Kinda in a bind

[Ace]

"Being stuck in ice is totally different than mud"

I was under the assumption that it wasn't actually stuck since you said earlier that you jacked it up and was able to spin the wheels! Being stuck in ice to me is like, frozen stuck! You originally made it sound like the wheels wouldn't spin while IN or ON the ground. That led me and probably others to believe that you had a mechanical issue.

Regardless, Glad you got it out from whatever it was you were in!

[opus]

If it were a front engine bus, I could of got it spinning.  The thing is a tank and odd sounding but frozen mud and such doesnt offer enough slippage.  Mind you, I didnt try too hard. I did heavy recovery for 10 yrs, plus I am a pretty good wrench.  I know what horsing things does to drivetrains.  Thanks for all the input.  Cant wait for our 5500 mile trip to see what I chat here about.  :/

[RJ]

Opus -

Nice pics of the bus out of the ruts, but no commentary as to how?

Did CoachNet send out a tow truck?

Did you use your John Deer?

Enquiring minds want to know!

[opus]

Ever since the 4020, JD has been worthless.  It wouldnt budge it, 4wd and all.  I dont have chains on it but still its too light.

I called Coachnet and they sent a small wrecker out from kinda local here.  Didnt need much of a pull to get it out.  Plus I hadnt seen the guy for a while so we got to visit as well.

[buswarrior]

Big part of the problem with frozen ruts is that the edges of the ruts are hard.

There is no give in the edge of the rut as the tire tries to roll forward like in softer materials, allowing for some momentum.

So, it is more like climbing over a curb from a stop than squishing up over the edge.

And with the tires set right into it, there is quite a lot of power/traction required to pull the drives out and push the steers out at the same time.

As for ripping tread off, tires are hot from running, even in the arctic. Parking and walking away will get you melted divots under the tires, creating related trouble to  opus. The trick used by coach drivers at the ski slopes is to arrive, off-load the group, move the coach to the parking area, and 20 minutes or so later, roll the coach a half rotation of the tire off where it was to put a cooler piece of tire into contact with a cool piece of ground. Then you get no divot, no ice, and no stuck.

Glad there was a happy ending to this thread!

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[opus]

It was partly my fault.  I have been doing heavy vehicles for a lot of years, plus am a life long Northerner.  When I parked it after its shake down run, it was frozen.  Things normally stay frozen here for quite a while.  We got a thaw and a whole bunch of rain.  I should have moved it but it slipped my mind.  We have a concert in 3 weeks, its kinda cleared off, so I decide to move it and move the snow banks around it before the weather went south again.