How to Get a Truck Out of the Mud
There are many reasons why a vehicle gets stuck in the mud. You may have been innocently riding down an unpaved country road. You might have been trying to pull a trailer behind you to a field. You may have even decided it would be a cool idea to go 'mudding' and see how dirty you can make your truck. No matter how it happens you're stuck now and need to know what to do.
FIRST:
Don't panic. Keep yourself calm and stress free. If you allow yourself to get emotional then you'll spend hours worth of time attempting to free your vehicle and end up wanting to just let the poor truck sink. Your initial desire will be to spin your tires to free yourself. This can work in some situations, but a truly stuck truck will only go deeper with this method.
SECOND:
While maintaining your calm check your vehicle and the situation. How deep does the mud seem? Is the mud relatively hard or is it soft and pliant in a manner similar to pudding? How heavy is your truck? How many people are with you? Do you have any materials in your vehicle that can add traction, or can you locate anything nearby. Do you have a cellphone or phone access in general? All of these answers will determine your next step.
THIRD:
This step is all about what to do now. If you have a truly heavy weight vehicle, such as an eighteen wheeler, a field-hand farm vehicle that used to be a bus, or a super up-armored heavy military supply truck, then you need to revisit the earlier question about telephone capacity. Your best bet in this situation is to try and call for a tow truck, a friend with a tractor, etc.
The reasoning behind this is that with a super-weight multi-ton vehicle you will find it difficult to winch yourself out. Unless you have one massive, ancient, oak tree, or a small grove of slightly younger trees to attach a cable to you will only end up damaging your truck when the line snaps, or the tree comes loose and crashes down on top of it.
Calling someone to pull you out in general is a great method of getting out of the mud. If you have a vehicle that is stuck and it is extremely heavy, you may end up having to walk to a store or a nearby house to get aid.
FOURTH:
If you have no one you can call, or no way to call, then your next step require a bit of work. Try to find anything you can to give the truck extra traction, without damaging the tires. Old clothes, pieces of wood, sticks, sand, gravel. Any of these things may help.
An intelligent person will keep something in their vehicle to act in this manner. It may seem counter-intuitive but a small spade or shovel can handle this task as well if the mud is shallow. Dig away the thickest and most liquid areas of mud on one side until the truck can be pushed out or can get enough traction to spin free on its own.
vIf you are not alone in the vehicle then one of you can hit the gas while the other attempts to push the vehicle. Depending on how the truck is stuck and the lay of the land, be certain to place anything used as an aid to traction on the opposite side of the tires from where your partner is standing.You do not need to add a hospital visit to the mix when rocks, or sharp sticks come flying back to hit exposed feet and shins like shrapnel.
FIFTH:
If you can not find traction and can not call anyone but there are solid objects nearby that you believe will hold up under the strain, then you can try to winch yourself free if that option is available. It is suggested that you use this as the final option, short of walking away.
You can find yourself in far worse shape when that rock solid seeming tree comes flying down to crush your car. An even more likely scenario involves the cable snapping and shattering your windshield or whipping yourself or a passenger with possibly lethal force.
SIXTH:
If all else fails.. leave the truck there until you can get help or until the ground dries up. In this instance, pray that it does not rain for a few days to a week, depending upon the season.
