Recovery of a truck in Oregon

Thursday, November 14th, 2024, at 4:43 p.m. (PT), we received a request for help with an offroad recovery of a truck in Oregon. The requester, Rachel Zowney, submitted the following information: “We’re loading Christmas trees for business truck got stuck in the mud cannot get out it is considered to be off road can’t get any help to pull us out and nothing has been working / I’m with the vehicle”

Our administrator, David Mrak, 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 5-mile radius.

This recovery request came in just a few miles from where I was working. I, Al Fontan, marked myself as engaged and informed David that I would handle the request. A few minutes later, Andrew Kniskern also offered to participate as a backup.

I drove to the location and, within 20 minutes, arrived at the farm. After a brief conversation with the requester at the entrance, I waited a few minutes for Andrew to arrive. Once he got there, I drove down into the tree farm.

The trail leading to the stuck truck was just inches from the fence bordering the neighboring farm. I carefully turned around and reversed between rows of Christmas trees on one side and the fence on the other. When I was about 20 feet from the truck, I connected my 30-foot Yankum kinetic rope using a pair of soft shackles.

I set my Jeep in low, 2nd gear and began pulling slowly at around 2–3 mph. One tug was all it took to get the small truck moving. I had already spoken with the truck’s owner, and we agreed to keep moving all the way to the end of the trail, where the terrain was firmer.

The trailer, which had been disconnected earlier, was left behind. Afterward, Andrew offered to help with the trailer using his Chevy pickup. He attempted to drive forward and turn around near the trailer, but the slippery terrain thwarted his efforts, leaving him stuck against the fence and digging himself in deeper.

At that point, we decided that Andrew’s pickup needed recovery too. Since his truck was heavier and the trail was already damaged, I deflated my Jeep’s tires to 9 psi and carefully reversed toward his pickup. Because of how close his truck was to the fence, I had to maneuver between the Christmas trees to position my Jeep to face him. From there, I used my winch to pull his truck away from the fence.

Once he was clear of the fence, I switched back to using the Yankum kinetic rope to tow his truck the rest of the way out.

Although the trailer was left behind, we successfully recovered the small truck that had been stuck since the day before. The Yankum kinetic rope once again proved to be an amazing tool—versatile and trustworthy.

By 4:00 p.m., we were heading out. I really appreciate Andrew joining the recovery effort. It’s always valuable to gain experience, and this was a great opportunity for him to participate in a recovery. Thank you, Andrew! He got his free Active Volunteer decal right there in there.

I also want to thank Gary Hoffman, who also offered help with this recovery of a truck in Oregon.

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