A recent adventure…..

[Carl Russell]

I traveled to Rupert, VT this last weekend to teach a class about Draft Animal Powered Forestry to Green Mountain College students at Merck Forest and Farmland Center. The class, the students, the setting, and Merck staff were all excellent, making this a very effective experience sharing the culture with interested, interesting, and important people.

However, under it all I come home with agitation of anxiety and guilt as a result of finding myself climbing a woods road after dark arriving at my host’s home, with truck, trailer and horses, only to hit ice and rocket backwards down the hill 100+ feet before slamming into a tree.

Horses were momentarily shaken up, but with only minor bumps they calmed down quickly. But the hitch column on the gooseneck was broken off, the trailer was backed against the tree, and the truck was on glare ice. I had to get chains on to move the trailer, but could not travel because there was no room between truck and trailer.

I moved enough to get horses out and walked them 1/2 mile to the host’s barn. Then I was able to jack up the trailer to get the truck free….. amazingly only one small dent in the truck…. on top of a previous one. We then spent the next 2 hours lowering the trailer down the hill with a Kubota tractor, using the winch to play it down, as the ice was too much for the tire chains….. including having to re-thread the cable after inadvertently going beyond the allowance.

We successfully engaged a friend with another trailer so the class could go on, and also employed a local traveling welder who worked for 8 hours to rebuild the hitch, with the constant support and assistance of my host.

I rarely find myself in situations where I need much help. And I cannot remember feeling so helpless and vulnerable as in the midst of the slide…… my entire livelihood, and my own safety were completely out of my control…..

So, I am counting my blessing and trying to replace the foolish feelings of guilt, helplessness, and anxiety, with gratitude for all of the genuine, committed, and exceptional assistance I received from unfamiliar folks in a distant community.

While I am glad to be alive, with healthy horses, and minimal material damage, I am buoyed more by the feeling of humanity that was shared with me in this inconceivable experience.

Carl

[Scott G]

Glad you and the horses are OK. I’ve been in the same situation before. Never broke the gooseneck, but sheared off the headache rack behind the cab. That headache rack was the only thing that kept the deck-over from shearing off my cab. My personal best was sliding backwards with the stock trailer ~ 100yds down a 20% grade. No damage during that one other than very shaken nerves and I almost had to clean/reupholster the truck seat after that.

I’ve learned since that throwing chains on all four, +/- chains on the brake axle on the trailer as well is a good thing. 10 minutes of chaining up time saves a whole lot of adrenalin.

Once again, glad you and your outfit made out OK except for gluing some steel & a bit of lost time.

Take care of yourself, Brother. 🙂

[Kevin Cunningham]

I am glad you are safe and the horses are as well. These type of experiences make us all remember our own humanity. I remember having a trailer tire blow out on a two lane mountain highway with 10,000 pounds of feed on the bed. I was safe, but stranded two hundred miles from home. I spent the next day and a half at another farmers house and shop fixing replacing the tire and fixing the broken rim. I barely knew him but he took me in, fed me, and spent hours of valuable time, just as I would to another person in need. Gratitude is all we can offer in these moments. Take care out there.

[Ed Thayer]

Carl,

Glad to hear everything turned out OK. I cringed as I read you post and thought at first it was going to end badly.

We are all very lucky to live in an environment/region where we can look out for one another. Imagine if that accident occurred on the 95 corridor somewhere in the city. You would have been on your own.

Glad to hear you are back up and running again.

Ed

[LongViewFarm]

@Carl Russell 40146 wrote:

I cannot remember feeling so helpless and vulnerable as in the midst of the slide…… my entire livelihood, and my own safety were completely out of my control…..

Carl

I know how you feel. I just did this but going forward. There is no control in that kind of slide. I’m glad you and yours are safe and sound and in good repair.

I’ll be quick to chain up in the future- even when I’m in a hurry.

[Carl Russell]

Thanks…..

One of the most unnerving aspects is that I was ahead of schedule, relaxed, and everything seemed to be going perfectly. I am definitely a chain first kind of guy….. not my first rodeo…. but in this case, for some reason, I was just plugging along up this road with absolutely no consideration to traction….:confused: That’s why when it all started to slide backward, I felt like a complete a-hole…

Anyway, when I came home last night I stopped and chained up:cool: before climbing this hill.

On the ride home last night I was a bundle of nerves, especially as there was a steady dusting of banana peel snow, and I had to cross two mountain ridges, with no way around.

Carl

[JayChase]

Carl,
Glad you made out ok…times like those are certainly time for reflection and help us all to realize what is important.
Jay

[Michel Boulay]

Carl,
Glad your alright man, horses too. Never a good experience when things like that happen. Seems like when everything is going smooth with no worries there is always the unexpected that comes creeping on us. We always have to be ready for some sort of rodeo.
Take care.

Mike

[Author]

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