Buses and muddy fields

[zubzub]

BTW Belfert if you do do  this and get stuck,  please assign one of your crew to just take pics and vids, I'm pretty sure the rest of you will be too muddy to handle a camera

[Fredward]

Viento 1:
I don't think those recovery hooks on the front of our MC-5s are much good for other than helping it along. I think a dead pull from a big wrecker or tractor would rip them right out. THey're not secured under there very well. The last time I was in a muddy field, i didn't even try driving out; until I got someone on a tractor and they pulled on one of those hooks while I drove. Also, the MC-5 is somewhat lighter than the 40 footers.
Fred

[Old4103]

Old 4103,
They were probably Sikorsky "Flying Cranes".  What's a PBR?
Dennis

PBR = Patrol Boat, River. It was the next version of the SWIFT boat.

It was fast and sneaky... 2 -200+ HP 6V53 Detroits, using water jet propulsion.

Find an old brown water sailor and I'll bet he could give you a lot more info than I can. I only got to ride on them and play with the single .50 BMG in the stern.


(Edit: The helicopters were CH-54 Flying Cranes. I wish I had been there to see it, but I was too young at the time). -DF

Dallas

[Kwajdiver]

I got stuck on hard dry sand    ,  the tires just spun.  As luck would have it, Jack had his 4 x and pulled me the two feet to pavement.
Mud,,, wet grass,,, you must be kidding......

Staying on the road,

Bill

[belfert]

It looks I might not be taking the bus at all or at least not onto the field.  The reports I have heard that so far they are having more rain than last year, but that could change in the next five weeks.

If we take the bus the best option is probably to park at one of the nearby farm houses and shuttle ourselves and our gear to the field with our chase vehicle.  

I also have to worry about spring load restrictions here in Minnesota.  I think the road in front of my house is limited to 10 tons per axle which is not an issue, but I do worry about my asphalt driveway handling the weight during the thaw.

[Ed Hackenbruch]

If i ever get my 5A stuck i will hook onto both tow hooks to spread out the load evenly. I used to be a logger for 4 years in my younger days and have had to help get D-8s and D-9s unstuck from some places where we thought we would never get them out of. Believe me, you get a cat buried up to the floorboards in mud and you got some problems.

[JohnEd]

That "nylon rope" approach is used all the time by the OFF ROAD 4X4 guys.  They use a commercial product and I think the name is "snatch" something.  It comes in different tests and starts at a few thousand pounds and goes up to tens of thousand pounds.  The absolute beauty of this system is that a 2 thousand pound vehicle can act like a much bigger guy.  They slack the strap and get a run at it and hit the rope running.  The rope stretches out a long way and they stop and lock the brakes.  The tension on the line is 4 thousand pounds so a little guy can snatch out a big 4X4.  A big 4X4 rig can get a bus unstuck....within reason.  Don't sell this stuff short.

You get it going fast enuf, a cement truck will speed across sand and keep going.  I used to help people in sedans get unstuck at the Sab Diego bay all the time.  It is a difficult sell to a guy that to get back to the road that is mere yards from him that he has to mush through the sand, down hill, till he hits the wet sand.  Then he has to back up 50 yards and hit it hard and turn up hill when he gets her up to 40 mph.  My words were "now you are only going to get one shot at this so KEEP YOUR FOOT IN IT TILL YOU GET ON THE ROAD>>>>DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?".  I saw some spectacular launches back onto the road and fun was had by all us frequent beach goers.  The only way to get there is to drive away from it and down towards the water and the tide is coming in.  Oh!  The looks.

John

[Lin]

I have heard that those bungees can also be quite a sight if they snap.

[JohnEd]

Lin,

Oh!  Without the shadow of a doubt.  They must have some procedure cause they use em all the time and swear by them.  I know that the "bungee" must be matched to the weight of the tow vehicle.  These things are pro and the beauty is that a small vehicle can tug a monster truck out with seeming ease.  Even 4X4 Dudes would stop using somthing that was killen em.  No wait, they are 4 wheelers.

John

[circusboy90210]

what about doing a thelma and louise with bungee cords attached to your bus undercarriage?

[buswarrior]

No matter which method of recovery is attempted, the forces involved in dragging the coach UP out of the hole you spun or sunk it into, and then out through the slop....

Those forces are applied to whatever part you attached to. This is not your father's Oldsmobile. Which very small point of contact is going to take that force?

There are few, if any places on the coach that were intended to be dragged on, and even those were not designed to pull it out of the mud or snow, their major purpose to pull the coach around on improved surfaces at the shop.

Add in that often the pull is not linear to the direction of travel, pulling off to the side by the restrictions of the place and ground conditions...

Add in that the age and condition of our coaches have put their engineering well past the "best before" date...

Add in that you cannot control the behavior of both the puller and the pullee, as you are the one with the vested interest and you can't be in both places at once... you'll get lots of "help" that couldn't care less what rips off, they want entertainment, or an education, or an income, at the expense of someone else.

Too many variables and the ability to apply forces to parts of the coach that simply were never intended to be forced like that...

This realm of heavy coach off-roading is an area of do-it-yourself that has a steep price for learning the hard way, and nobody learns anything about recovery without breaking stuff.

However, whatever floats your boat, there are some adventures that are worth the price of admission!

BE SAFE, always be thinking about where the towing gear is going to go if it snaps or tears loose from where it is attached, at both ends. Spectators stay back at least twice the distance of the gear, further the better, no hurrying, establish clear signals between participants, be thoughtful of the potential for spilling your vital fluids onto the ground, will the landowner take the stuck coach as a cabin?

Your coach, your money, your way!

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Len Silva]

Perhaps this might be the solution.
http://www.blue-bird.com/uploadedFiles/Blue-Bird/Products/Activity/All-American/4WheelDriveFlyer.pdf

[Lin]

Although I do not believe that John is looking to build a new coach for this adventure, doesn't crown have multi-wheel drive buses?

[Stormcloud]

You dont need 4x4. You just need a close friend with one of these.