Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

[CaptOchs]

I was cruising the Erie and came across a guy diving in the Erie canal. I saw a tow truck at the ramp and looked at my wife and said "Oh-no.. He didn't...." Apparently he went to retrieve his pontoon boat and the truck's parking brake failed. The poor guy just finished entertaining guests on his pontoon boat and then it ended terribly. Luckily nobody was hurt. Other boats were forced to wait 3 hours before they could retrieve their boats.

For pics and story, go to:
http://www.mcfw.com/?p=1755

 

[mooregm5]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

What a way to ruin a beautiful truck...at least the boat was unharmed and no one was hurt. Is that ramp overly steep?

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

Looks like a lot of people standing around wasting money just glad they had something to do.

Kind of like that tv show wreaked lets use the big truck so we can over bill as much as possible.

That class B wrecker could have done it, but we can bill more if we call for a bigger truck. All they needed was a roll-back in the first place.

 

[idrownworms]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

"Hey can you guys wait so I can wash my truck?"

 

[CaptOchs]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

What a way to ruin a beautiful truck...at least the boat was unharmed and no one was hurt. Is that ramp overly steep?

No. The one further upstream I used was WAY worse. Last year a car went into that one. The guy had an older car and the brake line failed. The petal sunk to the floor and he didn't stand a chance. He had to bail. LOL.

 

[CaptOchs]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

Looks like a lot of people standing around wasting money just glad they had something to do.

Kind of like that tv show wreaked lets use the big truck so we can over bill as much as possible.

That class B wrecker could have done it, but we can bill more if we call for a bigger truck. All they needed was a roll-back in the first place.

He tried hiring a wrecker and hooking it up himself, but it quickly became clear it was futile. The police & FD then got involved and probably billed him big time. Most of those people waiting around were frusterated boaters trying to retrieve their boat!

 

[Al Kungel]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

I feel bad for the guy. I can see this happen. If he had a bunch of people with him, I bet someone helped him with something and it took him out of his routine and he likely forgot to put the truck in park and block the wheels.

I know when I put my boat in or out of the water I have a certain routine and checklist that I follow and as much as I appreciate people helping there are somethings I prefer to do myself.

 

[sportsmanphil]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

Looks like a lot of people standing around wasting money just glad they had something to do.

Kind of like that tv show wreaked lets use the big truck so we can over bill as much as possible.

That class B wrecker could have done it, but we can bill more if we call for a bigger truck. All they needed was a roll-back in the first place.

Let me shed some light on this.

I owned 4 tow trucks in Myrtle Beach. Ive pulled my fair share of vehicles out of rivers and the waterway over the years.

This may be different in the Erie Canal but speaking for where I was living, vehicles would fill with silt quickly. It can bury a vehicle quickly which makes for an almost impossible vehicle to come up. Remember how hard it is to get your boot out of 1 foot deep mud? Imagine a F350 2 - 3 feet deep in silt.

Also water current can make for a bad situation. I once pulled an older F150 out of the river and once I got it unstuck from the bottom the current carried the truck down stream, which almost drug my rig in the water.

Last, when the vehicle is coming out of the water, its full of water. A car full of water can weigh 5-6 times the original vehicle weight. As the vehicle comes out of the water, you have to slow down and let it drain.


**********************

As for the truck rolling in the drink...........how hard is it to turn your wheels or chalk a tire? The ramp I go to have 18" tall concrete curbs that run down the ramp. I turn my wheel when I get out. If my parking paw and Parking brake fail, my truck will roll the tire into the curb. If your ramp has no curbs, walmart sales cheap tire chalks. .

 

[CaptOchs]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

Let me shed some light on this.

I owned 4 tow trucks in Myrtle Beach. Ive pulled my fair share of vehicles out of rivers and the waterway over the years.

This may be different in the Erie Canal but speaking for where I was living, vehicles would fill with silt quickly. It can bury a vehicle quickly which makes for an almost impossible vehicle to come up. Remember how hard it is to get your boot out of 1 foot deep mud? Imagine a F350 2 - 3 feet deep in silt.

Also water current can make for a bad situation. I once pulled an older F150 out of the river and once I got it unstuck from the bottom the current carried the truck down stream, which almost drug my rig in the water.

Last, when the vehicle is coming out of the water, its full of water. A car full of water can weigh 5-6 times the original vehicle weight. As the vehicle comes out of the water, you have to slow down and let it drain.


**********************

As for the truck rolling in the drink...........how hard is it to turn your wheels or chalk a tire? The ramp I go to have 18" tall concrete curbs that run down the ramp. I turn my wheel when I get out. If my parking paw and Parking brake fail, my truck will roll the tire into the curb. If your ramp has no curbs, walmart sales cheap tire chalks. .

That's some good advice. The canal does have a decent current; especially near the locks. This was probably 5 miles downstream from one though. It's man-made so I don't think silt would have been too bad. Besides the undercarriage didn't look muddy in the picture. I wonder if the truck was able to start up again or if it had massive engine damage.

 

[sportsmanphil]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

That's some good advice. The canal does have a decent current; especially near the locks. This was probably 5 miles downstream from one though. It's man-made so I don't think silt would have been too bad. Besides the undercarriage didn't look muddy in the picture. I wonder if the truck was able to start up again or if it had massive engine damage.

Engines are easy to get back to running after they have been dunked. The problem with flooded cars are the endless relays, gauges, contacts, switches, harnesses, airbags, etc etc that end up rusting or causing poor contacts.

Take an old dunked 1970's vehicle, a good tech would have it back to 100% in a day. Any newer vehicle, its almost impossible.

 

[SeanMcl]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

As for the truck rolling in the drink...........how hard is it to turn your wheels or chalk a tire? [snip] If your ramp has no curbs, walmart sales cheap tire chalks. .

Chalked Tire:

Chocked Tire:

Yes, I am a jerk in real life too, not just on the forum.

 

[AZSenza]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

That must have sucked....
We have some ramps around here in Arizona that make you feel like your on a shuttle mission when you go up them.

 

[sportsmanphil]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

Chalked Tire:

Chocked Tire:

Yes, I am a jerk in real life too, not just on the forum.

turd

 

[woosterken]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

hey y'all that second picture is not chocked that is a redneck parkin break !

woosterken

 

[CaptOchs]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

hey y'all that second picture is not chocked that is a redneck parkin break !

woosterken

It's so much cheaper than the chocks at Wal-Mart too!

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

hey y'all that second picture is not chocked that is a redneck parkin break !

woosterken

Actually, it is a RED BRICK parking break. <GRIN>

TerryMSU

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

**deleted**

 

[sportsmanphil]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

submerged vehicles are heavy, but 5-6 times? thats a LITTLE excessive... Your average 1/2 ton truck, 5000 pounds, coming out at 25000 to 30000 pounds would pretty much destroy the entire truck instantly. (thats 2500+ gallons of water!)

Yes..

A cubic foot of water is 62.4 pounds

Take any vehicle..I will use a Ford Expidition. According to Ford's website, the Expidition has 108 cubic feet of CARGO SPACE (which doesnt include the cubic feet of the foam seats, headliner, door pannels, door cavities, consoles ETC ETC)

So just the cargo area (area behind the front two seats) can hold 108 cubic feet of water @ 62.4 lbs = 6739lbs.

The Expidition curb weight is 5200 lbs.

So just the cargo area in water weighs 1540lbs more than the entire vehicle. Again, this doesnt include the cubic feet of the remander of the vehicle that I mentioned earlier.

Also the weight of the water I gave earlier is for clear water. Silt and sand increase the weight of each cubic foot of area.

In addition, this over weight vehicle is still subject to gravity which keeps what ever is in contact with the sandy/silt river bottom (tires, undercarriage, roof; what ever is on bottom) drags/plows through the silt/sand.

So a submerged 5K lb Ford Expidition can tax a 50,000 lb winch. It wasnt uncommon for me to have to shovel out silt once the vehicle was recovered just to stay with in the weight class of my rig. A lot of the silt issue has to do with access to the interior and how long the vehicle stays on the bottom until recovered.

 

[NSBCraig]

Re: Ford F-350 vs. Erie Canal (Fairport NY)

I've pulled a handful of truck and boat combos out of boat ramp when I drove a flatbed tow-truck and you just take your time pull it to the ramp then up a little and let it drain.

I still say nothing more than over billing.