GRUMPS The Towman

You have got to be kidding me.... This bozo actually went down a public road towing that like that? All that dangling off a single 3/8" winch line and the tips of a cheapy sports car bridle... Not to mention it is just over one and a half times the legal GVW......

Merry Christmas to all my brother tow men across the pond. May 2021 be a safe and prosperous year for all !!!

So, is it safe to assume that L.E. "fabricated" the falsifyed documents to nail this guy to the wall? Or did he get lucky that this particular officer said that to him while he was being investigated for the forgeries and this got him off the hook with that? Either way, It seems there is a fair amount of corruption going on in Kansas city...

Got this poor Honda Element earlier today (Xmas eve ) from one of the major thorough fares in and out of our city. As you can see, the right rear trailing arm tore out of the badly rotted sub frame. This type of damage is actually very typical around here due to the incredibly ridiculous amount of salt, brine and chemicals the state uses to treat the roads for winter. Vehicles rot out terribly and fast due to it. Weather here has been batty the past week or so. Last week, we were slammed with low 20's for temps and a blizzard that dumped around 18" of snow, and here today, the temps were in the 60's and pouring rain. This all of course has led to some pretty severe flooding. Now for tomorrow, word is the temps will plummet into the 20's again with freezing rain and snow. So, needless to say, everything will ice over.. I feel it is gonna be a busy xmas day for me..

Maybe I should consider giving this mail carrier something of a bonus... I went out AGAIN last night and pulled him out of another driveway 4 houses down from this one.. Sorry, no pics. I was partially in the road so I was moving my butt to get out of there.

To my knowledge, It is Illegal and they wont do it. Sounds to me like they dont like your bill and are trying to wiggle out from under it. Now, with that being said, they can file a grievance with the state if they feel that your charges are very inflated, or your gouging so be sure to have everything documented and broke down to reflect what you have actually done and what your charging for. I had it done to me once by those clowns at All State on a real nasty fatal and as soon as I faxed over all my rates, documentation and even the pics I had of the lengthy recovery and clean up work, the state investigator promptly told them to pay me. Long story short, they were grasping at straws on that whole wreck because they were gonna loose their a$$es on that one all around. The main game they play with me from time to time on the big jobs with big bills is claim that they will only pay x amount and the rest would have to come from the vehicle owner. Its a pity party ploy to try and get us to lower our bills for them. I tell them I dont care who pays what, As long as it is paid. Not to be heartless, but I run a business, not a charity. So far, I have called their bluff every time and the bill is paid in full by them and the vehicle is removed.

Thats right !! I forgot about that. Being a Super Cheyenne that may very well be the case with that one. They were nasty lil trucks in their day. Beautiful truck in any trim but the 402 would be a real treat.

I remember reading something about that last year. It is a fungal infection of some sort if I recall. The state was concerned about it here, but it doesnt appear to have been a problem for us yet.

So, to make a long story short, I have pulled this very same postal truck (known as a long life vehicle or LLV for those who dont deal with these ) with the very same driver from this very same spot in these peoples yard 3 times now since we got slapped with the snow storm last Wednesday. This guy simply refuses to walk up to the door for some reason. It isn't a terribly long or steep driveway either.. Not to mention this guy buried this thing to the frame rails all three times as well trying to romp his own way out before I would get there. In any event, she popped out of there rather easily all 3 times. I have already informed the post master that the yard is going to need some considerable landscape work and repairs come spring time. It is just way too sloppy and muddy to really do anything with it now. I am starting to wonder how much longer this particular mail man will be employed.. I guess you really cant fix stupid... He keeps burying it, Ill keep pulling it... They pay really well.. 👍

Excellent !! I always love showing up with a LD on those types of jobs and Get all the "you cant do anything with that" comments. Then Knock the job out and listen to the sweet sound of people eating their words.. LOL Sadly Kjband13oc, I feel like guys like Ed, you and myself ( just to name a few, No offense to the others on here ) are becoming a dying breed in this industry. There are way more clowns out there than true professionals anymore. Great work Mr. Ed, My next Chevron will most certainly have the stiff legs. Thats the 408A model? Right??

What the local Ups and Fed Ex drivers do here is hire part time "package runners" during the holidays. Usually young, healthy college kids to run the packages up to the houses from the main roads. Driver and van stays put on terra-firma and gets thew next package pulled while the runner makes the delivery. then off to the next house. most are still dumb enough to try and bull doze into the snow banks on the edge of the road and get stuck anyway so It hasnt really hurt my business with them. I just dont have to go chasing them up the steep hillside roads as much. lol I dont know what your thoughts or experiences are with those Pro-masters but, they are horrendous in the snow in my opinion.

Nice work. Sounds like your area has a lot of similarities to mine. Steep hills, narrow, dirt road switch backs, heavy snows and hoards of dumb ass delivery drivers..

Excellent work. Certainly a Tricky spot to work in. Beautiful rigs you have there as well.

Welcome Back to the forums Sir.

Same here. In fact, there are 2 small "mom n pop" body shops around here that are only open from Nov to Apr. The guys running them have full time day jobs and run their small shops solely for deer season. They make a killing too.

First off, I applaud this mans efforts. It was the right thing to do. I have to agree that a majority of us True, Professional, career tow operators have had a similar incident happen to us through the course of our careers. We spend our lives out and about along the roadways among the people of the world. I too have plenty of these types of stories that I have been involved in. Years back, I once witnessed a woman passed out behind the wheel traveling down the highway alongside of me and without thinking twice sped up to get in front of her car then slowed to let her car hit my wheel lift and stopped the car before it wandered off the road and crashed. Turns out her 5 year old daughter was in the back seat in a car seat. The woman had suffered a siezure of some sort. I even towed the car to the womans house ( there was minimal damage to her grille and bumper cover )afterwards while she went off in the ambulance. Never charged a dime. Her and her family were very grateful of course, and still send me thank you cards around the anniversary of the incident every year since. This story never made the news. No one other than the people involved really knew anything about it. and I am just fine with that. I dont do this job to be a hero. Just like I didnt join the military to be a hero. It is what it is. You do what you do as a good person. If you require an "atta boy" and all sorts of accolades for doing the right thing, then I suggest you put on a cape and become a super hero character.

I really thought it was going to be way worse than it was. But it seemed that shortly after the storm started to blow in, ( around 1pm ) everyone was in and off the roads for the most part. I went down through town 3 times throughout the storm overnight to plow our storage yard and some other plow accounts and there was no one on the roads at all. That is somewhat uncharacteristic of people here. Usually, snow storms are just another day. I am sure there will be a few slide offs and stuck in driveway jobs over the next few days.. Thanks all. And yes, I am a flatbed guy. I run fully equipped to handle pretty much anything that most would normally do with a wrecker. 😁

Heres some pics from a couple I did in the aftermath of the storm that blew through the east coast yesterday and today. We here got lucky it seems. Most areas here only ended up with 12"-18", A stiff north wind and high teens-low 20's temps. South of us got hammered pretty good. I am told some ares in the southern tier of Ny/Pa. got 40"+ inches...

I will keep my comments to myself because I.....I uh..... Ive been THAT guy before.... LMAO😁 Nothing like being the tow truck that NEEDS a tow truck. lol

Man, I feel your pain.. It really hurts shelling out that big money on something as trivial as a lever/handle. Like we dont pay enough for these rigs as it is.

Truck turned out awesome !!! Good luck with it. We are looking at anywhere from 6"-24" here from that same storm Wednesday.depending on which way it decides to go.. I am scrambling to get ready myself.... UGGGGHHHH....

I Agree with Mr. Wagner and Animosus. Unless they are tore up already, they should be just fine. I never had any that were in good shape have any issues and I can recall one I towed almost 500 miles at interstate speeds. If they are in fact damaged, You can secure them like Mr. Wagner stated, but I would also be sure to notate it on your invoice as well

Yep, Animous beat me to it. The Illumagear halo, Gaurdian angel lights etc.. has been around for a little bit now..I will admit, Its Pretty awesome stuff. Although, I have been on the fence with the use of Illumination on my body. I do feel like a semi-distracted driver approaching my scene might get easilly confused if I am bopping around all over lit up like a christmas tree. Maybe the old "moth to the flame" scenario comes into play.

My biggest Issue with the 5.60's was the weight and the obvious bulkier set up to mess around with in tight areas like parking spaces and such. We have a ton of tight , narrow and rough side roads around the colleges and I actually preferred the 5.60's for those to get the higher clearances.I just hated carrying them back and forth from the truck. lol. They do seem to be a lot more forgiving on the old brick paved roads and such. Another difference is price of course. the 5.60's are considerably more expensive.

I suppose in theory, that would work in a low speed, short distance situation. Although I have never tried that so I dont really have a viable comment. I personally am not a big fan of most of those tow eyes so I would probably never try it. If thats the only thing really securing me to a fully loaded casualty, I dont think I would be very comfortable doing it.