Lorem Ipsum
louisville
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Joined: 10/24/2009
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So.... we had some waterlines put in at the farm a few months ago, and they filled them in but the other day I parked the motorhome near them ( forgot they were there ) and then it rained. The next day I went to back out of the spot and the front wheels fell into the trench ( backhoe scope width ) which collapsed.
Now it's not going anywhere..... I even tried pulling it out with chains attached to the trailer hitch using 2 4x4 tractors ( my JD 5103 50 horse turbo diesel and my neighbors 65 horse JD diesel ) and it still would not budge.
I'm afraid to pull any harder on the hitch.... so I'm considering digging out under the front end and placing a bottle jack ( with 2X12's of wood ) and block and tackling it to get it out.
Any other ideas or do you think that would work?
is the front frame rail in front of the radiator strong enough to handle this?
would it be best to try to dig out behind the front wheels ( would take a long time and the ground is frozen )
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southernkilowatt
North Carolina
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Joined: 11/13/2007
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I know this is a dumb question but I have to ask, did you put the tranny in neutral before you tried to pull it? I dont see any reason other than that , that two 4x4's wouldnt do the job, so you may actually be hung up on something. I would go for broke and try again, but when you do get it out I think you will have to wash all the mud and dirt away from the undercarriage.
Good luck and let us know when you do get it out.
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JUrban
Delaware
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Sounds like a plan. Whatever you do, be sure the front wheels are straight before you try to pull it. I'd dig out some behind the front wheels to give it a bit of a ramp (at least 3-4' and try putting 2x8 or larger for the front wheels to run on. I've always found the safest way to pull in a case like this is to use your tractors as a dead man and pull with come-alongs, a differential chain hoist, or even a mechanical farm tractor jack. If necessary, deadman one tractor to another. Use chains rather than rope or cable and pull slow and easy. You might have to dig under so as to clear behind the front axle as it may be below the edge of the ditch too. A messy job for sure, but do-able.
Been there, done that! LOL We had to dig the BUS out of the Homer, AK Spit beach this summer.
John
2008 Tiffin Allegro Bus 40' QSP
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Lorem Ipsum
louisville
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yep... tried in neutral and tried with someone in the MH driving in reverse.
I agree it seems to be hung up..... but looking from under the rear of the MH I can see light coming from under the front nose, so just barely hung up. Another problem is the front wheels are stuck turned all the way to the right ( I sure hope noting is messed up, might need an alignment afterwords ).... So if I can straighten out the front wheels it might come out easier. ( dig out in front of the wheels )
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Lorem Ipsum
louisville
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thanks....
this is a time when I really wish I had levelers.....
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Nor'Wester
Northwest
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You said the ground was frozen. If the motorhome was warm when it dropped it might have defrosted parts of the ground where it now touches. That would re-freeze. Could it be that the MH frame is now frozen to the ground? Could it be that the warm engine or transmission is now stuck to the ground? If so, it would explain why it didn't move.
That said, I would take the time to dig out inclines for the front wheels.
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Daveinet
il
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I think I'd dig around the front wheels first. When you talk to guys who do off road, they talk about mud working as a vacuum holding the vehicle in place. Typically the winch needs to have significantly more power than the total weight of the vehicle you are trying to get out of the mud. You have to break the mud "seal" around the wheels.
Dave
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502 w/Howell/Edelbrock MPFI,Thorley's & Magnaflows,
KoniFSD,Class A built for gear heads 
My Revcon
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If spending too much money got us into this mess, why is spending more money going to get us out.
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Lorem Ipsum
louisville
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the bottom of the MH is only touching the ground at the front suspension.... I can clearly see all the way to the bottom of the nose when looking from the rear.... plus I did try pulling it out when the ground was not frozen.... but I do see your point.
You guys are right...... I'll wait until it thaws out today and dig it out.
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antsinmypants
massillon ohio
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If you can't get the front end jacked up and throw some planks under the wheels try hooking a trailer to the MH hitch have weight on the trailer forward so that it presses down on the back of motorhome and lightens the front of MH you can overload the hitch somewhat. then pull on back of trailer with your tractors and have someone in motorhome tying to back it up. just dont pull hard enough that you end up with a 40 ft MH.
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ugh
Washington, IL
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antsinmypants wrote:just dont pull hard enough that you end up with a 40 ft MH.
LOL... Thats a good one.
If you have one of those towing membership, call them. They are train to do that. If you don't have one, then you may want to call a towing company anyway if you are very concern.
If it was me, I will just keep pulling slowly as I can, it will come out, and that is how the tow truck operator would had done, they will not dig. My 2 cents
Uly
1997 Pace Arrow by Fleetwood
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