is just one I found in a quick Google. When I was a kid and teenager these were still used in competition in Denmark when all else failed. We used to refer to them as 'English Anchors' That is all I know, so it may very well be Ex-MoD? They where forged/cast as I remember it

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Glad you got out Mutley, the pup unwilling to stay in the passenger seat is a laugh :lol:. What is the best practice with a ground anchor, I mean is there a minimum distance for effectiveness and will they hold as a pulley point? Sorry don't now the proper terms, I mean like what's going on with Arjan's car above.

 

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Glad you got out! Those situation can be hard on the nerves, but make for great stories afterwards. ;)

I saw a Jag XF in a similar situation on a walk in Snowdonia. He had driven up a foothpad that was clearly to narrow for vehicles, but had managed to come a long way, despite the uneven terrain. I wouldn't have tried it in the Range not knowing what lay ahead. Not sure if he tried to reverse at some point, or just slid to the right. The car looked like it was left at least a couple of hours ago, much like the Range above, with just one bush holding it from the rocky bank of the river Conwy. With almost no access, it will have been quite some recovery. Best chance would have been with a backhoe and use the digger as leverage. If you could get it there...

Filip

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Yes , the spikes are 3 ft long forged octagonal section steel with an eye in the top to aid removal . The plates are designed to be bolted together in a line to suit . More normally found in the locker of Army heavy recovery lorries such as Scammell's or Martians . The single bar and 8 pins that I have must be 60kg ish and are at the back of the recovery gear store covered in dust :)

cheers

Steve b

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Substantial stuff.

Any reason why the angle section couldn't be made from aluminium? 

I suppose you'd still need steel for the rods, or would titanium be too soft? 

G.

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55 minutes ago, Gazzar said:

would titanium be too soft? 

G.

One doesn't normally hear the words 'titanium' and 'soft' used in the same sentence! Ti is very similar (in the workshop, not the lab) to stainless as regards hardness, so would be both light (55% of the weight of steel) and 'strong'.

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