But where would you tie the rope?

[Sharp]

Jate rings are fine, I have used them but they are not as convenient or as pleasant to connect to as a tow hitch when there is snow on the ground. 

[Peaklander]

18 hours ago, saxere74 said:

I'm in FL

Are you in FL with an FL?

[stevebus]

On 11/28/2011 at 9:15 AM, CwazyWabbit said:

Reminded me of this recovery I saw on youtube

 

 

I't's not like tugging a 4x4 out

PS the language is a litte colourful once or twice

That's funny fella,  silly sods

[western]

Just remember screw in towing eyes on most vehicles are to tow on level roads slowly in a straight line, not for pulling the end of a car sideways as it can strip the threads & bend the eye shank. 

[simonr]

I've done quite a few over the years.  I was once asked (by the police) to have a go at towing a broken down Fire Engine off a roundabout where it was causing masive tailbacks, in which the recovery truck was stuck.  I was in a Series 2.  Unfortunately all the escapes from the roundabout were relatively steep hills.  The Fire Service provided the rope, shackles etc & did the rigging - I just checked it.  Very gently, in low range, I got it moving & towed it 1/4 mile up the hill to the Fire Station.  I was quite surprised it managed without a problem.  It was my first Land Rover & I'd only owned it a couple of months - but it made me realise what an incredible vehicle they are.

I also had a BMW (why is it always a BMW) who was stuck in an icy dip between two hills.  He'd been there for hours apparently - and asked me to tow him up the hill.  It started badly with him giving me 'helpful' advice about how he wanted the recovery executed and thought I was going to tow him all the way home in case he got stuck somewhere else - then became increasingly annoyed & aggressive because I was taking too long. 

I asked him to attach the bridle to his car, suggesting putting it between the two lower control arms.  He said I could 'get lost' if I thought he was going to grovel in the dirt to attach the bridle! 

So, I did! (get lost, that is) (there were a whole lot of shouted insults as I was packing up).  I drove past again several hours later and he was still there, busy shouting at someone else in a Land Rover!  The next day, it was still there, except with two wheels in the ditch and a 'police aware' sign on it.  It took nearly a week for it to vanish.

These days I have 'selective blindness' for BMW's in distress.

[jeremy996]

The general view of 4x4 Response UK and most of the local groups is no responder will do "recovery"; we are not insured for it and the risk is not worth the candle.

We will do "traction assistance" where the general test is "could what I am about to suggest with my vehicle be done by a rugby front five?". A simple short, straight pull onto firmer ground is not particularly risky, but explain the risk to the OP and tell them you are accepting no liability. (These days I video the responses as well, a suggestion from this forum!)

I always do an attitude check and a personal risk assessment; saying no is easy. If they want to ring a motoring organisation, I'll help or give them the callout number for a local recovery firm.  I've taken the occupants of cars to a place of safety a few times, (the most surreal being a vicar, his mother and his girlfriend, after they had drowned their Fiat Duplo in the underpass under the A46 in Leicestershire). We have business cards that solicit a donation after the event; no payment solicited, no contract you can sue on - good samaritans are not held to the same standards as a recovery contractor.  We also keep records of "frequent flyers", who will, after abusing our charity, will be given the number for one of the local recovery firms.

As a volunteer, I have no problem with telling the "entitled" to make their own arrangements; it's usually BMWs and Audis these days. (One of my colleagues had an interesting encounter with a Porsche once

. 

Edited October 22, 2023 by jeremy996
Added the link.

[rusty_wingnut]

In the olden days younger me would help anyone in trouble with bad weather (snow) and made a nice pile of beer money out of it once or twice. However these days the avent of the removable towing eye means I frankly cannot be bothered with the hassle. The thought of grovelling around someones dirty car trying to carefully prise open the plastic cap to fit the towing eye is something I'd rather not do.

 

I will of course make exception for senior citizens, or someone driving something interesting (vintage).

[Ed Poore]

57 minutes ago, rusty_wingnut said:

The thought of grovelling around someones dirty car trying to carefully prise open the plastic cap to fit the towing eye is something I'd rather not do.

I'll usually stop and see if I can offer help. Usually get an odd look and questions from the driver when I'm pushing it by hand rather than using the Defender or Range Rover to pull them. I usually reply with "do you know where your towing eye is?". "Um..." 

To which my response is usually well, no offence but usually people are muppets in driving in the snow and ice and all it needs is a little push to get you going again.

The only time I've regularly towed people was a hill near my old house in Surrey. I was trying to get through to get to the vet to pick up wormer for the dogs and everything was blocked. Thankfully there were a couple of sensible people so we had three people on the junction stopping people causing more carnage, there were three other people walking down the hill getting people ready to be towed up. One group of four or five pushing the smaller cars up and then a Disco and myself towing the bigger ones up. That just about worked but it did require three people helping car owners find their towing eyes.

[miketomcat]

I've towed a 12tonner off the Weir at beaulieu as no one could see to get past it safely, straight pull up the road to the hotel. Also extracted a nipper from a hedge on a roundabout because I felt sorry for him, he was very curtious and greatful. But generally these days it's only interesting vehicles as the owners tend to be like minded.

Mike

[simonr]

15 hours ago, jeremy996 said:

We will do "traction assistance" where the general test is "could what I am about to suggest with my vehicle be done by a rugby front five?". A simple short, straight pull onto firmer ground is not particularly risky, but explain the risk to the OP and tell them you are accepting no liability. (These days I video the responses as well, a suggestion from this forum!)

That's good advice.  I'd not considered videoing the conversation.

The best 'good' bit of assistance was at Glastonbury Festival in the early 2000's where it had rained the whole weekend & the car parks had turned into a bog!  I spent most of the Sunday hauling cars up the hill, out of the car park - just for fun, I didn't ask for anything in return.

Then I was approached by a Police officer who asked f I could help recover their mobile control unit from the bottom of a dip (more like a lake).  They had a Disco hitched to it.  I managed, with the help of the Disco to pull them up the hill.

The Officer asked if there was anything they could do in return?  I was running very low on fuel - so they offered an escort to the fuel station as all the roads were jammed.  So I ended up with a police car in front & behind who took me to the nearest fuel station in minutes where it would have taken hours.  All the Police Officers were great - and I enjoyed 'working' with them.

 

[steve b]

At the height of the Feb. '87 winter snow storm I went to the local police station and offered my help - two recoveries were to stranded patrol cars with officers in that had been stuck for 12 hours. One car was left behind ( snow over the roof in 8 foot drifts ) and the two officers delivered back to base . The other car was towed all the way back (3 miles) across fields which were clear as all the snow had blown on/into roads. 

 The next job was a 40t chiiler trailer and tractor unit from Spain trying to get to a local bulk packing factory spinning out at the bottom of a hill. To my amazement my 2 door V8 RRC did it with ease and I waved them on their way. 

A hour later after extracting a Post van from a drift I found the truck again 300yards into a mile long 3ft deep drift. The Spanish driver, his wife and two young children had a nice warm ride with me back to the Police station. They had no winter clothing with them at all.

The rest of the day was spent with Meals on wheels delivering in the local area.

Steve

 

 

[FridgeFreezer]

3 hours ago, simonr said:

Glastonbury Festival in the early 2000's where it had rained the whole weekend & the car parks had turned into a bog!

I think I was at that one, if it was the epic biblically wet one - alas I was not in the landy. That was a hell of a weekend, allegedly the first reported case of trench foot since WW1 was very odd seeing people paddling round the site in canoes, but it does show that Glastonbury is the sort of place someone will bring a canoe to just in case

[simonr]

1 hour ago, FridgeFreezer said:

if it was the epic biblically wet one

I've been to two biblically wet ones!  First one was 1992/3 and I went there with the BBC (I was working, honest! 😅)  I had an all areas vehicle pass for my S2 - so I didn't care about the weather!

[stevebus]

On 10/23/2023 at 2:04 PM, simonr said:

I've been to two biblically wet ones!  First one was 1992/3 and I went there with the BBC (I was working, honest! 😅)  I had an all areas vehicle pass for my S2 - so I didn't care about the weather!

How long were you on the BBC fella? 

It's just that I've got CMCR 17, I've had loads of feedback over the years over the old girl, maybe from colleagues of yours, 

[simonr]

On 10/28/2023 at 8:21 PM, stevebus said:

How long were you on the BBC fella? 

It's just that I've got CMCR 17, I've had loads of feedback over the years over the old girl, maybe from colleagues of yours, 

A Scanner Wagon! (Colour Mobile Control Room)

Even long after the days of shooting on film, rapidly processing then scanning the film for broadcast, the Outside Broadcast trucks were still called 'Scanner Wagons'.

I was there from 1990 to 95 - though I worked in News & Current Affairs.  We had 'Location Facilities' instead of 'Outside Broadcast' - however, we used Land Rovers as 'Facs' Vehicles!

They were very dodgy to drive.  The centre of mass was very high up & the handling was terrible, even for a Land Rover.

 

The only time I got to play in a (proper) Scanner Wagon was at BBC Westminster Collage Mews, where there was one permanently parked on the grass outside.  We used it as a control room / for vision mixing.

I miss the BBC - or at least the BBC before it all changed.  The Government imposed a market forces culture - and it changed everything.  BBC Engineering was sold off to Siemens.  I was offered redundancy with a good deal.  I took it, and bought a 110!

It feels ironic that I've ended up in the film industry.  It kind of feels like coming full circle.  In many ways, it's similar to the BBC as was.

[stevebus]

3 hours ago, simonr said:

A Scanner Wagon! (Colour Mobile Control Room)

Even long after the days of shooting on film, rapidly processing then scanning the film for broadcast, the Outside Broadcast trucks were still called 'Scanner Wagons'.

I was there from 1990 to 95 - though I worked in News & Current Affairs.  We had 'Location Facilities' instead of 'Outside Broadcast' - however, we used Land Rovers as 'Facs' Vehicles!

They were very dodgy to drive.  The centre of mass was very high up & the handling was terrible, even for a Land Rover.

 

The only time I got to play in a (proper) Scanner Wagon was at BBC Westminster Collage Mews, where there was one permanently parked on the grass outside.  We used it as a control room / for vision mixing.

I miss the BBC - or at least the BBC before it all changed.  The Government imposed a market forces culture - and it changed everything.  BBC Engineering was sold off to Siemens.  I was offered redundancy with a good deal.  I took it, and bought a 110!

It feels ironic that I've ended up in the film industry.  It kind of feels like coming full circle.  In many ways, it's similar to the BBC as was.

I know there's a lot of interest in those old OB units, even that old land rover,  there's a fella, can't think of his name was given thousands of pounds lottery funded to do a unit, I think number 21

As for my old wagon I think it retired about the time you finished with them, thanks for getting back 

[simonr]

I wonder if yours was the one at Collage Mews.  I believe it was the last one still in service - so the timing must be close.

[stevebus]

Very close, it was with BBC Scotland for a long time but after the sister vehicle apparently went down to some football tournament in South Africa which the beeb didn't get paid for, they left it down there for some reason, joke's where made that they never had the money to get it back but I don't know how true that is, I think my one finished its days in London, there still a couple of lads kicking around who used to work in it, one a camera man and another fella, God knows what he did, but they were all singing all dancing for the day and cost the BBC a million quid each back then.

I'll leave it now, it's a landy forum, I'll get wrong waffling on about this, all the best fella