RV FEATURE
PLAN B
I cleared a path in front of and behind the
Trakmaster’s tandem wheelset. Then I cleared
a path behind the Cruiser’s most bogged
wheels and repositioned a MaxTrax either
side of them. I then scanned the surrounding
paddock for rocks, but as it was so flat, the
possibility of volcanic activity that might have
unearthed them had probably not occurred for
a few million years, so I decided not to wait
for another eruption and made do with what I
could find!
My wife, meanwhile, was making encouraging
comments, such as, "We should never
have gone here!” I secretly agreed with her
but refused to admit it, so I went to Plan
B: unhitch, drive the tow car out and then
recover the van.
Despite only having a long snatch strap,
I‘m sure it would have worked, but for one
problem. The Cruiser would surely have
extricated itself without the weight of the
caravan and the road ahead would have
provided enough traction to haul the van out,
but where to haul the van from?
Straight ahead was the only option, but if I
looped the snatch strap around its A-frame,
I was sure it would ‘porpoise’, or ‘pig root’ in
the mud like a plough in the process. So that
wasn’t going to work and I would be pulling
its coupling down into the morass. So that
wasn’t going to work either.
Two years later I now have a solution to
this problem: I’ve replaced the Trakmaster’s
single-tyred jockey wheel with a dual-
wheeled and much sturdier after-market ARK
750 that simply clamped to the A-frame with
no further modification.
The ARK’s advantage, apart from its instant
height adjustability and swing-up design, was
that it could be used as a front towing hook to
pull the caravan forward through mud or sand.
Had it been fitted in that muddy field, I would
have unhitched, driven the Toyota to solid
ground, wound the ARK shaft high, attached
my snatch strap, hauled the van to solid
ground, re-hitched and driven away.
"I REALISED THAT I HAD
LOST ANY MEAGRE MORAL
AUTHORITY I HAD SUMMONED."
Michael has since upgraded
to the ARK 750 jockey wheel.
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