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looking for ideas (recovering camper from mud)

Jebby14
Explorer
Explorer
So my camper winters in my buddys field outside of town. His mine and a few others get rowed up on cedar 2x10s and all is well. usually we go get it in may once the wields have dried a bit. This year we are looking at starting earlier (easter weekend)and the field is seldom dry by then. I no longer have my jeep (beast in the mud 4x4 with locking differentials) The tractor is 2 wheel drive and my truck is 4x4 but open diffs. Anyone have any outside the box ideas to get the camper out? For what its worth its about 200 yards to solid ground. over vegetation but very soft leading to a dirt (mud) strip at the culvert to the road.
Q: Whats brown and sticky???

A: A Stick....
46 REPLIES 46

Timtation
Explorer
Explorer
Kerf the front of a split 4X8 sheet, 2 2X8 screw the kerfed end so you have a ski front end. Jack each side up put the ski under the wheels, pull the brake safety so the wheels are locked, hook up and go, might block the tires on either side. If you need help then do the daisy chain as necessary. The load should be pretty low on the trailer end so if you can get to it and get hooked up without sinking you probably will get out. Maybe! If you try it and it works and we ever meet up I'll take a beer, if it doesn't I hope you'll settle for Scotch.

1stgenfarmboy
Explorer
Explorer
Jebby14 wrote:
and the reason for not getting a wrecker is because im cheap. very very cheap. and also I don't like spending money..... because im cheap. That and sometimes I can be a bit cheap






If I didn't know any better I would think you were talking about me.
1993 Dodge W350 Cummins with all the goodies
2014 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn 2wd 395hp
2017 Forest River Surveyor 243 RBS
2001 Super Sherpa & 2012 DL650A go along also

1stgenfarmboy
Explorer
Explorer
cut a 4x8x3/4 piece of plywood for the camper tires like someone already said and hook the tractor on it, keep moving the plywood so the camper stays on it, unless you are pulling them across a swamp it will be no problem, you will have 4-600 lbs of weight on the rear of the tractor from the camper.


I have pulled out some monster equipment like this with small tractors.

what size is the tractor ?
1993 Dodge W350 Cummins with all the goodies
2014 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn 2wd 395hp
2017 Forest River Surveyor 243 RBS
2001 Super Sherpa & 2012 DL650A go along also

Passin_Thru
Explorer
Explorer
My Uncles always said, "Get stuck once and you'll get stuck there next year."

CavemanCharlie
Explorer II
Explorer II
Passin Thru wrote:
MUD?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw8bSizOwGs


Oh ya, Been there, done that.

Really hard on the fields. But, there are years when you just have no choice. And, most of our fields are never that bad. However, there are places that you have to spin through every year, and in a bad year the wet spots get bigger and you have to do more spinning to get through.

westend
Explorer
Explorer
time2roll wrote:
I would keep the pulling vehicle on solid ground. Run a rope or cable out to the trailer and pull it in. If it starts to sink then run and get the plywood.

X2
If the soil is wet or has a lot of clay, the wheels of whatever used to pull will only work the ground ahead of the trailer into ruts. Yeah, you could have a chinese fire drill moving plywood sheets (my trailer is parked on 1/2", now) but the trailer wheels should turn or skid through/over most ground.

The only kicker is having a dolly wheel on the tongue jack or rigging a piece of steel as a skid (probably the better solution) so the tongue stays up.

Jebby seems like a fairly handy sort so it will be cool to hear the after-story.

BTW, anyone needing a 23' steel lifeboat (mud-free) can PM me. :B
'03 F-250 4x4 CC
'71 Starcraft Wanderstar -- The Cowboy/Hilton

time2roll
Nomad
Nomad
I would keep the pulling vehicle on solid ground. Run a rope or cable out to the trailer and pull it in. If it starts to sink then run and get the plywood.

Passin_Thru
Explorer
Explorer
MUD?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw8bSizOwGs

CavemanCharlie
Explorer II
Explorer II
You can get it out with that pickup and a tractor with a long chain to pull you both if needed.

As for doing damage to the camper ????? ... I don't know about that. If it sinks up to the axles and you keep pulling you could easily do some damage. On my TT the break wiring just kinda hangs under there without much protection. On my TT the black and gray holding tanks are exposed underneath too. I sure would not want to damage them. That would total it out. The tank dump valves and port are just a few inches off of the ground too.

If you don't want to damage the TT beyond repair then you may want to take a very careful look at the situation.

Jebby14
Explorer
Explorer
im not worried guys. have several trucks and a farm tractor (not lawn tractor) available as well as permission to rut the property. I will get her out. And yes ive been a jeep guy for a long time and am comfortable offroad, just not with my camper haha. wind is nuts here too 90-100km gusts sounds like a freight train
Q: Whats brown and sticky???

A: A Stick....

westend
Explorer
Explorer
Jebby,
Don't know if it's getting colder in Windsor but I'm West of you and temps are starting to crash, should be in the single digits by tomorrow. If you wait two days, you should have frozen ground.
Around here, if you could rig a sail to the trailer, you could move it across the State. Morning sustained winds of 30-40 mph and gusts up to 60.
'03 F-250 4x4 CC
'71 Starcraft Wanderstar -- The Cowboy/Hilton

BPRescue
Explorer
Explorer
Looked at your trailer and at less than 3400lbs displaced across 4 tires that are aired down a bit, you are not towing a monster and should have decent floatation. Hard to say without seeing pics, but as I said before, you should be able to gauge it when you bring the truck in to pick it up. Obviously you follow the same tire tracks when you begin to pull it out, and short of redirecting or slowing down for obstacles, start modestly fast and keep your momentum.

As for the TV it's tough to understand what a "tractor" is without a model, but again if it not a toy, that will be your best bet. Tires make a huge difference, so in this instance if you have your stock tires on the truck, that is a negative here and it doesn't matter how many get torque applied if they won't eject mud. Though as another said, chains work in this instance as well.

Bottom line is this is not rocket science, and per your point of the Jeep being a "beast" and your new vehicle potentially having a winch, it sounds like you have at least some experience off road and can gauge it better than those who rarely if at all leave the confines of pavement, let alone an improved dirt road with their TT. You also indicated you don't expect freezing, but even at a few degrees above freezing, the ground is more firm than higher temps, or as soon as the sun hits it, so it makes sense to plan ahead and get there at or just before dawn. Either way, as I said, just keep momentum and if you are stopped, don't dig a hole . Pop out the 2x6's, and or have the tractor ready as to be a secure point for the winch. Also, if this guy has a tractor, he must have a truck so there is consideration as well.

DiskDoctr
Explorer
Explorer
Jebby14 wrote:
also on what planet is 60 or 70 yards of gravel plus the time/labor to lay it cheap?


2 strips about 18" wide, 3" deep. Two guys shoveling from the back of a pickup truck. Simple and fast!

How much is gravel per ton where you are?

PS- You're not laying a "driveway" 8 inches deep or anything, just two paths.

Many fields and long drives have this setup around here. Eventually the grass grows up through and around it. Looks like you're driving through a normal field, but the base is hard ๐Ÿ˜‰

Here on the farm we have a bunch of shale and clay. We can build roads and bases like nobody's business with the backhoe, dump truck, and dozer.

colliehauler
Explorer III
Explorer III
Do you have access to some tire chains? What usually happens is the tread fills up with mup and you don't get a lot of traction. If you spin the wheels to clear the mud your trailer will be covered from one end to the other.