How to get "un stuck in the mud"

[funflair]

For this "how to" guide I needed a willing volunteer with a big heavy van to get stuck in a field thanks @KayeB for being that volunteer, as the car wasn't in the back it was about 6.5 tonne.

The venue was Shrewsbury at New Year, you all know how much it rained at New Year so there should be no doubt as to the quality of the mud. We drove off OK but are 1 tonne lighter and had a drier spot.

If you are going to try this yourselves it is worth investing in a full set of hydraulic jacks and some big pieces of wood, luckily on this occasion I just happened to have some half sheets of 18mm ply in the garage (as you do).

Method

1/ Get stuck, this is the easy bit especially trying to go up hill.

2/ Jack the driven wheels fully off the ground to enable the wooden boards to be placed under the drive wheels.



3/ You will need a second board to drive onto to allow the original one to be moved and driven over again, at this point the boards should be overlapped to stop the wheels dropping through the gap.



its always worth having at least one person stood watching!.

4/ All going well until the boards get chucked out from under the wheels so then its back onto the jacks to get them back under.



We also jacked the front wheels and put them on boards just to let them roll a bit easier and reduce the tendency to spit the boards out from under the driven wheels.

5/ Drive out to huge round of applause, OK the camera person has lost interest by this time.

Conclusion

1/ Dont park your pride and joy in the mud unless you have a "get out plan".
2/ Jacks have more uses that just levelling up so that you can get more wine in your glass.
3/ Carry some sheets of 18mm ply in the garage and it will come in useful "one day".
4/ The boards should have some grip on the mud side to stop them spittting out from under the wheels.

Thanks

Thanks to Kaye and Dave @KayeB for donating their Concorde for this exercise, thanks to Jim and Julie @jimcunliffe for their help and encouragement thanks to Jen @funflair for the photos (where is the final one on the road!!). And finally thanks to Shrewsbury show ground for letting us make a mess of their field (oops, they dont know yet) but I did stomp on the divets.

Martin

Just in case you think it's still stuck there.

 

[Judge Mental]

reminds me of Peterborough.

 

[CWH]

Looks like there's a lot of professional bending down, looking, & sucking of teeth involved too

 

[GJH]

reminds me of Peterborough.

Except not as muddy

 

[ambulancekidd]

When extracting any vehicle from a slippery field or on an icy surface, I've always used the same low tech method of keeping traction. The diff in any vehicle sends power to the wheel with the lowest traction, now this is the last wheel that you want to get power. Its the reason that one wheel is spinning uselessly whilst the one that you want the power to go to is immobile & not doing its job. This is the same for 4 wheel drive vehicles or two wheel drive. One simple action will send the power to the required wheel. Simply apply the footbrake with your left foot! This tricks the diff into sending power to both wheels. I drove ambulances for 30 yrs, most of the time in rural areas where getting stuck in a large vehicle is an occupational hazard & worse still, might be the difference between life & death. I never failed to free a vehicle & I was often the "goto man" when someone had got a vehicle into difficulties. The similarities between an ambulance & a motorhome are obvious & you never know, this method might just keep you going when you least expected to get stuck.

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[funflair]

When extracting any vehicle from a slippery field or on an icy surface, I've always used the same low tech method of keeping traction. The diff in any vehicle sends power to the wheel with the lowest traction, now this is the last wheel that you want to get power. Its the reason that one wheel is spinning uselessly whilst the one that you want the power to go to is immobile & not doing its job. This is the same for 4 wheel drive vehicles or two wheel drive. One simple action will send the power to the required wheel. Simply apply the footbrake with your left foot! This tricks the diff into sending power to both wheels. I drove ambulances for 30 yrs, most of the time in rural areas where getting stuck in a large vehicle is an occupational hazard & worse still, might be the difference between life & death. I never failed to free a vehicle & I was often the "goto man" when someone had got a vehicle into difficulties. The similarities between an ambulance & a motorhome are obvious & you never know, this method might just keep you going when you least expected to get stuck.

Good point, or a diff lock (RWD only), the sprinter that I had used ABD (auto braking differential) which braked the loose/spinning wheel.

Martin