Orcas Tow

Good info, thanks for sharing.

Just now, dperone said:

I've never had one break but I've had a few that if I kept going I would have. I always load a tree slowly so you can get an idea of it's going to work with you or against.

Agreed, keep an eye on the top of the tree for movement during the recovery, the lower you run the strap on the tree the easier on the tree it will be.

21 hours ago, GRUMPS The Towman said:

That is some scary stuff. Glad to hear it held up for you. Sometimes you just dont have any other choices and you have to roll the dice.

In this case the worst that could happen is the tree would come down, no chance of the propane truck becoming a projectile if the tree failed so proceed on.

9 hours ago, rreschran said:

Hey Grumps ... thanks for the pictures as it leads me to a different question ... has anyone every BROKE a Holmes Tree? If you have a, "yes", answer, what happened?    Also, may I have your permission to use the last picture in a PowerPointe on carriers?  R 

Loaded propane tank truck on a 33k chassis, snow, slid off the steep hill roadway, only had a F550 with a Chevron 408 at the time, I knew I could not anchor enough to winch him so I decided to put the load onto the only tree around. Nearest thing for a winching anchor was a 10" fir tree, I knew it was questionable, 2 lines from my truck to the tanker/snatchblocks then 4 lines to the tree, got the job done but the tree was leaning at a 45 degree angle once completed, driver & me agreed to just look the other way. 

17 hours ago, GRUMPS The Towman said:

I was told not too long ago by a agero dispatcher who seemed to be somewhat intelligent when I questioned why I am constantly getting calls usually 45 - 60 miles away that when they take a call from a customer that their system breaks down providers into a region and that these regions that are set up by them are about 150 -  200 square miles. That region has a call list of providers from within it. The dispatchers just start calling down the list untill they get a provider to take the call. I dont see it being very difficult to pull up a map and say " hey this towing company is here and my client is here" but apparently it is for the likes of agero. But hey, what do I know, I am just a dumb tuh truk driva....

Ive asked the same questions, for years with the same answer, "Sir we are just going down thew call list". Again, poor customer waiting on the side of the road for hours because of Agero's poor mapping.

I am not contracted with Agero. All Agero #'s blocked as they can not figure out we are on an island surrounded by water & can only get to their member by ferry boat ride & they call me non stop with out of area calls day & night. I feel sorry for their poor dispatchers as when they used to call me they have already been turned down by every other tow company within 100 miles. In addition the poor members stuck on the side of the road relying on their roadside assist to get them help, 2-3-4 hours later..... 

Chasing the $$$, lack of practical industry knowledge, little man complex "Look what I can do", hard saying but unsafe. Surely this driver needs some education wether it be self motivated or motivated by the authorities. As an owner operator I have done some things early on I would not repeat, its those adrenaline moments that make you search out a safer way for most of us that have been at it for a while.

Same here, we were the real early "Builders".

On 12/19/2019 at 6:21 PM, GRUMPS The Towman said:

Wow I really was off the mark on my guesses. lol I still think its a muncie style trans which it may be if it came from a dodge or studebaker. Still an awesome machine!!!!

I added a running video, my friend Gary has old "junk" fever

I think its a 1940's era trans & rear axle housing, it has tapered axle shafts like maybe a Studebaker or Dodge, the winch is made out of a couple brake drums & yes a wood wrapped drum/axle shaft.

54 minutes ago, GRUMPS The Towman said:

It has been so heavily modified that it is hard to tell. The grille and front lights are most certainly 1928. But the hood and side shields do look like a later model. 

Now Id be real impressed if you can ID the trans & reared/winch;)

28-29 Model A 1 ton shortened & turned in to a log skidder, home made winch from a tapered axle rear end, a couple of brake drums & a chain driven 3 speed transmission, heck even has a winch brake, pretty cool git er done engineering right there.

Your truck looks like it has a great wheelbase for keeping your front axle weight in a safe weight for braking & steering while in tow.

Spring forks are going to be your friend with short reach, you may not have enough height to lift the towed truck high enough so you may need a set of risers but then you start to get into the risers causing excess leverage/strain on your under reach cross bar pin. You might look into an add on Zacklift for more reach if the rest of the truck is a keeper as you'll struggle with short reach with limited height in the HD arena, Ive been there. A training class would be a good start if you have no HD experience, its a different world altogether than light duty.

I run a simple Mico lock like picture above in the rear brake line tied in right below the cab on my 2001 F550, have since bought new, manual trans & factory parking brake don't make for a stable park brake scenario on a steep grade.

I use the alloy chains with ice V bars or Pewag square cut chains, they seem to hold up pretty good & have good grip. Both my small wreckers are 4x4 so I chain up front & rears just so I have no question of traction as many of the snow 

/ice covered driveways are 10 degrees & steeper, no messing around here or you end up down a ravine. I always fit/cut the chains in the warm shop, I usually move the cross links nearest the hooks about 1 or 2 links away from the hooks to allow the next step. When I install the rear out on the road I use thin waterproof gloves, drape the chains over the tire, reach through the wheel openings & connect the rear hooks though the wheel holes, then connect the outside, adjust & install the spider tensioners. The fronts also start by draping chain over tire then reach around, hook inside, hook outside, adjust & install a circular bungee as I have not found a big enough spider tensioner to not get caught up in the portruding lug studs.

The camera man sounds like a great guy too have as a ride along partner🤣

Nice job marrying the winch lines together to even the load, smart rigging:)

Looks good, only thing better would have been a helicopter that would just hover above & pick it straight up. Every time I offer that service on scene the customer always declines...

Once in a while I am doing a lockout & cannot see the lock button or inner door handle through the side glass & thought it would be nice to have a mirror on an adjustable head with a suction cup base & flexible shaft that you could place on the windshield so you could look in the mirror from the standard lockout position to see what your trying to manipulate, anyone make something like this? I ordered the one pictured but could only find it with a magnification mirror that will not work for viewing more than 12" from the mirror.

I miss seeing Dougs awesome recoveries...

Great Look!

New Suburban to owner visiting from Nebraska, took a turn too sharp exiting one of our local parks, dropped the rig into a 5 foot ditch, common issue with this turn. This one was a 2 trucker as pulling it forward would have dropped the passenger rear into the deep ditch, possible overturning the Suburban & tearing the rear bumper cover off. Pulling it rearward would have surely torn the front bumper cover off & likely also tipped it over. 2018 F450 with a Chevron 408 for the lift on passenger front wheel & 2001 F550 Chevron 408 for the sideways pull on the drivers front & rearward stability via tree/strap/snatchblock. Lift & pull, towed back to the yard for inspection & drove it home.

Got to love a multi piece recovery, thanks for sharing.

I had a call from the local Sheriffs Office this morning for a tandem axle dump loaded with sand figuring 25 ton in the ditch. We responded with a 1981 KW W900A/Holmes 750 & 2001 F550 4x4/Chevron 408. After surveying the scene we positioned the trucks diagonally to the dump, rigged low from the tailboard of the 750 to the front pin with 4 lines to the load, rigging the Chevron with a high line from the boom to a chain wrapped over the corner of the box for high leverage to keep the truck from tipping any further & another low from the tailboard to the drivers rear outboard wheel simply for forward pull as there was no other place to rig being as the dump box was sitting directly on the truck frame. County closed that section of the road diverting all through traffic. Dump running in neutral & she came out without incident. About 1 hour on scene.