Offroad recovery in private property

Sunday, January 5th, 2025, at 8:22 p.m. (PT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery in private property in Oregon. The requester, Garet Weaver, submitted the following information: “Ford F150. Stuck in mud in a field, with permission from the owner. / I’m with the vehicle / I can help cover the cost of fuel.”

Our administrator, Al Fontan, contacted the requester and verified the contact information provided, GPS location, and current situation before sending the request to local volunteers. In this particular recovery, we contacted volunteers within a 10-mile radius.

Note about recoveries in private properties:

Since this took place on private property, we ensured that Garet had permission to be there and that we had authorization to proceed with the recovery (See picture of the actual chat). Unfortunately, we later discovered that the requester had not been truthful—the farm owner had not been informed at all. While this is rare, we are actively working on better ways to verify the information provided to prevent similar situations in the future.

From the group of contacted volunteers, John Lepley initially took over the recovery. He attempted to free the vehicle but ended up breaking the front axle of his Jeep Cherokee. By 4:00 p.m., since nobody else had stepped in, I decided to drive about 45 miles from Portland to get the job done.

I arrived around 5:00 p.m. and entered the property. The vehicle was stuck about 400 yards from the main road on the right side, roughly 30 yards from the dirt road separating two fields. I made contact with Garet, who informed me that the vehicle had been stuck overnight. Several people had already tried to recover it without success. John had managed to move it about a foot before damaging his Jeep.

My initial approach was to use the kinetic rope they had already set up. I connected it to the back of my JK and gave a few pulls, but the truck was deeply stuck, and the suction from the mud was too strong. Realizing this wasn’t working, I decided to turn around and use my winch. Around this time, a small tractor arrived, which I assumed belonged to the farm owner.

I attached a 4-foot Yankum tree saver between the back of my Jeep and the small tractor. With that setup, I was able to use only my winch to pull the truck toward the dirt road. Once it was just a few feet from solid ground, I let them try driving out under their own power, but they immediately got stuck again. With daylight fading, I didn’t waste any time—I turned around and used the Yankum kinetic rope to pull them out. Within seconds, I had them behind me, driving toward the main road.

Once we were out, I was at only 6 psi, so I disconnected the kinetic rope and began setting up my inflation system. The guys immediately took off, leaving me alone in the dark inflating my tires—which I found odd, as most people usually stick around and chat after a recovery.

Just as I had finished setting up my Morrflate system to inflate all four tires at once, an ATV suddenly appeared. The driver crossed in front of my Jeep, assuming I was about to leave.

He immediately confronted me about trespassing on his farm. At that moment, I realized these guys had lied to us—they never had permission to be there or conduct the recovery. (Thanks a lot, guys!)

I spoke with the owner and provided all my recorded evidence showing that we had been misled. He appreciated our help and our efforts to follow protocol. I assured him that at no point did we think we were trespassing. He was understanding and had no issue with us assisting. However, he mentioned that he would be following up with the actual trespassers.

I finished inflating and recording a bit of notes for the video (below).