How to pull a car out of the snow

[CobraEd]

Good choice of where to connect the tow strap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnFwu0xsy0s


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[Dan40]

Was that C-Span watching Congress at work?


Took a cruise to Alaska long ago. In Juneau an excursion was late returning and the tide had changed. The old ship had a gangway stairs from the promenade deck down to the dock. It got bound up on the fairweather. The ships crew and the dock crew had been drinking in the Red Dog Saloon all day. They had this Buick on the dock and decided to tie the bottom of the gangway to the car and attach a block and tackle to the ship end. They would lift if off the ship, the car would pull it away from the ship and they would cut the rope on the B&T and let the gangway fall on the dock. They lift and the Buick goes with the thing tied to the bumper. This gangway is like 30 feet of steel and hardwood, got to weigh 2 tons. Immediately the bumper detaches from the car. Go to plan B? No, they tie the gangway to the Buick rear end. Lift with block and tackle, Buick pulls, gangway is suspended between the car and the ship. Cut the rope on the ship, gangway falls to the dock. BOUNCES, tips over the edge of the dock and heads for the water. RIPS the entire rear end, tires, axle, pumpkin ,springs, shocks and all right out of the Buick and the whole magilla goes in the drink!. Buick falls on its fenders! Ship crew laughs, waves and sails away. Dock crew stands frozen looking like goldfish in a bowl.

[Ron61]

Originally Posted by Dan40

Was that C-Span watching Congress at work?


Took a cruise to Alaska long ago. In Juneau an excursion was late returning and the tide had changed. The old ship had a gangway stairs from the promenade deck down to the dock. It got bound up on the fairweather. The ships crew and the dock crew had been drinking in the Red Dog Saloon all day. They had this Buick on the dock and decided to tie the bottom of the gangway to the car and attach a block and tackle to the ship end. They would lift if off the ship, the car would pull it away from the ship and they would cut the rope on the B&T and let the gangway fall on the dock. They lift and the Buick goes with the thing tied to the bumper. This gangway is like 30 feet of steel and hardwood, got to weigh 2 tons. Immediately the bumper detaches from the car. Go to plan B? No, they tie the gangway to the Buick rear end. Lift with block and tackle, Buick pulls, gangway is suspended between the car and the ship. Cut the rope on the ship, gangway falls to the dock. BOUNCES, tips over the edge of the dock and heads for the water. RIPS the entire rear end, tires, axle, pumpkin ,springs, shocks and all right out of the Buick and the whole magilla goes in the drink!. Buick falls on its fenders! Ship crew laughs, waves and sails away. Dock crew stands frozen looking like goldfish in a bowl.

Dan,

That is brilliance at work. I would have liked to have been there to see their faces.

Ron

[Dan40]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Dan,

That is brilliance at work. I would have liked to have been there to see their faces.

Ron

We were a group of longtime friends and we had all hoisted more than a few as well. We were laughing so hard we could barely stand. Today's safety paranoia would preclude any passengers in that area, but back then, we were standing right there watching the whole thing.

[Ron61]

Originally Posted by Dan40

We were a group of longtime friends and we had all hoisted more than a few as well. We were laughing so hard we could barely stand. Today's safety paranoia would preclude any passengers in that area, but back then, we were standing right there watching the whole thing.

Ah yes, the good old days before we had the Govt protecting us from everything. It is a miracle that I survived my younger years but I wouldn't trade them to be young in todays overly protective world.

Ron

[Dan40]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Ah yes, the good old days before we had the Govt protecting us from everything. It is a miracle that I survived my younger years but I wouldn't trade them to be young in todays overly protective world.

Ron

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty & well preserved body, BUT rather to SKID In BROADSIDE, completely used up, totally worn out, and SCREAMING "WOW---WHAT A RIDE!!"

"Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me! I want people to know why I look this way. I've traveled a long way, and some of the roads weren't paved".

[SPF2245]

Here is one that is classic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFnYR...eature=related

[Fordzilla]

Great Posts! LMAO!

[Anthony]

here's one with a crane and a bus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPoUpUYOYw

[Tommy]

Caution: Serious thoughts follow. If you're looking for entertainment, skip to the next post.

While it is amusing to watch other people damage things through their lack of understanding of science, it's a little sad that so very many people today can only discover if something will work by trying it until it either works or fails. I've tried to interest school age kids in science by explaining that an understanding of things like chemistry and Newtonian physics provides something most people would give anything to have - the ability to accurately predict the future. For example, anyone with even a modest understanding of the physics of motion and traction would never stand on the outside of a sharp corner at a World Rally Championship race. Yet again and again I see videos of people getting run over by cars that couldn't make a turn. If we could get more people to understand simple things like the difference in strenght between a steel car frame and a plastic car bumper, there would be a lot fewer funny videos, and a lot fewer people making trips to the emergency room. Sadly, I think my efforts to encourage kids to study science have been overcome by the poor quality of science being taught by the science deficient teachers in most of our public schools. We can't expect teachers who don't actually understand science to do a good job of motivating students to want to learn it.

[CobraEd]

tommy, You raise a good point, but it may be the difference between intrinsic intelligence within a person vs education (information). Education cannot compensate for a lack of intelligence.

Animals can never be taught "cause and effect" because of their limited intelligence.



As a side note, have you ever seen the movie "Idiocracy"? That may be what is happening to us.


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[Tommy]

CobraEd,

Thanks for giving me an excuse to continue the discussion by disagreeing with your point about intrinsic intelligence. IMO, children arrive with no understanding of how the universe around them works. That's why they take such interest in things like watching a toy fall to the ground. Parents soon find it annoying to have to pick the toy up over and over again. But very young children have to see it happen many times to accept that the toy won't occasionally fall up instead of down. The same sort of thing happens as we learn to walk and then throw a ball. We learn how the universe works by trial and error regardless of our intelligence.

Trial and error is fine for learning the basics, but if you've never seen a complex task like jumping from a boat to a dock, how are you to know the safe way to do it. If you have an understanding of some of the fundamental laws of science, you may be able to deduce a safe way to proceed even without having had specifc experience. A person who understands Newtonian physics will be able to envision the boat moving backwards when the person tries to jump forward, concluding that it is not a good way to proceed. The person without that knowledge can only guess and suffer the consequences.

To conclude, I'm saying that some people make better guesses than others because they happened to have had more helpful trial and error experiences in their past, not because they are intrinsically more intelligent. The people who make better decisions because they have a better understanding of how the laws of physics work are not necessarily more intelligent. They're just better educated in science.

[Dan40]

Originally Posted by Tommy

CobraEd,

Thanks for giving me an excuse to continue the discussion by disagreeing with your point about intrinsic intelligence. IMO, children arrive with no understanding of how the universe around them works. That's why they take such interest in things like watching a toy fall to the ground. Parents soon find it annoying to have to pick the toy up over and over again. But very young children have to see it happen many times to accept that the toy won't occasionally fall up instead of down. The same sort of thing happens as we learn to walk and then throw a ball. We learn how the universe works by trial and error regardless of our intelligence.

Trial and error is fine for learning the basics, but if you've never seen a complex task like jumping from a boat to a dock, how are you to know the safe way to do it. If you have an understanding of some of the fundamental laws of science, you may be able to deduce a safe way to proceed even without having had specifc experience. A person who understands Newtonian physics will be able to envision the boat moving backwards when the person tries to jump forward, concluding that it is not a good way to proceed. The person without that knowledge can only guess and suffer the consequences.

To conclude, I'm saying that some people make better guesses than others because they happened to have had more helpful trial and error experiences in their past, not because they are intrinsically more intelligent. The people who make better decisions because they have a better understanding of how the laws of physics work are not necessarily more intelligent. They're just better educated in science.

Sorry, but intelligence is not an equal opportunity gift. Some ARE born with more than others. Intelligence, strength, balance, reactions, eyesight, etc. Some catch on quick, some will be dumb asses all their lives. The world and life is not fair or equal.

[Ralphy]

Mother of all crane crashes, Big Blue 1,500 ton lift capacity. Halfway down it takes out another crane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqDN_g8anRw

[trularin]

Got to love watching kids learning new and revealing lessons like this.