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Author	Message Text
missmolly	02/10/2019 11:33AM   Yikes! I've done one of those long walks for help, worrying about what you left behind all the way. Here's hoping the cavalry comes and saves the day.
ExFS	02/10/2019 04:40PM   Is there good ice under that water? Hopefully it’s just a slushy spot.
nooneuno	02/10/2019 07:37PM   Picture of how thing sat in the morning about 150 yards off shore, at 18 degrees below zero in lovely Northern Wisconsin: 1 1/2" of weak ice over 4 ' of water, no current, no muskrats, must have been a spring. Thankfully, not my machine and I was not the operator at the time. We learned a few interesting things about tracked machines the main one being they cant be pulled out or towed out, they have to be lifted out. The rear track is basically a triangle, once the rear breaks through and you try to pull it the ice wedges between the front of that triangle and the frame, with tires a combination of someone pulling forward and spinning the rear tires will allow the unit to pop up out of the ice, not true for tracks. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the process because it was too damn cold and my give a shit was focused elsewhere. Step one involved pulling the unit 2 feet backwords in the direction of the bad ice while not letting it go to far, this resulted in the back sinking down to the point the bed was in the water. We had to do this to free up the wedging of the triangle that resulted from our first failed attempt at pulling it out. The next step involved building an A framed gantry from 2 ply 12' long 2x12's, this was done on shore where we had power to drill holes for the bolts. Once bolted together we dragged it out with another ATV and sunk it against the back of the quad with the tracks, Water depth was about 4' and very weedy (tracks were pulling weeds like an outboard) over what was a luckily a fairly firm sand bottom. Waders were not bad until you left the water where you instantly froze to a human popsickle. A two ton come along chained to the top of the A frame allowed us to lift the back up until it was only about 6" in the water where we could sink planks from the bottom of the lake to the good ice under the front of the quad making a ramp for the rear tracks to sit on. The come along then lowered the tracks to the ramps and with another ATV with tire chains and a very stretchy retrieval rope we were able to finally pull it out. In this picture ( top right from the main hole) you can see where I fell through just walking Hole marked to hopefully help out the next guy Fish caught= 0 Injuries= 0 Lessons learned = Many Beers consumed after = lost count.......
missmolly	02/10/2019 08:50PM   Tough + Resourceful = Victory!
The Great Outdoors	02/11/2019 07:24AM   Throughout the years, I've always been leery any bog type lake and bays with shallow water and weeds. Many times, rotting vegetation (for lack of a better term) generates enough gas or heat to make ice conditions dangerous. I had the passenger side of my tracked Ranger drop through several years ago in an area with these conditions. After tipping it back up, it wouldn't start so we had to go back early the next morning to tow it. Made it all the way down Dead River, but had it break through again about 200 feet from where the river entered Burntside Lake. That's where it sat in about 3 feet of water until the ice melted and we had a barge bring it back to the Van Vac Landing. Ice was too iffy to try to lift it out, had a fellow fall through about 10 feet from it when trying to get to the vehicle.
lundojam	02/09/2019 07:30AM   That sucks. Where are you? Looks like some Rainy River current? If you are near Duluth and need a hand, let me know.
Pinetree	02/09/2019 02:54PM   WOW-location?
nooneuno	02/09/2019 12:19AM   And not a good breakthrough at all: Ever heard the old adage that no ice is ever safe? Today we found ice less than 1 1/2" thick for no apparent reason, since this pic was taken both rear tracks have dropped through down to the frame. We tied it off to prevent it going down any further, followed by a long cold walk, and a 1 1/2 hour drive home. Plan is to go back tomorrow with equipment to try and get it out. (to be continued)
Bdubr	02/09/2019 09:56AM   Wow....glad you are all okay besides the long cold walk! Keep us posted and BE SAFE!