Lessons learnt today...

[spandit]

...when getting a Suzuki Jimny stuck in the middle of a field:

1) stock fencing does not make a good improvised ground mat, unless you really like cutting tangled stock fencing wire out from underneath a car that is already up to its axles in thick mud

2) a 12mm polypropylene rope, whilst giving you the length you require (in combination with 2 recovery straps and a thicker rope and 30m of winch cable) stretches a LONG way before it snaps (with a Hell of a bang!)

3) Putting a ratchet strap around a tyre does not magically transform your car into one of these:

It generally just makes it a more efficient digger

4) Reducing tyre pressure leaves you with a stuck car in the middle of the field with flat tyres

5) A winch is a surprisingly effective way of removing a fencepost that is driven in a couple of feet

6) a 3" willow sapling is surprisingly strong - can pull a Jimny out sideways!

Of course, it didn't start raining until I had to get out of the cab to start the recovery process... I now have all my fence posts and wire dumped in the middle of the field and I'll have to carry them by hand

 

[Macaroon]

Oh boy, you've had a fun day then! That's some very wet ground you've got there, it's like that all about here and has been for the past six or seven months now. No wonder we're all sick of the mud, eh?

Polypropylene rope is a thing I hate with a vengeance, anything I've ever tried to do with it has turned out to be a disaster; I hate the look of it, the feel of it, the way it behaves when you're trying to tie it off, everything about it.

 

[spandit]

Sadly, I was too far from a stout tree to reach with anything else. On the plus side, the badly done eye splice on the thicker rope held up just fine. The rope is really stiff synthetic stuff and horrible to splice as the strands retain their twisted shape. Glad I left those little willow trees growing, I guess!

The plan is to dig a lake uphill from here. By making a deep trench first, we can disrupt all the springs and divert it through a proper outlet. That should enable the land to dry out a bit but I was only going up there to put a fence up in order to put the pigs on the land so they could clear the scrub in readiness for digging!

 

[Toddy]

Yeah. That's a quagmire of a muddy mess :/ Not funny to deal with either.

Oh, and Polypropylene rope…..I agree with every word Mac said. It even makes carp washing line
I once tried chain plying some to make it strong enough to help pull a stuck van. Hah! that was an exercise in frustration.

I have friends who live totally off grid and off road. They say that in mud like that the only thing to keep them moving is those roll out footpaths. For kept in the car just in case they keep the moulded gridded door mats as their car and boot mats. They help, but there are times they still need a tug out with a landrover.

Still thoroughly fed up with the mud here too

M

 

[spandit]

I've had a JCB stuck in there before - it's almost impassable by foot in places. I think a couple of successive wet winters and summers just haven't given it the chance to dry out. Think the lake, when dug, should at least fill quite quickly! When I went back to collect the jack, about 5 minutes later, the ruts were all full of water...

 

[Klenchblaize]

Been there. Done that. And with a freshly shot 200lb fallow buck in the rear of Landrover for added ballast!

After being eventually pulled out sideways on what was a hill by the estate tractor I swore never to be without a winch back and front of vehicle.

K

 

[Drain Bamaged]

Car trailer ramps actually work well, not the cheapest of things but once you've got them you've got them. We actually used a couple of sets of old aluminium ladders on a couple of occasion's in a particularly boggy area.

D.B.

 

[bilmo-p5]

Nothing wrong with polypropylene rope; 12mm was the problem in this case.

 

[Mesquite]

I thank you for sharing your experiments on how to not get a Jimny out of a quagmire with us so we don't make the same mistakes

 

[Macaroon]

Nothing wrong with polypropylene rope; 12mm was the problem in this case.

Heathen speech!!!

 

[Tonyuk]

Never get stuck again;

Yours for around £40K, be prepared to break down a lot, but you cant have everything...

Tonyuk

 

[spandit]

Never get stuck again;

Yours for around £40K, be prepared to break down a lot, but you cant have everything...

Tonyuk

I'd rather have a digger...

 

[mrcharly]

just get a tractor!

Or a horse

 

[Tonyuk]

I'd rather have a digger...

£32K and your sorted;

http://www.mod-sales.com/direct/vehicle/,28,/77842/JCB.htm

Tonyuk

 

[Tengu]

How about driving it? It is a tracked vehicle after all.

 

[Magentus]

How about one of these - It was Lenins car I believe. Half track Rolls Royce Silver Ghost.