Getting STUCK in the SNOW! In a 44t HGV!

[@KevinClarke-n1h]

That was a brilliant video it doesn’t only show how hard it is to keep the wheels turning in weather like this but also shows the vital role of farmers who do a fantastic job of keeping roads open well done to all of you

[@TomFewtrell]

Thanks 👍

[@Tomorr3991]

Midlifts nice on the Road and better balanced for corners but very numb and unpractical on soft ground and tight spots that's why nearly all timber lorrys are on a double drive or double drive tag you dis the best you could with what you have.

[@NwaHp3]

Just as good as Ice Road Truckers..thanks for sharing...Reece well done with the tractor... impressive job!!

[@TomFewtrell]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@nick4995]

got to love a farmer and a tractor..good lad reece

[@BobSmith-ui4qu]

Clay cat litter is very helpful much better than salt or sand. HGV owner/driver here, in Canada. While I carry snow chains luckily have never chained up as we say. Oh, salt just melts you down to road bed and makes a hole that you have to climb out of.. The same hole that you can make when you sit still and spin tires.

[@TomFewtrell]

I've never thought of the Cat Litter. I'll have to try that too!

[@andrewspower333]

Thanks Tom for the reply, I was thinking it might be necessary to have chains in future with the weather getting more unpredictable.

[@GSF5599]

Fantastic video of what its like in the 'Real-World' driving under these conditions. Pity the system prevents you from engaging Diff-Lock unless you're under 5mph! Great work by the customer coming out so quickly and helping you out of the issue. Well done in treacherous conditions getting the feed to the farm 😁

[@dermotmcglinchey282]

There's a good reason not to engage the diff lock over 5mph it 's unlikely it would take anyway and it would cause damage , driving with the diff lock on can put you into the ditch...

[@v10kid]

As a milk tanker driver who gets into similar situations, I have found raising the suspension on the unit also forces more weight onto the drive axle

[@dermotmcglinchey282]

How do you reckon that then ?, I spent 50 years as an international driver and was in some serious snow not these sprinklings...It you raise the suspension you are putting the weight onto the trailer not the tractor unit , just think about what you said, if you lower the suspension on the unit you increase the weight on the unit its basic common sense...That's providing you're loaded because light or empty wont make a blind bit of difference..

[@TomFewtrell]

The only way I'd be able to get more weight on my axle would be to lift the mid lift. OR I could of lifted the body of the container and put the majority of the weight on the Hydraulic Eam which would put pressure on the drive axle and take some of the weight off the chassis of the trailer. But with this being ice, It would of made a little bit of difference but at the same time being dangerous as it would break the Ram and make it unstable

[@dermotmcglinchey282]

@@TomFewtrell Well surely lifting the mid axle would be the sensible solution, as for containers and rams you’ve lost me there …Mid lift are a menace in poor weather most milk tankers in Ireland have a lift axle behind the drive axle and with Volvo this can be a rear steer and also lifting when required meaning with the weight transferred to the drive axle it’s like having a double drive…I never liked or drove mid lifts either a rear lifting or 4x2 , on ice the heavier your drive axle is the more traction you have ,I always disconnected traction control with a 6x2 lift in bad weather…

[@TomFewtrell]

@@dermotmcglinchey282 I had the midlift up, Diff Lock in, and trsction control off (so it doesn't bog down). It's hard to explain about the tipper ram without showing in a video sorry

[@dermotmcglinchey282]

@ Raising your suspension on the unit doesn’t help , lowering it would be the solution but with a mid lift it might not work , as Zi said I has zero interest in them as I seen many guys in trouble with these..I was in the Swiss alps with a rear lift unit we had been diverted of the motorway due to a serious accident I didn’t have chains but couldn’t lift the rear axle but could transfer 90% of the weight to the drive axle, in those days it wasn’t air suspension , the traction was incredible …On a 4x2 dumping half of the air on the drive axle gives it far superior traction with the diff lock on if going slowly…Don’t worry about the ram I know nowadays there are some very modern systems I don’t even know exist 🤷🏻‍♂️…

[@rhyschiswell9433]

Top video bud. Glad it wasn't just me getting stuck. New dafs are shocking in any kind of weather apart from the dry 😂🤙

[@TomFewtrell]

Haha! Thank you! I reckon i would of got alot further if i had the DiffLock in long before the hill, and had some speed up, and also keeping to the snow itself instead of someone elses track that had turned to ice. Hopefully tomorrow is a better one!

[@TomFewtrell]

Unfortunatly, I didn't have my GoPro set up correctly, so when i make another video I'll make sure to be able to capture more of whats in front rather than my dashboard haha! Please subscribe and check out my other videos. If you are keen to see more, I will make alot more videos like this.

[@frankmlchaelglasscock6539]

I just love some of the comments it just goes to show who is professional and who is not

[@dermotmcglinchey282]

Exactly

[@jong7258]

Time for You in UK to scrap the kind of bogey You use, and start to use the kind of bogey we use in Norway, Sweeden & Findland, then it would be more easy to climb that little hill.! (it looks more like a little bump in the road then a steep hill.!)

[@BobSmith-ui4qu]

I hate that noise of the drive shaft bounce. You are lucky there was a helpful farmer.

[@aljosaskrabelj8412]

Wow great video! I must say this type of road conditions are the worse of them all. Part wet, part snow, part ice. When you have a lot of snow it is easy in comparison. You put chains on and you go. Here you can't do much really. I hate these light snow with temperatures right on the edge.. You get nice wet part and you think..wohoooo lets go!!, 100 meters later you are more like "o shit, o shit !!".

[@sjanten1934]

And this is why you need a tag axel that you can lift no matter how heavy you are and you need to be able to use the diff lock. A two axel and a midlift is usless in winter..Winter wheels is a must

[@TomFewtrell]

My older DAF was able to lift the axle at any speed. But these new ones are so locked down for safety reasons it's annoying.... I prefer a mid lift, but I'd like to try a tag and see the difference in the same conditions

[@TomFewtrell]

My older DAF was able to lift the axle at any speed. But these new ones are so locked down for safety reasons it's annoying.... I prefer a mid lift, but I'd like to try a tag and see the difference in the same conditions

[@sjanten1934]

@@TomFewtrell It is a big difference running a tag compare to a mid lift. cause the mid lft move most of the weight to the front axel and not the drive axel when you lift the axel. With the tag you move most of the weight to the drive axel and you get more friction towards the ground. Only thing you need to think about is your fifth wheel placement so you do not have that too far back...Kingpinn needs to be center drive axel or one notch forward so you still have some weight on your front axel also. 4*2 and mid lifts are not going anywhere in the snow around here at least. Here in Norway we use 6*2 and 6*4 for for most grip.

[@Tippeefewt]

Great Video!

[@stevehopkinson4871]

I know exactly haw you feel mate I drive a bulk tipper I would sooner drive in fog than snow I drive a Volvo FH4 500 🐎 it’s a bloody nightmare in the snow that’s the only time you dont mind being stuck behind a tractor 😂

[@TomFewtrell]

Yes exactly! Plus being in a truck, we have a bed and night heater so i was very comfortable just waiting for the farmer to help anyway haha!

[@bertvandevliert3680]

No Farmers, no Food!!!

[@jjgermancarsdontsignal7746]

No Truckers no deliveries,no shop workers no shops open etc etc....Believe me not all farmers would have gone to so much trouble as this one did.I know from experience delivering and collecting from farms for many years.

[@anids1988]

just found this and it will be my first year driving a truck when there snow as i started in the summer......i gotta say when i saw that drop off and all the snow i was very very worried the trailer might slip towards it :S

[@TomFewtrell]

I'd love to experience that! Must be great fun! But the way I see people drive on those icey/snowy roads at speed is crazy!

[@TomFewtrell]

Yes and me! I't felt like it was going to slide across but lucky with the tension on the rope he kept pulling me 😎 Glad you got into trucking! I've never looked back! And you can earn alot of moneys from it too!

[@koosvanpetten5567]

That's why i prefer a hand gearbox, with snow and ice allways problems with an automatic gearbox.

[@Gdone]

All the safety! Is it really that great?😂

[@TomFewtrell]

Safety in the truck? You mean with all the warnings? ⚠️

[@BerraLJ]

That tractor has some power to it, 44 tons is not that easy to pull.

[@TomFewtrell]

Especially in the ice and snow! I had no grip at all and he plowed up that hill!

[@stevehopkinson4871]

I know exactly haw you feel mate I drive a bulk tipper I would sooner drive in fog than snow I drive a Volvo FH4 500 🐎 it’s a bloody nightmare in the snow

[@frankmlchaelglasscock6539]

Really 🤔

[@paulmilliam2446]

When you first lost traction did you have the lorry in manual or auto because it makes an awful lot of difference. Secondly why don't you carry a bag of salt on the catwalk. I did the same work for 2Agri on nights until I retired. With me the lorry never came out of manual at anytime.

[@BerraLJ]

Many trucks here in Sweden use Slir ej a sand system that you can activate from the cab, not sure if other countries have that or similar systems, quite helpful, and yes the manul/auto can make a huge difference, not driven in winter or slippery condition beyond Eurotruck but i have even in the game noticed a huge difference when in manual, and yes i do drive heavy trucks in real life, but only winter driving was during school :)

[@TomFewtrell]

I have mine 80% in manual. Unless it's motorway driving. As we travel down Wales all the time the retarder can't keep up with up and down the gears. I had it in manual as soon as the snow was on the road 😂

[@TomFewtrell]

You need everything to help in Sweden! As we don't get snow in the UK much, it's not worth the money. But I feel like this could be a bad winter in the UK with lots of snow!

[@BerraLJ]

@TomFewtrell yeah we had first snow a few days ago and temp dropped to -10 but now back to +8

[@terjevigerust]

Chains?

[@ScottishLad.]

not in the UK, thats why we are so bad at driving in the winter, summer tyres all year lol

[@scottkrieger6386]

Why no tire chains ? There's ice but no chains.

[@TomFewtrell]

@scottkreiger6386 @terjevigerust . We never use chains. And for the fleet of 20-30 trucks we have at one depot, it'll cost a lot. Its easier to get the farmer to pull us to the farm

[@andrewspower333]

Why did you turn off the traction control ?

[@TomFewtrell]

If I kept the trsction control on, it would end up cutting power to the drive axle and I'd loose momentum. Traction control works well if I didn't have Diff Lock engaged. As it'll stop that one side of the wheel from spinning. Going over cattle grids with traction control on can be dangerous as it tries to brake and kicks the back end of the unit out

[@Olafursarason]

No winter tires ?

[@ScottishLad.]

not in the UK, thats why we are so bad at driving in the winter, summer tyres all year lol

[@FiFtY2303]

also, apparently no snow chains to put on in an "extreme weather" event like that...all respect goes to the farmer who did all the work and saved the driver and the public from waiting hours on the blocked road...

[@ScottishLad.]

@@FiFtY2303 yeah the farmers do a fantastic job, somefarmers even plow the snow to help the local Councils / Goverment, yeah no snow chains either, if the UK goverment made a law that you have to have winter tyres and snow chains that could really help everyone

[@matthewwatts7490]

can be good driving on the fresh snow not where other vehicles been, that can help

[@Bambitheman45]

​@@ScottishLad. We don't get extremes of snow and ice to warrant winter tyres. I agree if you're out in the Cairngorms or really rural Perthshire then you may benefit having a winter tyre, but haulage firms aren't going to spend the money on full winter tyres. They're all crying poverty. And the other problem is they don't last as long, cost more per unit and if the ambient temperature is too high can get very wrecked very quickly. I agree snow chains should be on every wagon but again the cost of equipping for a few days a year probably isn't worth the cost to a haulage company.

[@BIGV710]

DAFs are rubbish plus why have you not snow chains for the truck i carry mine in my truck all year round in uk europe but i do drive a scania S750V8

[@TomFewtrell]

I hate the Scanias, so unfortunately with the seating position and padding. The DAF is so much nicer to drive, I know it's alot less powerful, but it's much nicer to me. Plus I get a "feel of the road" more in the daf, where as the scania feels like I'm wollowing around. With out fleet and the amount of snow we have normally, we don't see the need for them and we are going to a farm on every journey so there is always a farmer with a tractor 😎

[@BIGV710]

@@TomFewtrell you can get better seats from scania i had mine fitted while it was being built to my specs

[@m1pete]

why have you not put snow chains on? why have you not lowered the tire pressures? I think this is a novice driver.

[@TomFewtrell]

We don't use snow chains, plusnwe are going to a farm every time so there is always a tractor available. If I lowered the tyre pressures it wouldn't make much difference with the type of tyre I have on (summer road tyre) plus id have no way of pumping then back up from my unit.

[@Jonathan-mp1tn]

@m1pete what an insufferable wanker you are

[@richardabley7178]

Dafs really r shit no good for farm job had xg on demo cudnt wait to get back in my fh540 worlds apart