THE MAGIC ROPE
How to free a car from the mud or a ditch using a rope, tree and secure knot-tying abilities, including diagrams, directions.
(and other ways to come unstruck)
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Here in New Hampshire, the word "road" is used pretty
loosely . . . to mean any track a vehicle just might be
able to make it over in most seasons. During my first
winter on the homestead, I quickly learned that getting
there is a lot less than half the fun when you're
scratching your head in 20°-below weather, wondering
whether a crane would work better than a team of oxen to
put that old heap back on the road (and you next to a
fire). Since I have a strong aversion to shelling out the
week's grocery money to a guy with a tow truck a couple of
times a year, I've picked up a few tricks for liberating
stuck vehicles . . . and I'd like to share them with you.
The elemental problems drivers usually encounter are snow,
ice, mud, and the roadside ditches that machines are prone
to leap into if not properly supervised. Since those of you
in the city will probably meet only the first two
conditions, I'll begin with them.
Often, coming unstuck from snow is only a matter of getting
enough traction. Snow tires or studs will usually take care
of this . . . and, if you have a front-engine auto, keeping
a little extra weight in the trunk will help.
Still, those measures don't always do the job. On sheet
ice, for example, snow tires get even less traction than
standard tires because—at any given moment—they
have less surface area in contact with the road. Which is
why that extra weight in the trunk should be sand . . . and
please note that you can't just scoop up a couple of
boxfuls somewhere and leave it at that. Unless your
non-skid material is properly prepared before it's packed
away with the jack and tire iron, you may find yourself
trying to throw a 100-pound frozen brick under your wheels
(which won't do any good at all).
I know only two ways to keep stored sand from freezing: [1]
Mix salt with it, or [2] dry it thoroughly and stash it in
an airtight container. Although the first method is easier,
I've preferred the second ever since I read that one-sixth
of the salt mined annually in the United States is spread
on roads . . . where it eats cars and makes the soil and
water much more saline than they should be.
Tire chains—another traction-boosting
device—will easily pay for themselves whether you
live in the city or country. For emergency or light duty,
short clip-on lengths of chain (available for a couple of
bucks) will do. For frequent use or for rural roads,
though, you should get a good set of wraparounds . , .
which will cost from $15.00 to $40.00, depending on size
and quality.
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