I live in a snowy clime. Likewise, the roads in our neighborhood are infrequently plowed and have a 10 to 15-degree incline. As such, I've pulled a lot of vehicles out of the shoulder after they've become stuck. Why? Because they often don't have winter tires, or winter tires with spikes.
We, thankfully, have the latter.
But folks often forget that they need winter or sometimes spiked winter tires, even when the roads are well-maintained. For example, roads going into parking lots for OHV travel, i.e. the spots people love to unload their winter toys onto. Why? Because what inevitably occurs are news clips or viral videos like the below of trucks or SUVs pulling trailers, usually with snowmobiles and UTVs still in tow, and then failing to get up even the most minor of hills when those roads freeze over or receive just a dusting of snow.
What should be a fairly easy exercise when something is equipped with the right tires quickly becomes a case of futility, even when you have a Jeep yanking on a recovery rope to help you get up the hill. As is the case below. It's a gif, but I'd like you to imagine Benny Hill's "Yakety Sax" playing in the background. It's way funnier that way.
Winter weather truck trailer. I thought you guys might like this one.
byu/OutrageousToe6008 inIdiotsTowingThings
I've driven my fair share of full-size trucks, including this Super Duty Ford. It's a hellaciously capable machine, equipped with more torque than a 747. But all that torque, all that power, all that brutish strength can't be put down when you have a trailer's weight in the back tugging your rearward and absolutely ZERO traction because you didn't spring for good tires.
It's like trying to walk on ball bearings. On ice. With an elephant pulling you backward. It ain't gonna go your way.
What's also funny about this clip is that the Jeep and Ford are using what appears to be a regular old tow strap to yank the Ford up the hill.
That, dear friends, is a real bad idea, as they're using a kinetic energy recovery rope technique; i.e., you gain some speed and then yank the stuck vehicle. Only, there's no stretch to a regular tow strap, so when the Jeep hits the limits of the strap's length, it just stops dead in its tracks. Not only is that bad for the driver of the Jeep and their resulting whiplash, but that strap also could've snapped and gone right back into the Ford's windshield.
In other words, you just created a heavy-duty whip, and one that's also aimed at the Ford's driver. But woof, everything about this is terrible. The one thing they did do right, at least that I think they did right, is unload the trailer's occupant, which appears to be a full-size UTV. That'd get a little weight off the rear axle, and also off of pulling it backward. But that's the only thing right in this situation.
Maybe next time, just spring for the good tires, will ya?
