Orcas Tow

7 hours ago, rreschran said:

I personally don't like these kinds of body-shop rollers for tow truck and carrier purposes. I've experienced a car on these kinds of accessories as a potential, dangerous roll-away, a driver who blew out his back trying to push a loaded vehicle, or, having to pay to repair a butt-dent or palm-print as a result of trying to push a vehicle from a parking spot. I also paid for a driver's injuries after a slip and fall by another spraying lubricants onto a carrier's deck.  When looking at those, "what-if", scenarios they present,  I prefer to use dollies and skates.Each of the examples mentioned all were either the result of a Worker's Comp claim or a small-claims suit for driver inflicted damage.  R.

Agreed, I thought Id give them a chance to see if they were worthy of keeping. 

2 hours ago, dperone said:

We have a set of 4 at the shop and that's where they spend most of their time. As you've discovered, skates are the way to go with vehicles stuck in park. The only time we really use them is when they're street parked or in a tight lot, we can push them into a spot to load it straight on the deck. If we get to that point though we have to get someone from the shop to bring them out, but this way you have 4 skates and a helper to push.

 

Or you can go the ultra easy route and just wheel lift and dolly it, then you don't have to push or drag it.

 

 

 

Thank you & agreed. Dollies were the first 10 miles of this tow, the last 100 were on the flatbed due to the logistics of my location.

Thanks, they came with this truck hard mounted, never saw a real need for them so I removed them from the truck & put them in the shop collecting dust. Had this locked up Range Rover so thought Id give it a shot. Will stick them in the shop back under the bench:)

I have never in my 30 years towing had Gojaks, always used skates to load locked up vehicles, skate on skate for transition on deck, windshield washer solvent mixed with Dawn dishwashing liquid for lube going off deck, sometimes pushing truck out from under vehicle when unloading, etc... I came upon a used set of Gojaks & thought it might make my job easier, loaded a 2019 locked up Range Rover today & had nothing but difficulty with the Gojaks making the transition up the deck, finally gave up on them & used good old skates. Just didn't seem to be the easier way loading on a deck. Any tips/suggestions or send them down the road? Thanks.

Dang, that's cause for a refund...

 You can't do a rollover with a flatbed, need 2 trucks, wrecker for the rollover & flatbed for the tow, just joking. Nice work:)

Nice reverse roll, I prefer that method rather than rolling towards you, more consistent without the chance of it sliding on its roof towards you.

Thank you John.

I had a call today for a new Suburban that had rolled backwards into a market swail, I have been here many times before, honey hole I guess.

 The 40 gallon plastic gas tank was sitting on the sharp rock retaining wall so winching forward was not an option, needed lift. We brought 2 trucks & my son with me. We positioned the trucks at 45 degrees to the rear wheels, boomed out, used WreckMaster K straps in a basket wrapped through the rear wheels around the wheel hub, snatch blocks then terminating the wire rope at the boom. I had my son in the drivers seat with the engine running holding the brakes while we winched the rear up allowing the gas tank to rise off the rock wall, once level my son eased off the brakes allowing the Suburban to roll forward slowly as we kept winching until the rear wheels were back on solid ground. Recovery was done very slowly with all 3 of us working very smoothly together, which was key.  All good, no damage in or out, they drove off under their own power.

Nice that it all came up together, saved a lot of extra labor.

 

I was called for a 13,000lb forklift leaning on a house, I brought my 1981 Kenworth W900A with a Holmes 750. Found an all terrain forklift had fallen fully extended into a house on a steep side incline. Structural steel was damaged when the forklift went over. I rigged to the boom of the forklift with a continuous loop in a choker fashion to prevent shifting as it came upright, rigged directly off the mast for a side pull with the outrigger down. Blocking front & rear of the low side wheels on the lift & parking brake set I winched it upright, as it was clear of the building &  upright I had the operator start the machine & lower the boom as I kept tension with the winch. 

Thats a heavy one that's going to have some damage resistance. With no description its hard to tell the steps taken but I would venture the first rigging with the chain may have not been sufficient for the pull with the veer angle of the chain the snatchblock was hanging from, hence the shackles in the next picture. I would speculate that they would have been looking at removing a gear from the drives also to allow the machine to roll up the embankment rather than drag it.

Nice to see a wrecker & dollies doing it all, as a small operation it how we get them home too.

Nice job with the low pull bringing the car to where you needed it rather than work where it was.

Love those things!

4 hours ago, mooresbp said:

Air the tire and let him drive it away?

Towed to shop, re seat tire bead, safety inspection of undercarriage, fluid check & then he drove it away:)

I had a call for a Ford Ranger on the edge of an embankment with propane tanks below, after 30 years of this profession I have learned 99% of the time the "almost tipping over the edge" from the reporting party is usually very well planted with no chance of going over. When I arrived on scene I found a Ranger teetering (literally) on a rock ledge with sure enough propane tanks below. Tanks would have probablely been just fine if the truck would have gone over, I was tip toeing around the truck on the high side hoping a good wind gust wasn't coming as it was very unstable. The only damage was the passenger rear tire was blown off the bead from impact going in with a rock.  I positioned my 2001 F550 4x4 with a Chevron 408, boom extended/raised for lift with boom sheave perpendicular to the rear bumper of the Ranger, ran my passenger side line to a tree/strap/shackle/snatchblock then terminated at the drivers front lower control arm with a 5/16" grade 80 recovery chain in a basket of the Ranger for a sideways pull on the front, snugged the winch. I ran my drivers line to a 5/16" grade 80 recovery chain choked (so it couldn't come off the end of the hitch) around hitch tube. I would have preferred to run a strap around the low side of the hitch receiver but in this case did not want to put myself below the Ranger for my safety. I gave a hard lift on the rear lifting the rear off the rock retaining wall & pulled both front & rear back onto the road. 

Thank you for the kind words, as you know most times we are under some kind of push from Law Enforcement, customer, time/safety to clear or simply the next call pending so we get the job done. Every once in a while I get one that is not time sensitive, am able to document & share for the better of the industry as a whole as you can explain techniques all day long but pictures are worth a thousand words.

I had a call for a Subaru into a house. I arrived on scene to find a Subaru had gone beyond the parking blocks & was resting on the house with the transmission pan on top of a large cinder block.

 

Probably could have used the flatbed but thought it may drag trans pan across cinder block & create a mess, needed lift on both front wheels but that would take 2 wreckers. I'm a small operation on a remote island, so if possible I always try & use what I have on scene.

 

Using my 2001 F550 4x4 with a Chevron 408, twin 9,000 winches with swaged 3/8 wire rope I found a Holmes Tree placed about perfectly on the passenger side of the car for my needs. Using a ladder I choked a 3/8"grade 80- recovery chain/4 ton snatchblock up high on the tree for a high/rearward pull on the passenger side of the Subaru with my drivers side wire rope terminating to a WreckMaster K strap to the passenger front wheel, rigged my passenger side line directly to the Subarus drivers front wheel again terminating with a WreckMaster K strap/4x4 wood block creating clearance for strap to body. Boom up/out high for lift, blocks behind wheels for safety I  engaged winches & brought the car back up onto level ground without any further damage to the house or car. Replaced blocks & confirmed no undercarriage damage, happy customer.  

 

I have used fork risers as U bolt forks many times, alway careful of U bolt sitting deep enough & not cranked underlift at a hard angle. Zacklift sells a U bolt fork that they advertise as also can be used as a 5" fork riser. Anyone have any opinions on why to purchase a specific U bolt fork? http://www.zacklift.com/towing-equipment-accessories-wheel-lift/

All loaded up for the mainland run in the AM. Axles pulled, axle caps on, front axle chained up, tow bar set, safety chains on, air ran to tank, air ran to brake buddy, tow lights on. After thought that I could have pulled driveline, thoughts either way? One bugger about pulling shafts is that I have to pull caps once dropped @ repair facility...

 

 

 

 

Decided to use the tow bar, could have forked it but also but simple to set bar.

 

 

Feenstras  said:

like pulling driveshafts. Less mess and quicker.

 

 

Orcas Tow  said:

Next time I'm going for the driveshaft first, hindsight is 20/20:) Guess I was just trying to justify the $400 I had just spent on the axle cap set from AW.

 

redtoprecovery said:

Only reason I pull shafts is if it has a rear end problem or it some low clearance, sketchy thing to get to the driveshaft (mci buses)

 

CM1 Retired said:

When I towed at another school bus company, I would run the light cord in through the first window and out the last. Faster, easier and cleaner for me to do it that way, but then again I was towing our own equipment. What is policy/best practice when dealing with customer equipment?

 

BlackAutoload said:

To use a wireless bar. No cord to deal with.

 

rlc4523 said:

would have pulled drive line. see nothing wrong with using the Bar as that would keep the bus closer to you for weight anyways as for running the light cord for us it depends on the vehicle. a school bus like that absolutely through the first window and out the last.

Side note you stated that if you pulled the shaft you would have to pull caps at the mechanics shop? are you talking about axle shaft so you would have to pull your caps off to take them home or do you have to pull the axle caps at the shop if you pull a drive line??

 

we have several types of covers but always carry some plain cardboard in the truck so we can custom make covers on site just fold it 3 layers thick or so and punch holes. it will seal well enough and long enough for most tows that we do and then just throw them away.

 

Orcas Tow  said:

I pulled axle shafts on this one & yes had to remove my covers at the repair facility, will most likely be pulling driveshaft next time:)

 

shelbart said:

have towed many of  them from the rear.  sometimes chain rear axle if it had air bags.

 

Silver Hawk  said:

I use large flat washers under the nuts.  It keeps the cover from being damaged when tightened.

 

Chuckud  said:

I prefer driveshaft removal personally, as far as caps go-I usually use duct tape to hold them to the u-joint.

 

Eds Towing  said:

We make ours from sheets of Homosoak (?) board which is like a press board. It's cheap, & sort of soft so it swells & seals. We stack them up and bore a 5/8 hole saw down through them using a 8 & 10 hole gasket for a template. Beat them over the studs using the hammer head and run the nuts back on.

 

 

If it's a regular customer, ask them to save them for you. Our transit authority does for us. Otherwise I leave it on the truck. If your getting a premium for your service, the financial aspect is minimum. Also I tell the customer that I left them on so it didn't make a mess on their wheels which shows you care about their interests in the job.

 

 

No, it was raised  pretty high up & was not an issue, thank you:)

100 yards or so, these are pretty standard driveway widths here on Beautiful Orcas Island!

I hate to use the word "Honey Hole" as the tractor operator was injured in this incident but this road is a frequent flyer for recovery calls. I received a call for a tractor on its side on a steep narrow driveway. I arrived on scene with my 2001 F550/Chevron 408 to find no access above so the use of trees for a roll was needed. 1 line above for control so the tractor would not roll back down on top of me & one high line to the front loader arm for the lift. He's very lucky he did not go over the edge.

Had a call for a box truck stuck "just off the roadway"...This is what we found, a truck buried in the mud next to Killabrew Lake on Fish & Wildlife land with a small tree on its roof & more trees blocking its exit. Tom Tom & GPS are my best customer creators. I had no good access from the rear without getting myself stuck so in order to remove the truck from the front we needed to remove some trees. After contacting Fish & Wildlife & getting their blessing we cut the offending trees on & in front of the truck. I called in my Tree Expert son Joey for that job. Set up the 81 KW with the Holmes 750 for a straight forward pull back onto the roadway. The hardest part was getting Fish & Game to ok the tree trimming, about 3 hours of phone tag & sending pictures to them in Seattle (no local office).