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Writer needs some technical advice - Forrester owners


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Hey guys - i've joined this forum in the hope that you chaps (or ladies) will be able to help with some technical questions I have relating to a book i'm writing at the moment. To get to the point, i need some help on the technical feasibility of the following scenario and how it would be solved:

 

1. Is it feasible that a person driving alone on a snow covered poorly surfaced road (farm track kind of road) - in a Subaru Forester, which has been fitted with a winch at front, that he/she would be able to use the Sub to pull another vehicle out of a ditch, using the winch?

 

2. If so, how would this happen? (just in brief bulleted points - that would be most helpful).

 

You don't have to get too technical or detailed, if you are going to help me with an answer, I just want to be able to get a grasp of what happens in my head. I am based in South Africa and it's rather hard to physically get a demo on this kind of situation here at the moment! (Even though it's cold)

Any help you can give would be really appreciated.

You can also email me, just ask for my email address

Thank you for your time in reading through this.

Janice

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If the forester has chains on it's tires or sharp metal chock blocks in front of the front tires it can hold fast on the road while the winch pulls the other car out of the ditch. You need some sort of chock or traction aid to keep the winching car from sliding toward the stuck one.

 

Like this:

127084_lg.jpg

 

I pulled a full size pickup truck loaded with dog kennels up an embankment and back onto the trail in deep snow with the winch on my station wagon. It was a 9,000lb pull electric winch and it was struggling. The way I did it was by putting the car in FWD and spinning the front tires so it would bury the front end in the snow. I'd then winch from that point until I was out of cable, then put it in 4wd and pop back out of the holes to move to the next winching point. He kept sinking his truck even when it was back on the trail because he would give it too much gas, so I'd have to do more winching. He was grateful for my help, even if it was embarrassing to have a little station wagon literally running circles around his truck in the snow.

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might be able to block one front wheel with the donut spare and the other front wheel with the scissor jack.

 

Might be able to purposely reverse partially down the ditch on the opposite side of the road, then stretch the cable across to attach to the stuck vehicle - basically using gravity and an odd but favorable angle to reduce the chance the Forry would slide.

 

guess the scenario might also incude the Forry being equipped with all terrain tires since it appears to be using a rural dirt/gravel road. Perhaps the Forry is on this or similar roads all the time and is prepared to use this winch in these conditions?

 

Not unreasonable to not even need the winch - just a tow strap.

 

still, fun idea!

Edited by 1 Lucky Texan
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Hi guys

WoodsWagon - thanks so much for the detailed overview and advice, this has helped me so much!

CNY Dave - great idea, I will look at that as well

1 Lucky Texan - also great advice here and easy for me to see further down the line in my story.

You guys are awesome! If i manage to get this published, I will definitely give you all credits in the acknowledgements.

Best regards for now from a cold, wet Johannesburg

Janice

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Hi guys

WoodsWagon - thanks so much for the detailed overview and advice, this has helped me so much!

CNY Dave - great idea, I will look at that as well

1 Lucky Texan - also great advice here and easy for me to see further down the line in my story.

You guys are awesome! If i manage to get this published, I will definitely give you all credits in the acknowledgements.

Best regards for now from a cold, wet Johannesburg

Janice

 

even if 'typical' publishing is a bust, easy enough to upload to Amazon or other e-reader sites. Then just get the word out and hope for buzz and downloads. Heck, if it features a Subaru, there are 3-4 Forums of people that might download it!

 

may I suggest a small donation to the website?

 

hope it's a very successful book - let us know when it's available.

Edited by 1 Lucky Texan
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even if 'typical' publishing is a bust, easy enough to upload to Amazon or other e-reader sites. Then just get the word out and hope for buzz and downloads. Heck, if it features a Subaru, there are 3-4 Forums of people that might download it!

 

may I suggest a small donation to the website?

 

hope it's a very successful book - let us know when it's available.

 

thanks for the tip, very worthwhile idea and worth a donation to be sure ;)

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here in the US subarus pull full size SUVs back on the road all the time.

the size of the ditch may be a limiting factor making the story ''unbelievable''.

but pulling a ''stuck'' car back on the road is a no brainer.

 

when / where can we read this story??

 

I'm so pleased i contacted this forum! Thanks for this info as well - as soon as i get finished with the book, you guys will be the first to know about it.

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