TooTallMike Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Someone once told me that Ward Lafrances float across mud. Well let me now tell you the truth… Ok, we knew the field was wet. I admit that. In fact we knew it was pretty much saturated. ‘Springy’ would be a good adjective. Or ‘boggy’. Whatever: 14 tonnes of 62-year-old truck distributed over 10 tyres equals not a lot of floatation. The intention had been to winch the Autocar out from its brambly resting place into the middle of the field and then winch it onto the hard standing. Because of the angles involved the pull had to originate from inside the field so we’d discussed using ground anchors and snatch blocks to run the winch rope out from the hard standing. However when we arrived we looked at the ground and I decided to risk taking the truck onto it and winching directly. We pulled the Autocar back about 20’ out of the undergrowth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 So it was all going fine but I had to reposition the WLF in order to continue winching. I attempted a 3-point turn and got stuck. Proper stuck. Sunk down to the axles stuck. All wheels rotating but truck not moving stuck. There was nowhere to run the rear winch to and I’d removed the front winch prop. when I did the engine conversion last year. (note to self: RE-FIT IT!!!) We excavated down to firm clay and jacked up the front wheels to build up under them with concrete blocks and timber. We found some old trailer ramps to put under the rears and lots of brush and cut timber to give the wheels something to grip on. We cleaned the treads to give it the maximum advantage and I rocked it until free. I then drove h@ll-for-leather across the field… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 …and promptly got stuck again. Fortunately this time it was in an open area so we could put in ground anchors about 40’ behind and winch it out backwards. I then selected a drier route and drove flat out until I reached the hard standing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 This is where the fun began. We tried to put in ground anchors to give a 90 degree pull but each time I started winching they just ripped out of the soft ground. After about 10 attempts we got bored and decided to just pull the back end of the Autocar sideways until it was straighter and then winch it backwards. It began to dig in on the side nearest the winch so I used my crane to lift the rear a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 Thus with a combination of progressive winching and lifting it approached the narrow entrance. It was then heading for a low brick wall so I got it as close as possible and then lifted the rear end clear of the wall. We attached a Tirfor to a dead van and winched the rear sideways. I then lowered it, repositioned the WLF and repeated the Tirfor-ing. We secured the steering onto full left lock and I gently winched the truck round the corner and out of the field. We then put on the ‘A’ bar, lifted the rear axle because one wheel was locked solid, straightened the front wheels and towed the whole thing out onto a larger area of hard standing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 We had no decent ramps for the beavertail so I lifted the front as high as possible, and Paul reversed the truck underneath it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooTallMike Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 I then lowered the front down onto it, repositioned behind the Autocar, lifted the rear, then backed the whole thing onto the truck. More info. to follow about the Autocar (to be posted on my original thread). Thanks to all concerned (Grasshopper, Nick Hobbs, Paul McDonald & Pete Moore) for 2 days of good muddy fun and not a little learnin’ :-D 8-) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ives Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 looks like you had a lot of muddy fun :whistle: :whistle: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Wow what a story! Happy winchin' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Thanks for sharing. That kind of ground can be very treacherous indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saracenstump Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 its great to see these old girls doing the work they were built for and not being pampered, great pics and great story!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuttyNick Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Another great weekend playing with our toys! Mike has described the weekend and all I'm going to do is post a few more pics (apologies for the poor quality of some of them). Paul and myself missed out on the WLF getting stuck the first time but arrived in time to help with the second extraction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuttyNick Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Once Mike had pulled himself out of the soft ground he just had to put his foot down and get back onto the hardstanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuttyNick Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 With the rear axle not moving, Vince removed the halfshafts. After quite a few attempts to pull the Autocar out at right angles using ground anchors and snatch blocks we decided to give up and do a direct pull. With Mike winching from the rear we attached a tirfor to the front of the Autocar to pull the front end out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuttyNick Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Paul and myself left Mike and Pete to finish off extracting the Autocar whilst we went and collected the beavertail. When we arrived back Mike had just pulled the Autocar out into the loading area. All we had to do was load it. Mike has already detailed the slightly unusual loading method! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuttyNick Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Finally, with the Autocar loaded and strapped down we just had to travel the short distance back to her new temporary home (the farm). What a great couple of days it was. I think I can speak for everyone by saying that it was certainly a tiring day - the number of times we knocked the anchor pins into the ground and then removed them numbered hundreds of times rather than tens! All that remains is a pretty mamouth task for the owner to restore her. She is in reasonable condition and we found a few suprises on her which I'm sure Mike will fill you in with at a later date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poptopshed Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Looks like a good weekend. Well done, look forward to seeing the Auto car restoration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodge Deep Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Well done lads. A worthy undertaking :bow: ...& a bloomin' hard one by the looks of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Looked like a lot of fun though!!! :-) :-) :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grasshopper Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Jobs like that give you a grin that never goes out fashion. :-D 8-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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