Got Stuck for the first time!

Real Lyte

Real Lyte

Forum Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Messages
57
Location
Southern Tier, NY!
Well to say the least it was my fault, lol. We have about 8-10" snow on the ground here so I decided I will hit the trails in my stock fozzy, bad idea for several reasons haha:
1.) It was -5F out
2.) No come along yet (buying very soon since this lol).
3.)All-year radial tires
4.) not enough clearance
5.) Crappy OEM "skid plate", more like a now shovel...
6.) No driving buddy.

The edge of the trail had a big snow pile of snow from the plows (was 2 ft high, rammed through np), but the trail looked like it had 5" snow at most, wrong. I rammed through at 30mph (stupid I know, I hadn't been out in a while, was ansy) only to find a 1 ft deep snow drift maybe 30ft into the trail and I was stuck! Shoveled for 20min, got it to move 15ft in reverse, then stuck again, shoveled maybe another 20min, I wasn't going anywhere, so I cut up sum branches with the fold out Gerber saw for traction, worked for another ten feet, stuck again. At this point I am exhausted from 1hr+ of shoveling and sawing, sun was setting getting cold. I had some time to re-evaluate really! I did wrong, hence the list above. While contemplating and resting luckily a nice guy drove by in his truck with a plow and yelled, "You do realize it's only a subaru?!" This made me angry, but I admitted I needed help, lol. He plowed and towed me out. A shovel is great insurance, but I really need to better assess trails lol. *noted for future refereance*

All the time I was shoveling I thought i saw oil in the fresh snow too which got me worried, got underneath today and found a surprise! The crappy OEM plastic had 1ft of snow jammed underneath my engine and was all bent out of shape. I removed it to clean out the huge ice chunks and found no motor fluids (thank god, I'm poor already lol). The insulation (fiber glass maybe? it was gross looking) that was protecting the plastic dissentigrated too. 1 inch more of clearance and I wouldn't have been touching the snow on the underside, so a lift would've been nice, but I guess I should stick to mud and snow under 6" lol.

Lesson learned**:poke:
 
Limitations fade when I really want to go out offroading and there isn't anything to do round the house lol. But I shall do quite a bit more scouting on foot for future situations.
 
With offroading I have learned that it's the unknown in front of you that will get you in trouble.
I always get out and walk it if it looks even remotely like trouble.
I love every minute of it though.
 
A good lesson learnt - thanks for sharing. BTW - where was Beth while all this was happening? You could have had her walk out in front of the car you know! :biggrin:
 
Kevin said:
A good lesson learnt - thanks for sharing. BTW - where was Beth while all this was happening? You could have had her walk out in front of the car you know! :biggrin:
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Beth was more or less chilling by my propane lantern (yes I keep many survival tools in my car, wewt) because her toes/hands were cold. And having her walk out front and do what? model on my hood? I would have liked that yes, help morale yes, but pushing wasn't gonna help lol. I felt bad for her, so didn't want her to help, I made a bad judgment call, oh, and yea I'm stubborn too...
 
'fess up

OK! Since I have to get it off my chest, I got stuck for the first time last Thursday on Fraser Island, Queensland.

For those that don't know, Fraser Island is the worlds largest sand island. So, it's no surprise i got stuck in the sand.

My '02 MY03 Fozzie has raised king springs, geolander A/ts and a sump guard.
When we left the western side of the island it was raining so i thought "great, wet sand is good, I won't sink into it so easy", and it was good.

We made it through to the eastern beach and drove north for about an hour and headed back to Cornwall Break to drive up and look over the sand blow then head back to Kingfisher Bay. I got off the beach alright and headed up the track. it hadn't been raining here and it was very, very hot. The sand was dry as and it was getting deeper on the track. I was traveling along in 2nd gear, low ratio when i hit a big dip in the track. The sump guard hit hard and I lost momentum, to slow getting into first and I was bottomed out. Tried to rock back and forth but all I achieved was a clutch that started to smell.

I'd brought a little fold up spade with me and between my Daughter (21), my Wife and myself, we dug out most of the sand from under and in front of the car, put some branches under the tyres, and with my Wife, Daughter and two male, French backpackers who happened along pushing, eventually got out.

Man, that burning clutch smell is awful.

Well I feel better now for 'fessing up. (it still was a great adventure)

Next visit to sand will be with a 2" strut lift kit like I had on my '97 fozzie. I never got stuck with that car, and it was an auto.

So, we all have to have a first time :p
 
I got stuck yesterday also but not offroad
helping a friend move house and it was my first time towing a trailer. Her new apartment had a basement carpark that had an overhead clearance of only 2.1m with a very steep entrance decline. So I was stuck on the steep slope trying to reverse out with the fridge and bed frame threatening to hit the overhead bar. Smell of burning clutch also. In the end had to hop out and off load the bedframe. Fridge managed to squeeze through ok.
 
I remember getting stuck, big time, on Stockton Beach a couple of years ago during a storm.
I (well I should say we) managed to get my Forry (aswell as onother one) out after what seemed like an eternity, & by that time I was soaked through to the bone, very cold & had some mild hyperthermia thrown in just for good measure.

It's a day that I won't forget for a long time.

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Great Stories!

It feels good to " 'fess up" right? At first I though I should never tell anyone, because hey, it's embarrassing at first, lol. Once you tell everyone though, you realize what you did wrong, and we have a laugh about it. To be honest sand sounds the hardest to traverse, luckily we have 0 sand in NY lol.
 
Yep, we all get stuck sometime (otherwise you're not trying hard enough - right!) I've been lucky in that I've been on club trips when stuck so recovery is a minor exercise.

At least when you get stuck in sand it's usually warm to hot; getting stuck in snow is probably more risk to life and limb.
 
haha, glad to hear about someone else getting stuck! go ahead and get you a come along. if you have a harbor freight i'd go there. i picked up a 6000lb come along and 2 15' 4000lb tow straps for a little over $20 after tax. i just keep them in my forester now since i never know when i'll get the urge. haha
 
satalac said:
haha, glad to hear about someone else getting stuck! go ahead and get you a come along. if you have a harbor freight i'd go there. i picked up a 6000lb come along and 2 15' 4000lb tow straps for a little over $20 after tax. i just keep them in my forester now since i never know when i'll get the urge. haha
Click to expand...


Yeah, the come-along is next purchase, I found a better one on amazon that uses a 3 hook design for 35 bucks.

[ame="https://www.amazon.com/Super-Duty-5-Ton-Come-Along-Power-Puller/dp/B000MBWCIU/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1226805882&sr=1-9"]Come-Along[/ame]

And there is no harbor freight near me. :poke:
 
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