Orcas Tow

Im proud to have you on board Trent, glad you are interested in the Towing & Recovery & enjoy working with you.

Looks more like "broken", nice work on a PITA job.

Had a call from a little old lady customer who has a pottery here on Orcas saying a BIG truck was stuck in her lawn, I'll be right over, when I got there the truck was buried axle deep on the pass side in the wet yard about 50' from hard ground, first thing I asked the homeowner was "wheres your septic tank & drain field?" She said oh its way over to the right of the truck, great here we go, started pulling got her winched out of the holes the tires had dug & back about 20' then BANG, the drivers front drops into a septic tank. Had to reposition the truck for a lift on the drivers front & run a line to a little old apple tree for a pull from the rear at the same time, all went as planned the second time, lady says "oh that must be the other septic tank for our apartment next door", yep it was fresh smelling rigging up for the lifthttp://www.tow411.net/images/emoticonunsure.gif \\ tator envy said: Ewwww.looks like poo to me.Shi^^y job!!!! Nice rigging, you sure get your monies worth out of that truck!!"I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not" ed barker said: I bet you could sure "SMELL",,,,*I mean "TELL",,,,that was a bad job,,,,,http://www.tow411.net/images/emoticonpoke.gif ,,,just curious Orcas,,by all the medium and heavy jobs you do wouldn't it be feasible to have a bigger wrecker that was more sized for the jobs,,even a used older heavy??????,,,then you could also get heavy rates$$$$$$$,,,,just curious,,you seem to stay pretty busy on the heavier side?????? racerecovery said: That is some excellent rigging. I have the same truck and the capabilties of that truck are amazing. Orcas Tow Said: Thanks guys. Ed, I am on a small island with 4,000 & some year round residents, I have maybe 2 calls a day & have only put 30,000 miles on this (primary) truck in 6 years, I have a flatbed that sits more than the wrecker, these calls are few & far between & I would love to have a true medium duty hydraulic or even a nice old 600 Holmes for these jobs but realistically the tow business here would not support me on its income only & another truck on the insurance/maintenance, etc... doesnt bring anymore calls in, I own a shop with 4 tech's & that is where my bread & butter is. In this situation I dont know if a bigger truck could have fit where I was without getting stuck or having to cut down a tree due to the lack of working area (the fenders of my truck were wedged between the deck support on the left & a tree on the right, I had to wiggle my way into there), the 550 is small in body size, a 4x4 which I used in this situation, & the 408 has been a great working unit, Orcas Island has many many narrow steep driveways where a bigger truck would get the mirrors ripped off. I dont mind snatchblocking, I charge by the hour so am paid to rig, this job was about 1 1/2 hrs from start to finish & just under $300, the truck earned its keep todayHello from sunny (when its not raining) Orcas Island 1Caleb said: That truck of yours has earned it keep. Nice job on the rigging. I'm always impressed with the stuff you do. ed barker said: I appreciate the answer to my question,I guess its just hard for me to realize your surroundings,that is for sure not a lot of locals and I understand your position ,,,I'm kind of a homebody when it comes to traveling,the closest I ever been to an island is when I used to watch "Gilligan",,,,,,,and I do agree the chevron unit is a really stout little unit,I like ours very much,and I notice you use your blocks frequently,thats the way it should be done. Thanks,Ed Stapley Towing said: You keep impressing me more and more with every post, You could run a wreckmaster cousre "BIG JOBS, LITTLE TRUCK" lol, keep up the amazing work, Sounds like you have found just the right piece of equipment!!!! allenstowing said: nice rigging that little truck is earning its money twinbulls said: Nice truck, Nice rigging Nice job You are a PRO.... Nice paycheck Thanks for thr pics.... Tim bigtow00 aka Jason Ray said: Boy, ain't this some S^^^t. No one really knows where this stuff is unless they put it in.Life is about the journey, not the destination. towingtech said: I too am glad to see a pro work with a nice unit and what a impresive looking island you are on. "Use it don't abuse it" Nice workJust Towing My Part CK BigWheelRecovery said: Uzek that's a real pro at work using the tools he has an achieving what he set out to do.Looking at the limited area to work I think that if you had a medium you would have to have two, the second to pull out the first. very nice job, BOB orcas tow said: Bob,I am the largest wrecker on my little island so if I get stuck theres nobody to recover me, self recovery & staying within the abilitys of my truck is always on my mind. I really value all your input & the power of this site on a learning aspect. Most of recovery techniques I use are from Wreck Master, Tow411, hands on & I like to think some mechanical ability to figure things out thrown in the mix. There is a wealth of information here, I think the light duty drivers can learn from the heavy & maybe even heavy from light sometimes as far as techiniques & rigging. I find myself really trying to document recoverys to share them here for review, critiquing & to study later on to find anythings that could have been done safer, easier or used a different method. Thanks for all the compliments & please dont hesitate to critique as there is always more than one way to perform the same recoveryhttp://www.tow411.net/images/emoticonhug.gifHello from sunny (when its not raining) Orcas Island

Topic Originally Created on Tow411 in January of 2013: This video was made by the Point Blank team on Orcas Island. They made this video so they could educate their peers, family, and community members about the harmful affects of texting and driving In Memory of NationalAutow who said: We will REQUIRE all of our drivers to see this tomorrow before they get a paycheck. mooresbp said: Very powerful

Good info, thanks. Im going to dig in some time this weekend if time allows.

I have had my drivers side winch brake release slowly when heavily loaded on a 1962 Holmes 750. I have replaced the preload springs & adjusted properly, still slips. I recently bought new brake drums, brake bands, springs & am going to install them soon. Any tips for installing or adjusting above & beyond whats in the manual? Any other issues to address while I'm there? Thanks

For the last 20 years I have used nothing but the Super Swaged 3/8 wire rope on my 8 TON Chevron wreckers (150') & Century series 12 rollback (100'). I lube weekly with WD-40 as from my experience anything heavier is gummier & collects sand/dirt/gravel if it hits the ground. It has a smooth exterior compared to the standard non swaged wire rope so it spools, lays better & will not crush as it is more dense. It is stiffer but I have never had a failure & would not use any other wire rope on my equipment. With that said I did make a modification to my 2015 Century series 12 winch, the winch guide side rollers were not spaced far enough apart & would not let the wire rope reach the edges of the winch drum causing repeated spooling issues for me early on. I bought a wider winch guide & modified it to fit so the side rollers allow the wire rope to reach the outer edges of the winch drum when spooling. It took some modification but works well. I dont know why miller did not address this as it is a poor design.

I remember it was not too long ago you "Couldn't do that with a flatbed";). Thanks for sharing & be safe out there, lots of nutty people.

Nice thorough job on the recovery & restoration. Thanks, for sharing.

Yes a bit of difficulty prior to pull, I had to pull the SUV forward rather than slide sideways as I wanted it to roll over the rock that was under the fuel tank with the drivers rear tire rather than drag it & take a chance of puncturing the tank. When I arrived the SUV was in 4x4 low & I could not get the trans in neutral to roll it so we rigged for a drag forward.

Not sure why but this forum always says files are too big so here's a link.... https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=3801249493251398&id=101133003263084&comment_id=3801265766583104&notif_id=1607485621993488&notif_t=feed_comment&ref=notif

Lots of great information available all within 24 hrs.

It does not run, bought recently locally & broke down where it sits. I hope to be able to run air & pull shaft on scene without drama, forking from the front sounds like the way to go if the rails are not covered with fire dept doodads:)

I have a request to impound this 1968 Seagrave Fire Truck from the Park Service day after tomorrow. Its on a different Island requiring a ferry ride away so I can not lay eyes on it to get a game plan. Ill be taking my 1981 KW W900A tandem with a 750 Holmes/Z20 Zacklift. Hoping for some old schoolers here to advise: Air or hydraulic brakes? Not sure if its auto or manual transmission, pull the shaft with either way on this old dog? Id love to grab it by the rear but unsure of frame strength near the rear bumper for forking? Thank you.

These are crossed under the underlift, this is on my flatbed so the wheel lift is out quite a ways to clear the deck giving the appearance they aren't. I had to load on a ferry boat with this one that has about a 2-3 foot drop at the loading ramp depending on the tide hence the high wheel lift height pictured. I agree crossed safety chains allow more turning slack & would hold the casualty in the lane behind the truck better than un crossed.

Every time, in addition I secure the steering wheel in the straight ahead position. I am in an area where we have narrow winding country roads with a high center crown & if you do not strap or secure the steering wheel the dollies will wander with the road crown or while going around a sharp turn at speed. I use the same ratchet & 2" laso strap on the dollies as the strap pictured on the wheel lift. I run Collins & ITD, they all get straps.

Yes, once installed properly they work well for applying the brakes on the towed truck. Make sure your secure & adjusted properly as if your relying on it to work & it doesnt or your set up too tight & dragging the towed trucks brakes then your worse off than not having a brake buddy.

I would tow it from the back for a short tow. 500 miles I would pull the shaft & pick it from the front, more front axle weight on your wrecker, less strain on the wheel lift, more control/stability towing.

Agreed, only on the real heavy stuff or if Im going to be towing down a steep grade

Good job on the pre hook observations & customer notifications

Ive used these a few times for loading dollies on uneven surfaces, flats, etc... a quick throw down of these chocks & I dont see having to sling a heavy floor jack to set a wheel in dollies ever again, makes me happy:)

Agreed, I run my tie down chain in between above the spring between the fork & spring eye to take up the gap then under the crossbar & to a chain binder. Get the pin in the lowest hole to make it as slop less as possible.

I had a couple hours today & started the first set of 4 for both my wreckers. Started out with a 3x3 angle iron, had some 1/4" T100 plate, cut the T100 4" long x 4" wide, put some teeth on one edge, was going to weld but though it better to bolt first in case something needed adjusting down the road. Left a bit of the T100 hanging over the top of the angle so the dolly bar could not over ride. It appears from a couple tests that they work great for chip seal, gravel or dirt but would probably skip on concrete like pictured, The small rubber chocks work well on the concrete, so Ill have both on hand. I also loaded loaded images over at my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Orcas-Auto-Tech-Inc-DBA-Orcas-Towing-101133003263084/photos/?tab=album&album_id=3583004888409194