Best, worst, etc. stories of pulling someone else out

[EdoHart]

John D's thread http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1444 and especially Bat's reply gave me the idea for this tread. What are your best, worst, most comical, etc. stories about helping out other people on the trail.

Note to John, It's not my intention to rib you, rather it's to share some interesting stories.

My best experience:
While driving from California to Arizona on a back road one night, I see a car parked on the shoulder, and as I pass them I realize their front bumper is almost on the ground because they had dug in the front drive wheels while they were getting stuck. I stop, backed up and boy, are they glad to see me.

They're a real nice group of people whom it seems had pulled over to relieve themselves an hour before and subsequently got stuck in the really soft shoulder. To add insult to injury several cars had passed without an offer to help. I pull out my tow strap and a few minutes later I'm ready to rescue them.

I take up tension on the strap, then try to pull them out. They're so well dug in that I spin all 4 wheels on my truck. I hear 4 simultaneous groans from them, thinking that now we had 2 stuck vehicles. I backup about 10 feet, pull closer to the road where the shoulder is a lot firmer and pull them out.

We talk for a few minutes, shake hands, they try to give me money, but I refuse.

After they leave, I think "As long as I'm here, I may as well relieve myself too." A few minutes later, I'm back on the road, doing about 70 in a 55 zone.

I pass them, we toot horns at each other, then we cross into Arizona and I see a cop on the other side of the road, lights off, and no doubt his radar gun on. Immediately, his blue and red lights turn on. From where he is, he must have seen me pass the other car, so I figure I'm getting an out of state speeding ticket. I slowed to 55 and waited for him to come up behind me. However, I never do see him again. A few miles later I say out loud "running speeding interference for me is more than enough compensation for pulling you out."

 

[Bat]

My last pull out was at the beach, the guy had a new chevy truck 2wd and he is launching his boat in the sand. I pull up to go surfing and I look down the beach and ask the guys standing there what is going on. It is pretty far down the beach and they say he has been stuck for about 15 min.
I don't think to much about it the surf is small and I just drink my coffee and bs with people. After about an 1hr the tide is coming up I walk down and ask what is going on his response was the tow truck is on his way. I walk back keep on with the bs and another 1 1/2hr goes by and the tide has really come up and he is in the water. My friend and I jump in my truck and drive down and the water has passed the door sill and he is steaming. I ask him again hey whats up with the tow truck and his answer ----------------. As we are talking the tow truck pulls up and gets out the guy walks over and the stuck guy say's ------------------------------------------------- 2 1/2 hr hours ago. He tells the tow truck to hurry up and get his truck out before it floats away. The tow truck driver then tells guy he not allowed to pull up on the sand to pull him out and again ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ jerk. I asked the tow truck to borrow his axle strap and had the owner swim under his truck to install the strap and winched him out. The last words I heard were the tow truck driver saying I still have to charge you for showing up the owner say's ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- and we left.

 

[craig333]

The times I've been the helper and not the helpee? Good, some of the times I've been stuck are a little embarrassing.

There was the time down at the river I pulled a guy out who was stuck and in a big hurry. He said thanks, but as he was driving away it occurred to me, he really didnt want the park police to see him. I wonder why?

The girls who stuck their car in the snow on the mormon emigrant trail on a wednesday. That time of year it gets weekend traffic, not weekday traffic, most people know the closed sign means closed. We were up for four days of camping and lucky for them wanted to see how far up the snow was on thursday. Amazing how far into the snow they got that little car. Good thing I had the winch on the Jeep, it was beyond strap range. Lucky for them they were headed to a slumber party and had sleeping bags with them.

I pull into my favorite brewpub and the owner has his forklift stuck in the gravel out back. He's trying to pull it out with his mini pickup. Put the chain on the Dodge and pull it right out. That one got me a free beer.

Sometimes being a good samaritan can get costly too. During the last big flood we had (dont recall what year that was) I had the Jeep out and pulled numerous stranded people out. But I didnt count on water getting in the wheel bearings and costing me goodly sum later. Least I noticed it before that would have left me stranded.

Now that I think about it, theres been a lot. At the boat launch when I got finished laughing and helped out. At the lake, here there and all over. Most weren't too memorable, just simple yanks out of a bad spot.

 

[pods8]

A bummer one for me was pulling out a dude in his bronco stuck in some mud flats. I pulled up to get him out (had a Cherokee w/8" lift and 33" swampers at the time) and he didn't have any tow points. He had a raggedy strap tied to his bumper that he tossed into the back hatch (still tied up) when not in use. I told him it wouldn't hold and he argued. I should have held firm and made him loop my 3" strap on the axle but I decided to try it. I did a reverse pull due to how I approached and the snapped strap took out my headlight and AC condenser. Just got a "sorry about that" out of it.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Yeah, I don't use other peoples tools, nor do I loan mine out either. Guess I'll add towing equipment to that list...