Whoops..... any suggestions?

I made a fatal mistake yesterday of not checking how firm the floor of a barn was before driving 5 tons of forklift truck onto it. The camera side is fine, the other side however turned out to be as soft as freshly-tilled earth - and now, despite a lot of digging and various attempts, it isnt going anywhere and is now sat on the chassis at the back.

Oh, and it cant be pulled directly backwards because there's a wall just out of shot to the left.

It really needs the back lifting and slewing round, and ordinarily I'd find the nearest farmers, but at 5 tons I think it's beyond the realms of a telehandler.

Some of you lot must have had to deal with awkward recoveries in the past, what would your suggestions be?

thanks in advance,

Matt

Dont forget your not lifting 5 tons! I would think a telehandler would lift the back high enough to get a sheet under the wheel. Best of luck a few of us have been there and got the tshirt:-D

How strong is the roof? :-D Seriously I'd aquire or hire a couple of Tirfor winches. You can lift as well as pull with them. Being hand powered you can put just the right amount of strain on, and being self contained you can get into awkward places

In the past in similar circumstances my dad on his farm generally jacked a bogged vehicle a few inches at a time (using a railway sleeper or similar under the jack to spread the load on the ground) and pushed wood or stones under the bogged wheel with each lift using a long stick to avoid going under the jacked vehicle - the key is to get a firm base under the jack after digging a hole to get it under the vehicle, so it lifts the vehicle rather than push itself into the ground - but the landrover and the old grey tractor were neither of them as heavy as this. How far down is solid ground in this case ?

I wonder if you could get an air bag under it between the wheels on the side that sank (see ebay item 322291516936 - if meant for a Jackal it will handle the weight) ?

In the absence of a Tirfor I've used an engine hoist for a short pull of a foot or two to get a 2wd vehicle with spinning wheels onto a rubber mat or a board but it wasn't this heavy or this deeply stuck - it looks like there is space for that if you can hammer an iron bar into the floor for an anchor and have a strong enough hoist or chain block?

Hope this helps

Iain

A tele handler will pull it straight out

I think my plan would be:

Dig down a bit to make room for a bottle jack and a spreader plate beneath.

Lift vehicle

fill and tamp the wheel holes with rocks and gravel or heavy soil.

Place sub-flooring (1-1/2" thick plywood) under the wheels in as large patches as practicable

lower lift , fill the jack hole, and carry on, moving the plywood pads around so you don't fall off them.

2 layers of 3/4" plywood will handle the load as well, but with much more protestation than a single thicker piece.

A tele handler will pull it straight out

Having driven through the wall and had the shed collapse around your ears......good move:n00b:

Unbolt the rear counterweight casting and lift it clear with a telehandler Op.1

Looking at pictures virtually any tele handler woulds sort that out working a right angle to rear towing eye. Personal it would i suspect weigh more than 5 ton near 7.5 . But i dont know. what ever all is not lossed if all fails a medium sized tractor with rear lift arms and a decent chain with with shorten claw a bit at a time would turn it through 90 ndegrees then it just a straight forward pull. Ps my estimate on weight is based on a three. five ton hyster we ran over a weigh bridge and weighed 7.3 tons another tip i was given many many years ago was you will never raise a vehicle by digging a hole to put ii in

Get a railway sleeper or other baulk of timber. Place it the far side of roll frame. Attach one tirfor in the middle. By preference use two one each end of timber. Then take strain, should lift the far side wheels and allow planks to go under wheels. I've used similar method to sight boats in such situations. Joy of a Tirfor, you are so far back if it does topple, you arent there and they give very delicate control

if all else fails back in at right angles to the mast with a tractor pull it with a chain hung high on the mast and tip it sideways dont worry you wont tip it over its CG is very low pack and make good terrain Let us know how you go on

Nice thick chain on rear counterweight and pull at a sensible angle. I've done this too many times for over eager drivers. They are so low with the weight and hitch pin is low, I've never had one fall over. By the time youve thought about it job could be done.

Hammer frozen sausages into the earth around the stuck wheels, overnight animal activity should free it up a bit.

Lmao how did you know my ever faithfull plan b? love it!

Hammer frozen sausages into the earth around the stuck wheels, overnight animal activity should free it up a bit.

Sounds like lots of over technical suggestions , regardless of the weight you ain't picking it up off the ground , any decent farm manitou or Jcb would no problem take the weight off the rear end and drag it out backwards at a angle and same for reasonable sized 4wd tractor if done slowly , sensibly and steady . This sort of thing around the farm is a run of the mill thing done many times with in a year with large heavy heavy bits of kit esp during silage /maize .

Sounds like lots of over technical suggestions , regardless of the weight you ain't picking it up off the ground , any decent farm manitou or Jcb would no problem take the weight off the rear end and drag it out backwards at a angle and same for reasonable sized 4wd tractor if done slowly , sensibly and steady . This sort of thing around the farm is a run of the mill thing done many times with in a year with large heavy heavy bits of kit esp during silage /maize .

Damn, now you've let the cat out of the bag Martin, no more entertainment reading the silly suggestions;)

Sounds like lots of over technical suggestions , regardless of the weight you ain't picking it up off the ground , any decent farm manitou or Jcb would no problem take the weight off the rear end and drag it out backwards at a angle and same for reasonable sized 4wd tractor if done slowly , sensibly and steady . This sort of thing around the farm is a run of the mill thing done many times with in a year with large heavy heavy bits of kit esp during silage /maize .

QUOTE

Oh, and it cant be pulled directly backwards because there's a wall just out of shot to the left.

====

So - he can't whistle up a 4 tonne @500mm (full tele-in) and work from the rear , he may be able from the side ?? - take the weight of rear and drive it out.

He may be restricted to low-tech. in that case a steel plate at least 1/2" thick to spread over the 'jam sponge-cake' and use that hyd. jack ram or better still a hyd. or mechanical toe-jack to get the wheel clear of the hole . Fill the hole with baulks of old fence post then drive it out.

Just have to wait for his final report with photographs..

Dig in a ground anchor behind the forklift by the wall (out of view) Bring the forklift mast right back and attach chain between the anchor and the top of the mast. Upon tilting the mast forward the forklift should inch back wards. Repeat shortening the chain each time. Block the wheels so the forklift doesn't slide back into the hole.

Doug

HI all,

Many thanks for all the suggestions and sorry for the delayed reply!

Unfortunately I'm not sure the walls are anywhere near strong enough to winch from and the solid bit of the floor has concrete underneath it, so sadly the excellent ground anchor idea is out.

I will try to have another go at jacking it from underneath - I was experiencing a lot of difficulty in getting a jack in anywhere suitable to lift, and that ram jack pinged out at an angle a few times!

Ultimately though I think I am going to wind up having to go to the nearest farm (luckily there are a few within a mile or so) and beg for them to bring a telehandler along. Annoyingly, whilst we have another forklift its only half the size and wouldnt lift this one. I should have got that one stuck instead!

Unless.... anyone in the vicinty of Parbold, Lancs fancies exercising their Scammell/Foden/Diamond T etc. in exchange for a crate of beer? :-D

Good luck with your extraction Mat777 ,if I was local to you assistance would be easy, jacking on that soft stuff will just cause you frustration and at the worst case a slipped jack , which is potentially dangerous. as others have mentioned , whip her out at an angle backwards on a chain , if there is a concrete floor somewhere below and it is already bellied out there is little risk of overturning .

The thread has made me have a chuckle , but sorry at your expense for having a bogged forklift, it also makes you realise that those of us who work and come across this scenario regularly , take it as second nature what to do , and have at hand the tools to extract this and far larger items are lucky buggers .

For me when my computer crashes I then feel like our member stuck !

Is there a local tug of war team near you? The Pyramids and Stone Henge weren't built in a day but they were built with 'man power'!

Well, this weekend we tried jacking and packing again, with a bigger jack this time!

It was ever so nearly successful.... after packing under both the sunk wheels with rocks topped with paving slabs and planks, we gave it a go - despite having initial traction, it just didnt quite have the grip and/or oomph to do anything other than rock backwards about 6 inches before rolling forwards again.

Unfortunately, in the attempts to budge it by shifting sharply between neutral and reverse, the rocking caused it to slide sideways off the packing and back into the soft dirt. Back to square one!

Plan B beckons - finding something very large to winch it with!

how about putting a flat big inner tube underneath it, position it well. Start the inflating of the inner tube and it will come up. rest based on the situation good luck

OK , so it seems with the jack now being used with slab / timber plate - get the wheel clear to 1" above the height it should be.

Hand-ball in barrow if no 'Bar-O-Mix' - a couple of loads of concrete and shovel in hole (6" depth on rocks) and float off to FFL , dig out the jam-sponge cake to rear of wheel and in similar way , about 2ft wide & 6" deep should do , then back-fill with concrete. You can always grind up a 'shopping-trolley' for reinforcement LoL (how do I know that trick) , wait 5 to 6 days and drive off - in to the sunset in reverse ,,

OK , so it seems with the jack now being used with slab / timber plate - get the wheel clear to 1" above the height it should be.

 

Hand-ball in barrow if no 'Bar-O-Mix' - a couple of loads of concrete and shovel in hole (6" depth on rocks) and float off to FFL , dig out the jam-sponge cake to rear of wheel and in similar way , about 2ft wide & 6" deep should do , then back-fill with concrete. You can always grind up a 'shopping-trolley' for reinforcement LoL (how do I know that trick) , wait 5 to 6 days and drive off - in to the sunset in reverse ,,

Type 1 may be cheaper