recovery in Montana: Engine hydro locked

Friday, October 4th, 2024, at 12:35 p.m. (MT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in Montana. The requester, Eli Blythe, submitted the following information: “I am 5 miles back on the grave range jeep trail. Engine is hydro locked and just need a tow out the remaining 5 miles to the main dirt road. The road is steep and loose which could make it challenging. There is one off camber corner in particular that’s pretty rough but other than that I think a well built crawler would do pretty well. Please give me a call with any more questions. / I’m not with the vehicle.”

We reached out to Eli, verified his contact information, GPS location, requested a photo and confirmed the situation and needs before submitting the request to local volunteers within a 25-mile radius.

Within minutes of sending the request to volunteers, we had a few offering help. Finally, Robert Grove, who was about 40 miles away, announced he was available at 5:30 p.m.

Robert contacted the requester to coordinate, and by 6 p.m., he was en route to Eli. There was bad cell reception in the area of the request. Another volunteer Thomas Cutler also was standing by in case they needed extra help.

By 8:45 p.m., Robert announced he was on the site, and by 10 p.m., the request was closed. The vehicle was extracted, and everything was okay.

Note from Robert:

Only had to winch up one section other than that it was a pretty easy tow out to the main road.  During the recovery, I took it slow, and communication with radios made life pretty easy for everyone involved. 

Good kids, I bet they check the depth of “puddles” Before driving into them in the future! Hope ya get you Toyota running soon Eli. 

Tips:

Kinetic ropes are amazing for towing people out of difficult trails. I would not have attempted this recovery with a static town strap. 

We want to thank Robert for an amazing job, as well as all the other volunteers who responded, offered help, and stayed connected with the lobby, watching the progress. Awesome job, everybody.

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