Towing Experts - The Accident & Recovery Specialists
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- Rolled Travel Trailer
Travel Trailer and Tahoe competely blocked the highway with major damage to the trailer.
- 4 Wheeler Stuck
Tried to get to it with the Suv - bad idea. Ended up the only thing not stuck was the go cart!
- It's Happening Again!!!!!!
The drought we are in has lowered the water level in Lake Buchanan about nine feet which is a very, very good thing for me. Got my first mud pull Tuesday – one of the lake Rangers. Couple days later a stuck Ford and today this Chevy. My official Money Pit is now open to the public!!!!!!!!!!
- Stuck Rock Truck
Driver back down a muddy ditch to unload rock close to the end of the bridge. As he started dumping, the right side of the rig began sinking. Fast thinking kept the rig from turning over as he lowered the bed immediately.
- Stuck Loader
Second time in as many days winching this loader out of the muddy lake bottom!
- Forklift Falls In Septic Tank
Operator put the forklift into a tight spot to take down the metal structure. Everything was ok until he placed a load on the extended boom and pushed the front right tire into an old septic tank that no one knew was there.
- Vac Truck Hi Centered
This vac truck tried backing into a steep driveway but high centered on the hydraulic oil tank mounting brackets. Most drivers would have pulled back out onto the highway but he was afraid of rupturing the oil tank. He called the PD for traffic control until I could get there. I would lift the front off the ground and the driver would release the brake and ease the truck forward until the tank almost touched the ground then lift again/ease forward until we got the oil tank past the driveway hump
- Dump Truck Laid Over
Operator raised bed to dump and spread load when the hydraulic cylinder base mount broke on one side letting the bed shift to the drivers side laying the truck over. It put enough twist in the bed to keep the cab from hitting the ground.
- Pickup Hits 18 Wheeler
Eighteen wheeler was making a right turn into a driveway on a single lane road when a pickup passed him hitting the fuel tank area of the tractor.
- Stuck Concrete Pump er
This pumper was going down a pasture road to reach the construction location when the entire right side of the truck fell thru the road only to find out that he was on the wrong road to begin with.
- Heavy Hauler Stuck
Driver said he was going about 55 mph when the main air line to the trailers blowed locking all the trailer axles and leaving a good part of his tires on the pavement. He managed to get it off the road into a muddy ditch where a mechanic repaired the airline. We were called to winch it out of the muddy ditch.
- Stuck Concrete Pumper
They pulled in on jobsite to pump cement and during the pour, it began to rain. By the time they finished the job, there was no way they could get back up the muddy hill.
- Van Vs Guardrail
Van ran off raod, into muddy ditch taking out 20 feet of guardrail. I winched it out of the ditch only to find minor damage to the left front. Owner drove the van away.
- Bobcat Stuck
- Excavator Rollover
The excavator fell over as they were unloading it off the trailer. They think that the trailer was sloping to far to one side and when the operator started to drive off the trailer, over she fell. One hour road time round trip and 20 minutes to upright.
- Stuck Pickup
This pickup was stuck for four days waiting on me to get time to pull it out. About ¼ mile over the hill they also have a dozer and tracked skid loader stuck. Seems they were trying help the rancher get his pickup out when they stuck all of there equipment. They only wanted me to get the pickup out and were letting the equipment stay until it dried out a little.
- Pump Truck Stuck
- Dump Truck Stuck in Pavement
This loaded dump truck found a soft spot under the pavement. Using the 45 ton wrecker, I lifted the front high enough to get the fuel tanks off the pavement then winched it forward.
- Stuck Septic Pump Truck
Pump truck backed in a circle drive stopping behind a carport with no problem. They pumped out the septic system. When they tried to pull out the truck went down. I could not get the 45 ton wrecker in so I used the 12 ton to work the truck out from behind the carport to where I could get a straight pull with the 45 ton.
- Stuck Dozer
Too much rain creates problems even for a big dozer. Tracks do not do any good if there's nothing to get a grip on.
- Stuck 18 Wheeler
- Real Muddy
- Stuck Propane Truck
- One Leg Up in the Air!
Rancher’s nephew was driving around the ranch and down by Sandy Creek when he came upon this spot. Front made it thru but the rear slid off in a hole leaving one leg high and dry!
- Pickup & Trailer Falling in River
- Stuck Pickup
Not a good way to end a fishing trip. They did catch some fish but decided to move to another location when they found the soft spot.
- Tractor & Mower Stuck
Mr. Edward was driving around the dried up lake bed by his home when he found an area that simply dropped out from under him with no warning. Rain in the last couple weeks has raised the water table level to where there is a crust a few inches thick. Hit it just right and down you go!
- MCI Bus
2nd MCI bus of my long career and I hope the last! Bus was left with half the bus on the pavement and half the bus off the shoulder drop off. Don’t know why they left it there as there was a 2 acre parking area directly to the right of the bus. Happened sometime in the middle of the night and they did set out their reflectors before leaving. About 4 pm the Sheriff Dept decided to impounded it since it appeared that it would still be there come night fall. Every door and compartment on the bus locked. Sheriff department could not get in and I attempted to open the door for about 15 minutes to no avail. Decided to start lifting and blocking to get the front up high enough to wheel grid which was a real chore due to the position of the bus hanging off the shoulder. Got it hooked up crawled under and disconnected the drive shaft and caged the brakes. Air bags appeared to be inflated which was a good thing because I could not find any hookup on the outside and to get to the compressor hookup, you would have to be a contortionist. Hooking up an 18 wheeler takes me around 45 minutes but it took 1.7 hours for the MCI which I thought was far too long but I felt every minute of it. Headed for the impound yard, pulled in, came to a stop, looked in my mirror and the dang door slowly opened all the way – now it won’t stay shut. These buses are a rare happening in our area and with the problems I had with this one, I hope they become extinct but what the heck – all in a days work!
- Dozer Buried
Got a call last night about 5pm – D3 dozer stuck. Should be an easy pull, just need a little help to crawl out. Since the call was over 40 miles away, I told him I would do it in the morning, call me around 9am. Call came in, dozer stuck about 2 miles back in a ranch cutting a new fence line. Details ruled out take the 45 ton so I decided to take the 12 ton and the Blazer. Good thing I took the Blazer, the 12 ton decided it did not want to go through a fairly wet area about mid way in. Pulled it out with the Blazer and proceeded on. Got to the dozer and found it was more than a little stuck. Left tracks completely sunk, right track half sunk, root plow in raised position was still about a foot below ground level and a large cedar tree pushed over in front of the dozer. Had to winch the tree out of the way before attempting the dozer. Double line snatch block and away we go. Not a bad pull and he was real pleased to get it out since it was a rental unit that was costing him whether it was being used or not.
- Dump truck & pup on it's roof
Fully loaded tandem axle dump with pup trailer pulled off side road on to the highway, looked back, ran off the road, putting the truck and trailer on it’s roof. The pintle hitch broke and separated the units. I set up parallel with the trailer to keep one lane of traffic open and uprighted the trailer. Due to the steepness of the ditch, the truck being too close to the highway and to prevent any damage to the undamaged side, I setup in the ditch, lifted the front of the truck moving it about 15 feet further from the highway. I then setup parallel to the ditch and uprighted the truck. I then aired up the truck and pulled it 100 feet up the road so that I could winch the trailer to a flat spot and lift the tongue to install the jack. The trucking company sent a truck to pickup the trailer and I transported the truck to their yard. Total time from leaving the office to return was 4 hours and 49 miles round trip.
- Ford One Ton Stuck
Friend of mine stuck the pickup several days ago and was not about to call me for help. He did not want the razzing he was going to get. His wife finally called me this morning to get it out and she was right – it was stuck! The only place I could get dictated sliding the rear sideways until I could get a straight pull.
- Fertilizer Rig Stuck
Operator went as fast as he could to the far side of the field where he wanted to start fertilizing. It was at this point he found out the ground was just too soft. I would pull him up, he’d take off for a few feet then down again. It took several pulls to get him up to a solid spot where he could rocket out of there and go back to the road.
- Turf Tires Not Good In Mud
Grandpa was having a blast riding his grandson around the property, that is until they found the soft spot. He quickly discovered that turf tires have absolutely no traction in mud.
- Beached Boat
River came up, floated boat up on land by the tree then went down. Owner wanted the boat put back in the water but we decided it would be safer to load the boat back on the trailer.
- C4500 Bucket Truck Stuck
Four days prior, I had to pull out a Ford van from the same location for the same people. 2 more days of rain and they call me on the bucket truck. I knew there was no way to get a wrecker back in this location so I again took the Blazer and lots of rope. I came in from the back side of the truck at high speed almost getting stuck beside the truck and up to the hilltop on the other side where I turned around and set up close to a phone pole. I then ran the wire rope to the truck and back to the phone pole close to my Blazer. I took an hour and a half from the time I parked the Blazer until I had the truck on top of the hill. We got permission to take him out through the property at the top of the hill because there was no way he was going back the way he came in.
- Car & Pickup Stuck Behind House
She pulled the car through the narrow carport, into the backyard to the left of the carport to take food to her dogs which were about 35 yards from the house. Car sunk. She calls a friend to get her out. He gets his pickup just off the drive on the south side of the house and down he goes. He calls a wrecker service to get him out. The wrecker service tells her to call me since I am the only one with the equipment to get it out. She then calls a friend with a tractor – tractor gets stuck – gets another tractor to pull it out. All this happens on Saturday and Sunday she calls her son who lives about 50 miles from her to come help her and he ends up sticking his green Z71. NOW, they call me after they have tore up and broke all the ground on the south side of the house to where you can’t even get close. The only way was to pull up in the carport which was 3” wider than the Blazer mirrors, run a rope to a tree at the back of the lot, over to a tree on the north of the lot and back to the car. Pretty easy pull getting the car out but the Z71 was a different matter. Complete rerigging and double line to get it moving but it finally came out. Most rigging I have done on a light duty recovery in years
- Suburban w/boat Trailer Stuck
- Stuck in Lake Bed
- Lawn Mower Stuck
Lawn mower gets stuck in back yard so the Cherokee goes in to get it out.
- 18 Wheel Dump Stuck
Driver backed the dump trailer in to unload but went too far getting the trailer axles off in a hole. He opened the tail gate and started to dump when he realized he was leaning too much, stopped and called me. Came close to having to upright this one.
- Tractor Stuck
Rain stopped last night, sun came out and he just had to mow the weeds. Bad for him – good for me.
- Pickup Stuck
They pulled the pickup behind house to load up some trash and found that the back yard had turned into a swamp. I set up at the end of the house on hard ground, run the rope from the Blazer to a tree and back to the pickup.
- Steel Hauler Stuck
Load of steel hauled to a ranch became a problem. The driver got in to the barn and found there was no where to turn around so he circled down in the pasture but could not come back up the hill. On top of a down pour, the entry gate was 4” wider than my wrecker. Had to fold the mirrors in to get thru then go ¼ mile up a narrow drive way only to find no where to turn around so backed out to the highway and backed up the ¼ mile driveway, off on to a pasture road, and with help from the truck driver to get under some tree limbs hanging over the road and thru a gate. The narrow ¼ mile driveway was good and solid but the pasture road thru the gate was really soft allowing me to only get about 60 feet thru the gate. I winched the truck 125 feet up to the pasture road. The pasture road was giving way behind the steel hauler but we managed to make it under the trees and back to the driveway. Just knew I was going to lose the wrecker at any moment.
- Suburban Washed Down Creek
The Suburban drove off into a flood low water crossing about ¼ mile up the creek, killed the engine, got everybody out an on high ground when a rush of water took the Suburban down the creek, over 2 dams and came to stop against and partially under a golf cart bridge on the golf course. This happened about 2 weeks ago and the owner called Tommy of H&H Wrecker to get it out. Tommy looked at it and asked me to go look at it and figure out the best way to retrieve it. The creek and the right side of the creek belongs to the golf course and on the left side of the creek is high dollar homes. There were 3 different ways it could be done with various costs and liabilities associated with each. I advised the insurance adjuster of what I thought and left it up to them with the understanding that we would take it out by one of the three ways and they would release us of all liability. The adjuster called and said he had eliminated all but one option and the golf course and one property owner had agreed to cooperate. It was the hardest of the three options as we had to work the recovery in a very small area with almost no room. We first had move a telephone pole, then get the Suburban out from under the bridge and bring it up between a tree and rock wall without damaging either. We also had to minimize ground damage as much as possible. Lots of rigging and rerigging, the job was accomplished to everyone’s satisfaction.
- MCI Stuck
Driver decided he wanted it parked behind his son’s house forgetting that it rained 4” the day before. I set the wrecker up on the road about 150” away from the bus. Real pain finding something solid to hook to. Pulling it was not a problem - finding something to hook to that would withstand the pull was quite a chore.
- Cement Truck Stuck
Just finished getting the dump truck pulled out when one of the cement companies called with a stuck cement truck. Said I could get right up against it if I wanted to but just on one side. Seems the driver had unloaded part of his load leaving about 4 yards on the truck. He left the construction site and decided to pull over an update his log book before getting on the highway. Bad decision! I lifted the front up and over to get the front end on solid ground then set up and winched forward until the truck was on the road.
- Dump Truck Stuck
Driver was going to deliver about 6 loads of granite gravel so the property owner could repair his driveway from the rains we have had in the last week. The driveway came off the road at the back of my wrecker. The dump truck made it around the first turn of the circle driveway which comes back out right behind the dump truck. Really touch and go to get my wrecker backed in because the road was broke up by the dump truck going in. Got in as far as I dared and winched the truck 125 feet back out the driveway. He got out on the road and backed in about 45 feet when the back dropped so he unload the load right there and managed to get back to the road.
- Pickup Stuck In Lake Bed
First phone call - "We are stuck in the lake bed. Could you come get us out?" Sure can. "How long before you can get here?" Take me about 45 minutes. "Good, come on"
Second phone call 10 minutes later - "Cancel the call, a guy stopped and said he could pull us out"
Third phone call - "Could you come on out, it did not work"
I got to pull two of them out!
- Potty Pump Truck Stuck
Three feet to solid ground might as well be thirty feet. Pumper pulled in to clean up a portable toilet and the bottom fell out. The company owner could not find anyone close that would even go look. An hour travel time both ways and 15 minutes to winch it out with my 12 ton.
- Stuck Pickup
- Stuck Pickup
- Another Lake Bed Victim
This gentleman decides to go fishing and learns the hard way, if it looks damp then it probably has no bottom. Even worse, he put out his fishing pole while he was trying to dig himself out, heard a splash and looked up to see his pole going out across the lake. Just was not his day! After pulling it out, parts of a strap were in the mud so he apparently tried to pull it out with another vehicle.
- Stuck Bobcat
Bobcat decides to go down just as it gets along side the concrete forms.
- Stuck in Lake Bed
Four wheel drive just don't help when there is nothing to get hold of.
- Loading Junk
A local building rock yard called and wanted an old crusher frame loaded in an old dump truck and then the dump truck loaded on a low boy. Pretty simple operation. The only thing I could not understand was after paying my charges, the transport was delivering it about 250 miles south of here. Wrecker bill plus hauling was way more than the entire load was worth.
- Septic Tank Hauler Stuck
Ground seemed hard until the crust broke. Company sent a big backhoe to pull him out but the operator called back in and asked the office to call me. He didn't even unload the back hoe. Due to the narrow road, I basically had to pull the front sideways until the rears came out.
- Lake Bed Pull
This off-roader really needs to get his front drive fixed if he’s going to try this boggy lake bottom out. This is the second time I have had to get him out. Could not resist but explain that he has paid me more than it would have cost to fix the front drives!
- Stuck Pathfinder
Young man and his girlfriend saw the news showing how the lake level had dropped some 20 feet and decided to drive up and look but got just a little to close.
- Skid Loader Stuck
Skid loader was running around the pasture collecting rocks for a rock yard when he found a soft spot.
- Rancher Stuck
Rancher going into his ranch decided to turn around and go back to town. He found the ground off the pasture road to be a little soft. He attempted to get it out several times and the ground really turned soupy.
- Motorcycle vs. Car
Vehicle driver never saw the motorcycle as he pulled out onto the highway. The motorcycle laid down 90' of skid marks before impact. The rider was airlifted with numerous none life threatening injuries.
- Got Down & Couldn’t Get Back UP!!!!!!!!!!
Tahoe took back path down to bottom of canyon planning to come out thru the flats but found it had been fenced off since he was last thru there. They tried coming back out up the side but it was too steep and the Tahoe kept sliding off the path into the trees. I took the MudCat in, hooked up and drove out. The path was covered with lots of loose rocks and soft dirt. There was a couple spots that the MudCat did not want to get any traction but I managed to work it on up.
- Tired Pete
The Pete backed in to get a load. When loaded, he rolled back off the cut ledge dropping the right rear tandems in the hole laying the truck on its side. They had the truck unloaded by the time I arrived. Simple pull back to the ground, move to the front and winch out of the hole.
- Grandkids Stuck
Grandkids took Grandpa’s atv for run in the lake bed only to find a real muddy spot. The kids Dad decided to take the Cherokee and pull out the atv. Ended up needing the Blazer to get them all out and Grandpa gave me $40 tip for coming out on Saturday evening. It’s not the first time to get his atv out!
- Two Fords & Both Stuck
Ford got stuck out on the point where the sand is quite loose and deep. The other Ford was coming in to help but liked about 200 yards getting to the Chevy before it was also stuck. Just another routine job for the Blazer.
- Upside Down Loader
Not quite sure what happened here. Loader seems to have fallen off a pretty level spot. I had to set the wrecker quite a bit higher than the loader, which was upside down in a hole. They had lots of dirt working equipment in the area so I had them move the dirt away from the loader to make the pull a lot easier on both the wrecker and the loader.
- Stuck Pickup
- Off roading in a 40 ton
Got a call that a rancher had a huge tractor stuck in the creek. I explained that my truck weighed 45,000 pounds and it would take good solid ground to get to the tractor - No problem! He had a good road all the way to the tractor- O.k. The first ¾ mile of road was as good as any county road and then he turned off on to a normal pasture road. I started getting worried at this time as 2 days ago he had got a couple inches of rain. The road was real spongy in a couple of spots and having go around trees overhanging the trail was a little hairy - pedal to the floor and keep plowing. About 1 ½ miles later we reached the creek with no where to turn around so I back up to the top of a hill and turned around on the hardest ground I could find. Backing to the creek, I could only get within 200 feet of the tractor when the road started wallowing. Got the tractor out with no problem except for worrying about getting the 40-ton back to the good road. Needless to say, I drove out a little faster than I came in but other than a couple of slides and a few tire spins we made it. Love this work but sometimes it does increasing the anxiety level!
- Another Lake Victim
This one tried maneuvering the lakeshore in the dark when he realized he was disoriented so he decided to turn around and go back the way he came. Guess he turned the wrong way.
- Stuck Skid Loader
With the lake level getting lower, they started launching the boats with their skid loader. The bank got a little too steep to come back out.
- Dozer Rollover
The dozer had been clearing brush on the side of this hill for several days. The operator decided to compact this brush pile but forgot that there was a big rock right in the middle. The right track goes down but the left did not and gently laid the dozer over on its side.
- Stuck Pickup
Low lake level claims another victim. Went for a water front drive and ended up walking out.
- T-Boned
The minivan came up on the T intersection too fast, locked the brakes, spun around and ended up right in front of the Gmc Danelli. The minivan was then knocked off the road, thru the fence and into the pasture. Almost everything in the minivan was scattered in the ditch. Amazingly, no one was injured except for some minor bumps and bangs.
- High Rise Suburban Stuck
This was the hardest pulls I have had out of the lake bed. Had to double line this one and then had trouble getting the Blazer to anchor but it did come out,
- Tractor, Boat & Trailer Stuck
With the lake so low, boaters will try anything to get their boats in the water. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't! Good for me - not so good for them!
- Loader Stuck Again
This loader is getting to be quite a regular customer. With the lake down, they are working double time to get the shoreline and lake bed revamped before the lake comes back up, if it ever rains!
- Rolled Over Loader Now Stuck
We uprighted this loader the other day and now it is stuck in the mud. He was cleaning out the sand in the lake bed along the shore. At this point the ground broke and sunk the loader. Trees along the access to this area prevented taking the 40-ton in so I took the 12-ton. The combination of my winching and the loader bucket, it did come out.
- Pickup Stuck in Lake Bed
A pickup got stuck in the sand of this lake bed while helping get another pickup out. The pickup got the first truck out but then could not get out himself.
- Stuck Land Rover
A little 4 wheeling in the middle of the night trapped this one. They tried pulling it out with a couple other 4x's but finally called me.
- Loader Upside Down
The property owners were cleaning out and moving the sand around in the dry lake bed bottom. Unfortunately the sand shifted and rolled the loader over.
- Accident Involving Three Vehicles
A Ford pickup veered into the oncoming traffic hitting an International reefer head-on knocking the International's front axle back into the fuel tanks. At the same time a car following the International could not avoid the accident and ran under the left rear corner of the International. We recovered the Ford F150 and the International.
- Boat & Trailer Hit by Car
This is my first job with the finished boat trailer dolley. Owner pulling his boat down the highway when a car shot our from a side street and hit the boat trailer in front of the axle assembly on the right side knocking the axles loose and shiftin the boat on the trailer. Tip of tongue to lower unit of motor was 36"7". The dolley is hooked to the trailer coupler with the axle setting back up under the boat and trailer. The frame of the trailer sets on a sliding tiedown on each side. A chain is ran from the tiedown on one side over the trailer frame to a tiedown on the other side and secured with a rachet binder. A come-a-long is attached to each side of the dolley and over to the opposite side of the trailer. These are used to center the axle for straight pulling. On a side impact the trailer will be bowed and the dolley will have to set further to one side than the other to make it pull straight. As the pictures show, the axle had to be approx 6" further to the left of center. Fork the rear cross member of the trailer, secure and its ready to tow. Works great!
- Three Down-One Gets Out
Sometime up in the night, the first truck decides to drive down and check on his boat as the weather is not looking good. He never makes it to the boat so his buddy decides to pull him out only to suffer the same fate. Along a guy in a high rise Bronco who says he can get them out. Not so! He gets stuck and 10 or 12 people pushing finally get him out and they call me this morning to get the other two out.
- Two Stuck
Driver's trying to launch his boat but bogs down. Pickup comes in to help him get out and finds himself in the same predicament.
- Drive Down By The Water
He just wanted to drive down by the water along the shore. He found out real quick that this was no place for a two wheel drive pickup.
- Dead Center Head-On
These photos show the front license plates and brackets from both vehicles folded together. This accident happened on one of our rural highways. There were 2 fatalities in one car and one injured in the other. Due to the nature and circumstances of the accident, no photos were taken of the vehicles or the recovery.
- Don't Park Here!
Gentleman took his kids down by the lake to set off fireworks. They really had a blast until they were ready to leave and discovered that the Pathfinder wasn't going anywhere.
- Love That Mud!
The pickup had been four wheeling for quite a while and just when he needed it the most, his front drive went out and he went down.
- 2 AM Four Wheeling!
Owner decided to go 4 wheeling in the early morning hours but found a spot that he could not could not get through!
- He Missed The Car!
The driver veered off the road to the right to avoid hitting a car that pulled out in front of him. The pickup went into a skid coming back across the highway, down in the ditch then flipped end over end twice. The driver was ejected but suffered only minor injuries. The Titan was not so lucky. There was not an area on the truck that was not damaged.
- Cement Truck Finds Septic
Contractor pouring slab on the back of the house forgets to ask “Where’s your septic?” Loaded Cement truck found it for him.
- Got A Little Too Close To The Fish!
The lower lake level is just too tempting. Too far to walk and carry all the fishing gear so we will just drive down to the water!
- Moving Shipping Container
Container was placed here months ago for storage until they could build their new house. Ended up deciding to build the house right where the container was so it had to be moved.
- Impossible! I stuck the Mudcat!
9:30 am, get a call that a crew cab pickup pulling a pontoon boat was stuck in the lake bottom close to the water. I loaded the Mudcat and headed for a simple easy recovery, or so I thought. Unloaded the Mudcat and drove down to the scene circling around in front of the truck to get a better look at what I had. As I made the circle, I felt the rear of the Mudcat drop drastically bringing me to a sudden stop, something I had never experienced in the Mudcat before. Then the front dropped as I tried to go again. Now I am setting in a sinkhole with the top of the bed level with the ground. I could go forward and backwards about 6 feet but could not come up out of the hole. When I went backwards, it would stop at the edge of the hole. Going forwards, I could get the sloped front of the tracks to start climbing out of the hole but then the back would start sinking deeper trying to stand the unit up on its rear end. I then became worried that the sink hole might be a lot deeper than the depth I was setting so I decided to get the wrecker in to keep the Mudcat from disappearing below the surface. I knew the wrecker was going to get stuck but hoped I could get it within a couple hundred feet of the Mudcat. I got further than I thought I could before the wrecker went down. I had 6 wraps left on the drum when I hooked up to the Mudcat and winched it out. Now I could pull out the pickup and trailer, which I did with no problem. Ok, got to pull out the stuck wrecker. Everything’s going good – that is until I hit a tree stump under the surface putting a 6” cut in the sidewall of the right front tire. The last picture was taken just as I hit the stump. I went ahead and pulled the wrecker up to the red top house where the Mudcat trailer was, hooked up to the trailer, loaded the cat and drove out to higher ground to change the tire. Got out the ¾ drive tools but could not break the lugs, grab the cheater pipe and immediately broke the ¾ breaker bar off in the socket. Call the wife to come get me. Go to town and borrow a 1” drive set, go back, sheared off the swivel pin in the breaker bar, still have not got one lug loose, give up, call the tire service, finally get back to the yard 4:30 pm. Not a lot of profit today but I did have some fun – except for the tire!
- Almost Made It To The Top
The Ranger was clipped by the Suv causing it to leave the road and go up the guy wires. Witnesses said the truck almost made it to the top before flipping off the wires and landing inside the fenced in area knocking the fence back towards the road. A couple of the guy wires broke flipping up over the hot wires blowing the power to the area and cutting a couple hot wires. After the co-op secured the electricity situation, I removed the vehicle.
- Stuck in Sand
The Durango got a little too close to the water and went down. The Range Rover found a soft spot going in to get the Durango out.
- Stuck Bronco II
They pulled out into the lake to unload the jet skis and on the return trip the front left wheel fell into a hole sucking the engine full of water. Nice cool job especially after 4+ hours cleaning up a burnt motorhome scene.
- Burned Motorhome
Gentleman was driving down the highway with his young son when he smelled something. As he pulled off the highway, the motorhome burst into flames at the rear. They escaped with no injuries. Being a holiday, we could not get anyone with a bobcat and dump truck to come out and clean up the mess so we shoveled the debris back on to what was left of the motorhome and transported. Due to the extensive cleanup by hand, it took over 4 hours to complete the job.
- Fertilizer Rigs Stuck
This field was a little too wet for these rigs and way too wet for my wreckers. I decided to recover them with the Blazer since both rigs were operational. First thing said when I arrived was "there's no way your going to get them out with that, we're both fully loaded". Went well and they were back on dry ground to try another day.
- Dodge Pickup 32 Feet Under
Friday, I received a call that a pickup had gone down a boat ramp and out in the lake. We collected the gear and equipment we would need as well as contacting diver Darryl Miller. The driver had a pretty good location on where the truck went down. We attempted to drag hook the truck but were unsuccessful so I sent the diver in. This was strictly a search by feel as the water was too dark and murky to see anything. After a while, I decided we were wasting our time and pulled the diver. The owner of the truck brought in a fish locator and found the possible location of the truck inside the left buoy. Being late in the day and bad weather moving in, we decided to do the recovery the following day. Saturday, I started dragging the possible location but could not hook the truck. I had fishing guide Bob Smith to run his graph and underwater camera over the area. Due to the almost 0 visibility we could not see much with the camera but did find the truck. The graph showed the truck to be lying on the driver’s side and located a little further outside the buoy. I set float lines beside the truck and we got the diver ready to go. The diver had communication equipment making the diving process considerably easier since he could not see his hand in front of his face. The diver determined that the truck was setting on a steep slope front facing down river and buried up on the bumper in mud. There was a large boulder close to the front right wheel/door area and my float line was next to the driver’s door. The rock and the steepness of the slope was the reason it appeared to be on its side. The rear of the truck was setting on top the mud. The truck was 145 feet from the ramp in 32 feet of water and approx a 45-degree angle to the ramp, up river from the ramp. We attached a rope line from the truck to the dock. There were several ledges and rock outcroppings as well as being a steep slope back to the ramp. From the shoreline straight out to the buoys was about 50 feet with a 32 foot drop. We started laying out our rigging for winching when the diver became dizzy and sick. We decide to stop and return Sunday. Sunday, we hooked up a 100-foot wire rope to the truck’s left rear spring hangar. This location was chosen because I needed to get the truck to slide down river at the same time it was coming in so that it would line up with the narrow ramp between the two docks. We made the first 45-foot pull then had to remove the 100-foot wire rope and hook the winch line to the truck. After a short pull we had to re-rig again. The truck was winched up to the dock in line with the ramp. Even then it was still pointing down at a steep angle. We then rigged up the other winch line to the right spring hangar to give me more control of the truck, as I had to raise it high to bring it up over a ledge just off the docks. At this point I need to move the wrecker forward about 20 feet to complete the pull. I could not get the truck to set in place due to the steep slope so we secured with another truck till I could reset and complete the recovery.
- Tree Trimming
Riggs & Garcia Tree Trimming called us to assist on a tree-trimming job. The boom truck had one steep area to go down to gain access to the tree that needed trimming in the back yard. I hooked up to the boom truck and winched it down the steep slope to the lower flat yard area. The boom truck was then backed up on the opposite side of the house up a steep area as far as it could go under it’s own power. I set my wrecker at the road and ran a wire rope between the two houses and winched the truck up the steep slope to the tree that needed trimming. Using the outriggers and rigger pads, we leveled the boom truck on the slope and I held it in place while they trimmed the tree. On completion of trimming, I moved to the other side of the house and assisted the truck in coming back up the steep slope he had entered. The entire project took almost 4 hours. It was a real pleasure to see a pro at work. Brandon Riggs is truly an aerial acrobat up in the trees. My nerves were frazzled and I was only watching.
- Intersection Mishap
- Coyote & Possum
The maroon car was totaled in a roll over when the driver dodged a coyote. A few hours later 200 yards from that spot, the black car rolled over taking out 150 feet of fence after dodging a possum. Animals 2 cars 0
- You Want It Where?
12 x 33 foot park rv needed to be moved to a waterfront location so the owners could stay in it while they build their lake front home. Putting the RV on the lower level of the property was a challenge since there was only enough room to back it in with inches to spare on each side. The path in addition to be narrow was extremely steep and was a constant turn from top to the bottom level where the RV would end up 180 degrees from where it started. There was no room for error on backing it in due to not being able to pull forward to reposition the rig. Extremely slow going but cleared all the obstacles and set it in place. This was definitely one of the more challenging jobs I have had in a while. It took an hour and a half to place it at the bottom of the 150 foot path. I would back up 4 or 5 feet get out acnd check my situation so I could make any corrections necessary, go another 4 or 5 feet, until it was in place. Definitely no room for error on this one!
- VanHool Hung Up
This driver tried to go into a drive way that was too steep. The rear of the bus hung on the readway raising his drive axle off the ground bringing him to a halt. Used my 12 ton and winched him forward about 8 feet and he was on his on.
- Escort Rollover
- Boat Trailer Hit by Car
Family coming to the lake for the weekend is hit by a car as they enter the edge of town. The impact hits directly on the right side trailer axles busting both wheels and tires knocking the axles back. We got it out of the road then dollied the tongue of the trailer. Using axle forks, we lifted the rear of the boat trailer by the frame secured and secured it for transportation
- Pickup and 5th Wheel Travel Trailer
Pickup quit while pulling the 5th wheel travel trailer. They needed it towed about 40 miles but did not want to separate the pair so I towed the combo.
- Shattered Dreams!
I had the privilege of furnishing 2 wrecked vehicles for the Llano High School students to put on a mock drunk driving accidents with fatalities. This was one of the most realistic performances I have ever seen, taking a total of 2 days to pull off. I arrived with the vehicles and the kids went to work getting the victims arranged. The Sheriff Dept dispatched the police dept, fire department extrication unit and Ems to the scene. Ems then requested med chopper to air lift one. Justice of Peace and funeral home was requested. After all casualties were removed, the entire student body gathered around the vehicles discussing the situation. The following day funerals were held at the schools auditorium. The entire 2 days generated quite a large amount of discussion about drinking and driving. The program had a tremendous impact, as most of these High School kids have been fortunate in not having to experience loosing any of their friends in a vehicle accident. It appears to have been a very productive episode by these kids.
- Pickup Hits Boat Dock & Flips
A man and his wife go to visit their old home to see what the new owners have done. The pickup is driven down the driveway, thru the carport on to the steep boat ramp going down to the lake. As the pickup was come into the carport, the driver goes to hit the brake but hits the accelerator instead. Pickup shoots down the ramp, the driver realizes that they are going to go into the lake, turns sharply to the left hitting the concrete foundation flipping the pickup over on it's roof. Fortunately there were no major injuries. There was no way to get a wrecker down to the pickup so I set my wrecker at the carport which was about 150 feet from the pickup. John Raschke, owner of A-1 Wrecker thought we might be able to get his wrecker down the west side of the house and on to the lower level yard. I then winched the truck up the ramp until it was clear of the concrete foundation and steps. While I held the truck John uprighted the vehicle. I then winched the pickup up to the top and transported to my yard.
- Kubota Tractor & Wrecker Stuck
Kubota tractor in dry lake bed was attempting to dig a foundation for a boat dock when it stuck. I asked how close I could get on good road and was told 50 to 75 feet. Not!!! I had to back my wrecker in the dried sandy lake bed and immediately drop the front left tire. Not bad and with the assist of a suburban was able to get out. Went back to the top and high speed in reverse was able to get close enough to winch the tractor out.
- Tree & Suv Doesn't Mix
- Stuck 18 wheeler
Loaded 18 wheeler decides to pull off the road to answer a call from Mother Nature. The driver left the road at a short angle instead of a long gradual pull off resulting in the trailer setting on top of the tractor tires on the right side and lifting the left tractor tires about 6 inches off the ground.
- Stuck Pickups
First pickup slides off sandy embankment then spins down trying to get out. Driver calls his friend to pull hi out with his pickup which also gets stuck, then they call me and my trusty Blazer.
- Navigator Stuck
Lady pulls her Navigator down close to the water but gets a little too close! Another job for the Blazer!!
- Pickup Stuck
This 2 wheel drive decided they would drive along the river bed looking for landscaping rock. The dry river bed was very soft especially for 2 wheel drive and street tires. We had to make several pulls to get him out of the river bed. Every time he would attempt to move under his own power, he would spin down.
- Stuck in the Lake
Lake level being down creates an overwhelming desire to drive along the lake shore, which is alright unless you get too close to the water.
- MudCat Recovers Pickup
MudCat was need to get this one out.This guy was trying to get down to his fishing hole. They worked all day, jacking and blocking the truck before they were told by the law that they could either call me to pull it out or have it impounded for river bed violation.
- Dirt Bike Impound
2 dirt bikes were playing in the Llano River, which is illegal. They ran from the law and drowned both bikes. Abandoning the bikes, they traveled up thru the ranch and to their house where they reported the bikes stolen. Had they just stopped for the officers, they would have been issued a warning as a first time offender. As it was, they were issued river bed violations, criminal trespass and paid me a healthy fee.
- Funeral Wagon Crash
Avalanche missed an intersection, went thru a ditch, airborne and hit the Dodge Dually on top corner of left front fender, shearing off the winch and grill guard jack knifing the funeral setup wagon. There was very little visible damage to the Avalanche however the underside was completely destroyed.
- Pickup vs Oak Tree
Only thing close to the road and they hit it.
- Two Ford Pickups Headon
70 MPH headon - both in the newer model Ford survived - the one in the older Ford did not. Difference was the newer model airbags and the designed fold down and under the passenger's compartment.
- Exchanging Oxygen Tanks
The welding supply was sent the wrong tank. We were called to exchange the tanks when the correct one arrived.
- Wrecked Motorhome
Diesel pusher motorhome clipped a car that stopped in front of it. We towed the motorhome to our yard where the owner had a trailer sent in to haul it back to the Dallas area.
- MudCat Recovers Jeep
This is a lake bottom about 60 miles from me. When the lake is down the kids like to go 4-wheeling. They had several wreckers from the area try but could not get to the Jeep. From the time we unloaded the MudCat till it was reload - 22 minutes.
- Harpooned Dodge
This Dodge took out 300 feet of split rail fence. The rail that came thru the grill, firewall and into the cab barely missed the drivers leg which he had just got out of a cast due to a previous wreck
- Dump Truck Didn't Make The Turn
This dead end intersection is at the bottom of a steep hill with accidents being a routine occurrence. Some of them go straight thru and out into the pasture and some do as this one and try making the turn.
- Scrap Hauler Wreck
This individual was doing a friend of his a favor. The friends truck would not run so they load this guy's pickup with scrap iron and hooked the trailer loaded with a truck body and scrap to his truck. The trailer began whipping turning everything upside down.
- Dodge Dually Rollover
The driver of this pickup clipped the rear of a minivan then run up the guardrail ending up upside down in the creek bed. Due to large amount of traffic I decide to get my 40 ton, lift the truck out and drive up the road a short distance to a parking lot to finsh the job.
- Bus Hung Up
Bus hangs tail on highway trying to go up steep driveway into cafe.
- Stuck Bobcat, Bobcat & Truck
These property owners rented 2 bobcats to do some work on their waterfront. They got the one down by the water stuck, decided to pull it out with their pickup but didn't even get close to it before the pickup was stuck. They took the second bobcat and tried to pull out the pickup sticking it.
- Stuck Tractor
This tractor was pushing up an old brush pile when the ground broke and the tractor went down.
- Stuck Fire Truck
They were setting the fire trucks up for display at their annual BBQ. The ground was a little too soft for the loaded pumper.
- Stuck Feed Truck
Notice the tailboard damage? They spent about 3 hours trying to pull the truck out with a bulldozer before calling me.
- Tractor Stuck
The tractor got stuck in a bog hole so they decide to try and pull it out with their bobcat which also got stuck. In trying to get the bobcat out, they popped the left rear tire off, killed the motor then could not get the bobcat to start again.
- Pickup & Welding Truck Stuck
The Ford Ranger was going to a fishing hole when it got stuck so he called a friend who attempted to get to him with his welding truck.
- Stuck Excavator
Lake had been lowered for property repairs. This excavator was brought in to dredge the channel. He reached out in the channel when the bank caved off. The excavator could not get enough traction to pull itself back to the top.
- Stuck Truck & Forklift
The delivery truck was attempting to turn around and get back on the driveway. They unloaded the forklift, pulled the truck up to try turning around again. Truck gets stuck. They try to move the forklift and it gets stuck. Hooked the forklift to the truck then winched both of them out at the same time
- HiSpeed BMW Rollover
This BMW went off the road at a high speed, over corrected and rolled several times.
- Dozer Stuck
The dozer was doing some property cleaning when it sunk on top of an 8" water line. I had to set up at almost 90 degrees to the dozer, sliding the dozer sideways to get it away from the water line.
- Ambulance vs Car
The driver of the car never seen the ambulance and pulled right out. The ambulance had no time to respond running over the front of the car.
- Stuck Excavator
While the lake was lowered for repairs, they decided to cut a boat dock in the bank. While working on the area, the excavator slid into the muddy lake bottom.
- Stuck Backhoe
Property owner decide to clean up the ditch along his property. He did not consider the muddy factor as the culvert is an overflow for a pond across the road.
- Guard Rail Wins
This car hit the guard rail sideways at approx. 80 mph shearing the rear passenger door off and pushing it into the car. The drivers only injury was a cut on the back of the head where the ripped off door hit him.
- Dodge Pickup Rollover
This pickup left the road, hit a tree then rolled several times. The driver sustained minor injuries but the pickup did not fare as well.
- Stuck Dump Truck
Got him out and advised him to dump the load there and not try to go to the barn. He didn't listen so I got to get him out again.
- Almost Fell Off the Mountain
Deer hunters going up a remote mountain trail lost traction, blew a tire then slid off the edge of the mountain trail up against a tree. The alternator on my Blazer went out on the way up. While winching the truck away from the tree, the battery died. I had to start the pickup, remove it's battery, put it in the Blazer and put the Blazer battery in the pickup. Once the pickup was back up on the trail, we changed the tire and drove the vehicles down the mountain to the camp. The Blazer battery in the pickup was charged so we swapped the batterys back to their vehicles, collected the money and headed home.
- Stuck Dump Truck
It's a little tougher to build a road after 6 inches of rain.
- My Tractor Fell Over!
This rancher got a little to close to the edge.
- Stuck Backhoe & Pickup
The son gets his truck stuck four-wheeling so Dad decides he can get it out with the backhoe. Pickup 3000 pounds - Backhoe 13,000 pounds?
- MudCat Recovers Another
This truck slid off the pasture road into a steep ditch. We pulled the rear of the truck sideways back up on the road then pulled the front up on the road and out.
- Deer Hunters Stuck
Got a call to pull a wrecker out of the pasture about midnight. Got him out and the hunters wanted me to pull them out. Found out that they had 4 vehicles stuck so I decided to wait till morning and bring the MudCat.. It all started when the Hummer got stuck and they kept trying till they had no vehicles left. Hummer owner was not very happy as his buddies really gave him a bad time.
- Stuck Forklift
Forklift gets stuck unloading components for a metal building.
- Pickup Rollover
Driver runs off road, over corrects comes back across the road, rolls onto side and up against the mesquite tree.
- Truck, Suv & Lincoln Wreck
Suv turns in front of truck, truck clips suv, suv rolls on side, slides into parking lot up against a man in his Lincoln
- Dump Truck Couldn't Stop
Loaded dump truck comes down steep hill, could not stop, goes thru the ditch, thru the fence and some 300 yards into the brush.
- Dodge / Explorer Headon
This head on occurred on a 2 lane road with both vehicles traveling at about 70 mph. Fortunately everyone survived.
- Neon vs Suv
Broadside hit removes door
- SkyTrak in Deep S***
Contractor found the septic tank with the his SkyTrak.
- Rollover
Table fell out of trailer landing in roadway. This driver came out of the curve and dodged the table.
- Road Ended
The Ford came upon the dead end interesection too fast, locked the brakes and slid across the intersection and down in the ditch. He attempted to back it out but did not see the 36 inch culvert behind his front left tire and ended up with the tire inside the culvert.
- Stuck Chipper Truck
These guys were trimming trees on this waterfront property. They had been stuck a couple of times but managed to pull each other out. Then they got both trucks stuck and called us.
- Stuck Chipper Truck
This chipper truck was cleaning a right of way for a road thru the property.
- Service Truck Stuck
Pulled off side of pasture road to let another truck around him.
- Backhoe? Wrecker?
Driver parks his truck across the street from my house, came out the next morning to find in severly stuck. Quoted him $450 to pull it out which he did not like. Finds a friend with a backhoe. Tore up the bumper and front of the truck, but could not budge it. Too embarrassed to call me again, he calls a heavy wrecker some 30 miles away to get it out.
- Lost My Boat!
Individual gets all the way home before he realizes he lost his boat and trailer.
- Wrecker & 2 Pickups
First pickup gets stuck 300 yards off road. The driver walks to a ranch house and steals the rancher's pickup to pull out his, second now stuck. He calls the rancher at 3 am and ask him to bring his tractor. Rancher says no way and the driver tells him he might want to reconsider since the rancher's truck is also stuck. Rancher calls Sheriff Dept who goes out and arrests the guy then calls a wrecker who also gets stuck. 85 mile trip to the scene and 1 hour later all are on solid ground.
- Swift Water Recovery
This low water crossing is about 200 yards long and this driver thought he could make it. He made it about half way before the started sideways. The curbs alongside the edge of the slab hung the passenger side suspension and held the car in place.
- Excavator Goes Swimming
Excavator was cutting a boat dock in the bank when he backed up a little too far.
- Pepsi Truck Pole Axed
Pepsi truck veers of right side of road, comes back across road, barely misses big tree, takes out the fence then is stopped by phone pole.
- Sand Truck vs. Concrete Culvert
The driver of a truck pulling a shipping container with 46000 pounds of sand took out 150 feet of guardrail before veering off the road and stuffing the rig in a concrete box culvert. It had rained for several days but very little rain day of the wreck. I recovered the casualty and winched it up to higher ground to let it set over night per instruction of the hazmat cleanup crew. Due to heavy rains and deep mud the following day, it took about 12 hours to get the casualty and my trucks out and back to the yard.
- Stuck Fertilizer Rig
They were fertilizing a coastal field until they ceased to be able to move. Contrary to popular belief, huge tires can't go every where.
- Bobcat Stuck in Pasture
This rancher was cleaning up some prickly pear when his Bobcat decide to rest.
- Pickup Hits New Guardrail
The contracting crew had just finished install the new, impact bumper end guardrail about 3 hours before this truck decided to try it out.
- Stuck Retrieving Deer Stand
Deer hunter takes pickup and trailer in to low land to get his deer stand. There was no bottom to the rain soaked pasture. When they called me, they said they were on the road but were not stuck bad. I took my Blazer out to recover them but soon found that it would take way to long so I went after my MudCat. The MudCat only took about 15 minutes to pull them up to high, solid ground.
- Line Crew Sticks Pole Truck
These guys were frequent customers. They were contracted to replace highlines in the remote areas and became pretty good at getting stuck.
- Pickup Rearends Bobcat
Driver not paying attention to slow moving vehicle hits the rearend of a Bobcat
- Rolloff Truck Laid on Side
Loaded rolloff truck traveling down narrow pasture road gets too far right, right side of truck sinks and truck lays on side still loaded. Due to 10 inches of rain in the past week there was no way to get off the road and contractor wanted the truck uprighted with load intact. I declined the job so they called in a company about 100 miles from there who immediately stuck one of their 50 ton wreckers then spent the entire day getting it out with their other wrecker. Truck ended up laying there for a several days with rain continuing. Contractor finally cut the container off the truck and removed the truck leaving the container there for several weeks until it dried enough to get off the road and clean up the mess.
- MudCat River Recoveries
These are various river bed recoveries I had in 2003. I bought the Bombardier Muskeg Carrier specifically for this as I was tired of not only getting the stuck 4-wheelers out but also getting my Blazer out . Shortly after purchasing the MudCat, they passed a law making it illegal for motor vehicles of any kind to be in any natural waterway.
- Dump Truck & Trailer Stuck
Driver pulls in to a house under construction, pulls down the hill to turn around not realizing that 3.5 inches of rain dropped last night.
- Garbage Truck Rollover
Garbage truck ran off right side of road, over corrected, laid truck over and slid down highway.
- Constable Hit Head-on
We were working a two car accident. Our Constable was blocking the lane with his truck, standing in front of his truck directing traffic. As the car got closer and closer, the Constable realized it was not slowing down and jumped out of the way. I had just finished talking to the Constable and had walked around to the side of his pickup when the impact occurred. I just knew the Constable was history. Elder lady confused by the flashing lights never applied the brakes
- Grocery Truck Rollover
Grocery truck veers off the road, rolls over in the ditch then slides across a 2 lane highway blocking the road. The company's recovery crew would be 4 hours arriving so Troopers called us to move it off to the side. Narrow right of way made it a little difficult to get out of road.
- Beer Truck Rollover
Driver veers off the right side of the road, clips tree with trailer tearing top, lays over and comes to a stop blowing out the front half of the top unloading half the load.
- F550 Ford Truck Wreck
F550 Ford takes out 250' guardrail, goes through the brush and into the lake totally submerged.
- 12 Ton
- 20 Ton
- 45 ton
- 5th Wheel Attachment
- Blazer Bumper
- Crickets Aug 2007
- Grandkids Wrecks
- Holmes 440 82 model
- Jan 2006 Snow
- Towing
- Truck Art