Just got back from recovering my F250 from the snowy ditch it slid into. Took my boy to Cub Scouts at 6:45 this evening, and it was just raining lightly. By the time we got out of the meeting at 8:30 we had 2"-3" of wet icy snow on the ground.

Now between the school where the meeting was and our house are a couple of REALLY steep hills. Like 8% grades a couple of blocks long. Made it up the first one, but when I tried to climb the second one I had to slow down for other vehicles struggling up the hill. Once I lost momentum it was all over.

Tried to back down s-l-o-w-l-y but had no steering and no brakes. The road has a pretty high "crown" to it, and the result was that I ended up with the rear wheels in the ditch about 2 feet lower than the front end - which was slewed around to where it was facing almost perpendicular to the road.

Not willing to leave it there overnight for some idiot coming down the hill to slide into it, my boy and I hiked the remaining 3/4 mile back home. Got back to the house at about 8:45. The wife and I called a neighbor over to stay with the boys and we piled into my off-roader - a fairly modified and built 1992 Cherokee Laredo - and away we went at right about 9:00.

Parked the Jeep on the opposite shoulder with the front end pointed at the F250, and tow strapped the Jeep's rear bumper to a guardrail post. Unspooled the cable on the ol' M8000 and hooked it to the truck's bumper with a second tow strap. Took about 10-15 minutes to rig everything up, start the truck and get my wife settled behind the wheel of the F250 with a clear understanding to put it in gear and just gently give it throttle - enough to keep the rear wheels turning.

I got in the Jeep and engaged the winch. Once the Jeep slid around until it the tow straps, the Jeep and the winch cable were all in a straight line, that trusty ol' M8000 popped that 7000 lbs. of pickup right up out of the ditch in nothin' flat - probably didn't have the road blocked for 5 minutes. Unhooked everything and the wife and I traded places for the 3 block drive over to the mall parking lot where we parked the truck.

All said and done we were only gone for a total of 45 minutes. Without the winch I'd have had to leave the truck there overnight. There's no doubt that if I would have had to do that someone would have hit it by morning. Heck in the 20-30 minutes that I was away from it 3 other rigs ended up in the ditch on that hill - two of them tangled together.

Gonna' have to get myself a winch for the ol' F250 and rig it to be able to mount & run it front OR rear - just like on my Jeep.

 

I've had fun with my truck the last two days. the thing drives fantastic in the snow and ice. I live in Edmonds and work in Woodinville and the commute has been painless. Today I got our forklift stuck in the yard and used my truck to pull it out. After work I went looking for people to pull out of ditches but every car that was stuck had no driver, bummer. Hopefully it will snow more and I can have some more fun!

 

I drove my 2wd to a friends house where the roads are your usual "enter at your own risk" South Dakota county roads. Mud is sticky and once you get down in it, your stuck till it dries out...Anyhow, I kept my speed at about 30mph slopping and slidding for about 12 miles all the way there. Truck handled great and stayed between the ditches. Weeks later and there is still mud caked on my fenders/wheel wells. Had to chip some if it off with a hammer!

 

Yeah, I wish I had 4WD just for times like this. Though about a quarter ton of sand or something in the box would no doubt help a lot....

 

I hope you didn't mess her up too badly.

 

Nah, not a scratch. Like I said, once it stopped moving forward I started trying to back down. Wouldn't steer or completely stop, but it was sliding really s-l-o-w-l-y. Probably wasn't doing 3 mph when it came to rest with the rear wheels in the ditch.

Went and picked it up at the mall lot after work tonight. They sanded the hill sometime today and she went right on up it.....

 

Good deal, you have enough to do before our BIG NW MEET without adding body work to the list.

 

OK guys, here is post 6000 for me.

Cheaper sounds like you were not topping the hill at 55 MPH that night.

Glad everything was OK for your truck and occupants.

 

Different hill Dave. This one is even steeper - but only about one tenth as long...

 

On a note for the winch idea, around here the is a '90 F-250 for sale with a 5.8l that has a zf5 with aux. pto running a winch mounted on the front. Cool setup but useless for us diesel guys to tranfer from that truck.

 

Yeah, unless the PTO is a separate unit from the tranny - kind of like what they call a "divorced" transfer case....

On my Jeep I have fabricated front and rear receiver hitches integrated into both bumpers. My M8000 is on a home-made receiver mount, and I have the power and control wiring run to both ends of the rig. I've also got a receiver hitch in the back of my F250, so all I really need to do is fabricate a front receiver hitch and install the wiring to both ends and I could use the winch I already have on my F250 as well.

All it takes is time - but the only thing I don't have is....you guessed it....time....