Snowcat Recovery Mission

[@MuskokaFreerider]

It’s easy to criticize in this situation and I didn’t have the best attitude going in to things, in the end they still got the groomer out though. I’m sure it was a learning experience for all involved and they’re just relieved it’s done with.

[@ChainsawFPV]

You did better then I would have. I would have been gone the second time I heard the words "safety briefing". Lmao

[@ronaldbright8018]

I hope he turned the engine off before it went down 😢

[@timberdoodle6924]

Big snows before freeze up - problem especially in Midwest- east

[@louisk4180]

Thank goodness you were there. Made so much difference.😂

[@teamidris]

You all did well with what you had. I would not have started without a way to winch and lift at the same time. Usually the dead drag pull is double the vehicle weight and can be more. It would be easier to drag a boat out than a dead tracked machine :o)

[@EFD1stDue]

Failing winch mount with people all around the tensioned cable…. Good thing they had a safety meeting 👍

[@loicmarchand1192]

Pretty scary

[@blainemacdonald6929]

Synthetic rope doesn't have the energy of cable but a good idea to stay clear!

[@danb.709]

A winch flying through the air has plenty of kick.

[@JohnnySack16]

Oh be quiet safety nerd. I bet you do your wife’s boyfriend’s laundry.

[@HashInfo]

Meat heads 😅

[@riverratt8626]

I build winter access roads across the muskeg in northern AB and BC, so I have done a lot of these types of recoveries in Nov and Dec. A 290 to 350 excavator would have had it out in 30 min. as the power of the hydraulic arm is more than most people realize. If you don't have an excavator then a D5 or D6N with a winch. I would have built a 6 foot high ramp with snow cat up to where the trees where then back the winch dozer on there, so he can winch it up. I was impressed how the logs worked, it's too bad the winches were to small for the job. Overall they did good with what they had to work with. I think if they would have put the Snatch Blocks on both winches right off the bat they would have gotten it out.

[@whiskerbiscuit99]

Yeah that job coulda been alot easier, but success is success!!

[@dupes_1618]

Same idea. Seen lits of recoveries. Matt could have pulled it out with an excavator. Some people just don't think outside of what they know.

[@ChuckBeefOG]

Pretty hard to get a 350 up a deep snowy mountain without a solid trail. I have a Hitachi ZX 350 you need frost or solid snow pack to go on any muskeg. I have 10 trucks to and do ice road stuff in Ontario. Being on ice you can rig up a couple logs like a ginpole if you only have light equipment like snowcats to lift up and pull. I have lots of cool pictures from recoveries, dozers bunchers, trucks, trains. The worst one was a D7 in wet spent lime at a mine.

[@ChuckBeefOG]

Edit, i see they did use the ginpole setup, albeit quite ghetto but it worked.

[@joe964]

I cannot agree more with what I believe in my opinion to be a very poorly executed plan. With that said results are just that. The issues with problems like these are most MAKE it take longer because of the attitude of it’s going to take so long.

[@douglasburchat3304]

Matt your boys on the snow cats need to load up on snatch blocks so they can double up those lines and there pulling power ! It would save much time and effort. Hope nobody got hypothermia! Great content as always

[@Ma_Deuce]

The exact thing i was thinking. Probably would have saved those winch mounts as well

[@TheSnej3089]

A for effort! But I 2nd that motion they had enough cats to snatch up too plenty of logs it looked like for anchors I’m curious if they would’ve tried it from the beginning with more Snatches how quick it would’ve came out

[@bcelkguide1]

Maybe those guys should’ve thought of a safety meeting before they sent the young buck out on the groomer. 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@ih302]

Yeah, really....

[@forin9345]

Right, he mentions commen sense like you could expect a brand new operator to be able to tell the difference between a snow covered plain or a snow covered pond. Seems like a failure of common sense on whoever decided to send the kid out there.

[@user-jo1jq5uy1s]

The way the team leader talks to the guys is so lame. The whole process looks like middle school field trip.

[@dustinb2258]

@@forin9345boy

[@dustinb2258]

@@forin9345bot

[@douglpickles]

Got get in all those "Safety Meetings". Love this kind of content. Its really hard when there a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Another Great Video Matt!

[@themeach011]

Good thing they had that safety meeting to ensure all the guards on that grinder were in place. Lol

[@trevorhoulahan8514]

At least he was using the safety squint technique in lieu of actual safety glasses. Didn't notice a handle on that grinder either. Pretty sure it screws into that open hole .

[@jonl2938]

Reminds me of a rescue we did between North Bay and Marten River back when I was 12 in the mid-90s. Cat sunk crossing a swamp of muskeg. Funniest part was a guy in our group with a big bad VMAX-4 confidently declaring he could pull it out… and doing nothing but get his sled stuck in the trench he dug.

[@Borderline4456]

VMAX-4..... the GOAT

[@jonl2938]

@ the goat of sounding amazing and running out of gas. Possibly the worst trail sled ever… never pass a gas station out you’ll be walking and rode terribly. I still want one though 100% because of the sound, especially if you put quad pipes on it.

[@Borderline4456]

@@jonl2938 ive got two.. love them alot hahah

[@Krystiandonkers]

This hurts to watch, i feel like the “pro’s” have no idea what to do 😂

[@mcats8]

Perfect job for the Morvair 😅

[@beaumershon3066]

Boombee lol

[@grandenauto3214]

The wrecker

[@philipershler420]

My thoughts exactly!

[@chrisomalley7502]

Algorithm strikes again 😂

[@iceman6518]

Call up Fab Rats for some help need Ed for the weather.

[@gymkhanadog]

Great recovery! This is nuts that they tried this recovery without a diver to get the rigging on right. And the logs were the best idea out of anything anyone tried, hands down. You needed to lift as well as pull.

[@akane742]

That's a method for getting sleds out but on a much larger scale

[@whiskerbiscuit99]

Having done some recoveries, that was tough to watch lol. Ice and free path should have been made at the start. Get cut around it, hook up, get it turned in the direction desired to extract and then start winching, woulda saved some hard work and struggles. Also using multiple pullies woulda saved some breakages. Couldnt have a worse recovery condition though either, location, position and conditions were suck. Important part is eventually it was a success and nobody was hurt.

[@denisbrisebois7658]

Thanks for sharing this video Matt. You being an excavator operator, you must have been itching to get involved for sure. Thanks again Matt and stay safe out there this season !!!

[@jakejones5991]

Just want to say this happens to veteran operators too. I worked at a major ski resort driving a cat and one night we had a guy drive into a pond. Driver was experienced and knew the area but because of bad weather he was off trail by just enough that the cat instantly sunk! Wasn’t as bad as this but caused a lot of damage. Cat parts are not cheap at all.

[@bearingbeater]

We sank one at Sunshine in 1987. Night grooming. Parks shut us down completely for the season. They were NOT happy. I still have the photos, similar to this one.

[@cameronwebster6866]

@@bearingbeater one of the ponds by waterfall?

[@bearingbeater]

@@cameronwebster6866 Yes, start of cross country trail, operators name was Sean, good guy, but bad luck. Sunk in about the same as your one, but we had extra cats and ski lift rigging to get it out. Good Times!

[@williamutech4055]

I can’t believe I didn’t hear a “you can’t park there” this entire video. I’m thinking it just didn’t make the edit. I agree I didn’t think those logs would work for the lift either. Fun to watch, always love your content Matt. Keep it up Matt!!

[@MuskokaFreerider]

It was different haha

[@robgoffroad]

Wow, an episode of Matt's Offroad Snow Recovery. No, not THAT Matt. :)

[@Johno530]

bombi would have pulled that cat out no problem haha. They actually needed something from HeavyDSparks or something.

[@robgoffroad]

@@Johno530 Funny, I was thinking the same thing (that they needed to call HeavyD).

[@JackTruitt]

@@Johno530yeah they need the beast but leave heavyd and the goons in Utah lol

[@LegLake]

Would make some great content with 3 KZbinrs pulling that thing out. Matt's Offroad, Heavy D, and Muskoka. Plus they would get some great monetization.

[@Johno530]

@@LegLake but would they have a safety meeting first 😂

[@Deadlyshu]

Awesome!! Should have had a 300 and a D8 !

[@dustinb2258]

I forgot you excavate. How fun is it to watch people in charge that have never even used a shovel?

[@vercopolis]

They remind me of city workers

[@jimeverden2244]

Safety first...😂 I roared when buddy was holding the face shield over the other buddy's face. Just when you think you've seen it all 😂

[@1234crevis]

Pretty wild! Nice job guys!

[@Grizzman99]

Man idk I can’t blame you that’s a hard situation to stand back and be patient with. Honestly the best recovery time was spring but obviously that’s an expensive machine to let sit for the winter but honestly damage done… it’s done and that machine is best for auction lol

[@pennypackmtb2542]

When I served with the Engineers, nothing worked better then the "M88 RECOVERY VEHICLE'. In the winter of 78 a tank was somehow sucked under the mud and only the turret was visible. They hooked up 5 bull Dozers, but they failed. Then we hooked up the M88. Just to see if it could, we only used the one M88 alone, and it pulled the Tank out of the frozen mud without even straining.

[@dennislandstrom6904]

No one should ever stand near or in line with any cable under tension. whoever supervised this gong show should go home and think about that. I built and maintained ice roads in the NWT for 8 yrs. and no-one I worked with would ever participate in a show like this.

[@gavingoose7920]

well i guess its a good thing that this was just a group of guys getting together and having fun, i understand its not "safe" but they're all grown men who can think for themselves and dont need your corporate supervisors and safety meetings. my advice to you? take your brain away from work, if ya don't you'll always be miserable.

[@jsjs6751]

​@@gavingoose7920 Totally unsafe, pure luck nobody was hurt.

[@Zzrdemon6633]

Dennis I’m surprised you didn’t start with “pro tip” still a db though no one asked for your opinion yet you mansplained the obvious

[@thomasnichols3950]

Ole Radio Rob Safety Steve are the perfect example of unions and the blind leading. Dude had no idea what he was doing but was “in charge”.

[@glenn9989]

One of our rookies put our snow cat in the water he was one track in and one out. I told him to leave it there and we could pull it out after it froze . We’ll buy the time we got all the gear and drove the other cat out to it he tried to drive it our got the cat heading out but fell back into the lake. We used the log like you did got it out but when we checked the oil it had water in it. We are still working on it had to pull the Cummings out and found a shop that will go through it . Good thing we have 3 cats hopefully we can get it back on the snow next year. Good luck guys . We are the Curry ridge riders

[@michaellapalice3068]

Good job getting up and out , Matt and friends to the rescue .

[@sixtyfiveford]

The water that is in everthing is going to freeze a burst every case. The engine block is going to literally split in two. It would be best to leave it until spring when you can pull it without instant freeze. That would severely lessen the repair costs.

[@Cavanaugh-j4y]

This is my favorite channel! 🎉

[@KTMGREG55]

The first and only video that’s been painful to watch by MuskokaFreerider 👀🤦‍♂️🤣. No one got hurt and the job got done regardless of who was in charge 😝👌

[@fractalsynapse]

Top thumbnail of the year!😎

[@Coles_R98]

Muskoka by far the best youtuber

[@nicolasnicolas3048]

can you imagine..i didn't watch this episode ..till i can watch o smart tv, Matt you are the best, your crew is awesome 👌👌👌

[@randyjackson8138]

Done 5 years of building ice roads in Nunavut above the arctic circle, when you recover anything from ice you build a A frame and pull up and out other wise you destroy whatever you are pulling out.

[@patrickpat8878]

Here in Quebec in the region of LAKE ST-JEAN , there is a tractor that is still under 80 feets of water and the curent is strong , a snow cat like that open up the way few weeks earlier so small suv can go on that island that is populated by few permanent residents and some summer cabines , a Guy tried to cross with a medium size tractor to use on his farmland but the tractor was too eavy for the ice , in never froze very thick because of the current , so as soon as the rear broke the ice the driver jump out . Few days later a diver went down with lot of difficulty because of the current when he found the tractor he was 75 feets from the sinking hole , the owner decided to left the tractor in water because it will cost way more than the tractor value .

[@kevinchristensen8778]

You have more patience than I do. I couldn’t handle the lack of knowledge there .

[@Tahoe2U]

Amazing! Good to have the support for a disaster like that.

[@MrJoshrags21]

Snatch blocks boys come on !!!!

[@BrianLitke-yj6qw]

Have any of these bosses ever seen what happens when ropes and rigging break? All these workers standing in the danger zone! Could’ve push a big ram so the snow cats were pulling up instead of horizontal. The winch mount should never fail, maybe incorrect cap-screws?

[@jimeverden2244]

It was rated for 20,000 lbs...pretty sure that was exceeded.

[@g.r.4853]

That was like those damn 'short" things, miss the actual end. First and last time I tune in on this guy

[@paranoy69]

in 1992 i had to removed a snowcat like this one 24 feets under water and ice ... i used 3 big log that i fixed it together with a chain and a snach block... when i winched it , it gone up and when it arrived at the snach block the rear of the snowcat was over the ice.. i continued to winched it and the trees falled over the ice and the snowcat too... it took me around 9 hours to did the job... it was at 800 feets of the road through the wood to the lake

[@wesley1983]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1373">22:53</a> Stand closer to the winch line. Maybe that will help.

[@MattSpears]

this is INSANE!

[@MattVenezuela]

Back in the mid 90s I went back to Calgary for my buddies wedding, we went up to Sunshine Village to stay the weekend skiing and drinking, got totally smashed one night and took a snow Kat for a joy ride up the mountain, we could hear the other snow cats talking on the radio what was the snow cat we were in doing going up the trails, it was a crazy night, ended up getting the snow cat stuck going off the trails... RIP Dano...

[@rewadena4371]

I can tell that muskoka is a good operator by his ideas!

[@Outdoors-and-Sports]

"Smooth operator."

[@marcodm]

Need pulleys and double up the winches for 2x the force

[@bobbytables3675]

They got a piston bully 300 and 500 stuck in petersville ak last year. All you could see was the top right corner of the cab in a pyramid shape cause it was stuck in a bog and leaning. It was insane to see and how they got them out I will never know. Human ingenuity.

[@timtorkelson7201]

That Doo engine sounds so sweet!!

[@grantgriffin214]

You know I was annoyed with the big safety guys at first, but by the end of the video I realized that you never know who’s up there trying to help. To most blue collared guys not being in the line of fire when winching is super common sense to us. But to more of a white collared/ office type guy it might not click in. I am enjoying the videos here! We rode down in Valemount for a 4 days at the beginning of December and it was awesome to get out!

[@rubbercementandsomeducttap489]

Snatch blocks would have helped alot.

[@SuzukiKid400]

They used them at the very end…

[@LeviParney]

My first ride out there Homer guided me into some pretty amazing spots he’s a legend

[@mr.shannon6137]

Bbrrr! It looks freeking cold!

[@aceyorba]

Ouch...That's going to be a pricey Fix..

[@morissette44]

Perfect job for a hydrolic winch box, surprised they pull it out with those winch

[@gordonwrichert8240]

you guys should be pulling from the blade in the front

[@Pgd10020]

Uh whooops. You guys are nuts standing in that water!!!

[@jasonwooden]

A winch-cat would've made this job a lot easier, but those are hard to come by outside of really steep ski areas. Logs proved to be the next best thing.

[@alexcooper7195]

There's a really steep ski area with a few winch cats just down the road, but I can't imagine they'd willingly give up one of their expensive machines for this.

[@Clacka89]

Another one of those situations where you got twenty bosses all Thinking they are the boss and no one can do anything till they setup up a ton of pointless bullshit and make sure everyone knows they are in charge🤣🤣🤣

[@justiswest2982]

Great day for a rescue mission🤘🏼🔥

[@kasnick71]

Ha Ha reminds me of when I was in the army in Fairbanks. Some idiot sunk a M59 personnel carrier in the Chena river in winter. Sunk it and filled it with water. Well, in the Army, there is no fail. So after several weeks and lots of equipment it came out and back to the shop.

[@ChristopherHawkins-j5m]

Whistling diesel that’s not even stuck 😊

[@whatthedeuce091]

And here it looked like you were expecting you, Hugo and the boys were just gonna roll up and hook up your sleds and yank this thing out of a puddle. Then you saw where it was. 🤣

[@Theadvocate-w6c]

A 4" sump pump with a 100 ft hose would of been useful! Nobody thought removing the water might help😅

[@larrybettenhausen691]

Awesome job guys . Need to put a caterpillar excavator. Buy the cabin . Keep up the great work .

[@boardbysled]

Lots of cooks in the comments too 😂

[@masaharumorimoto4761]

Awesome!! Thanks for sharing!

[@paulturinsky1942]

I can't believe they didn't try to set some trees down in the water for the tracks to drag up on. Help sleeve it up over the ice

[@NobleLeather]

Sh!t happens... Good on everyone for helping and glad no one got hurt!

[@garytiffin306]

an actual ice recovery company would have been sweet. not just some groomers hahahahaha

[@R1Kyle]

A million dollars in the swimming pool and how many hundreds of thousands to fix now. Homer is always worth a laugh. C-mon.

[@backtoobasics]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="567">9:27</a> ok who invited jerry

[@slivers4007]

Been there done that. Dropped a PB200 in a lake that deep one time took 3 days to get it out. Definitely want to release the brakes before pulling. Usually can be done with a porta power.

[@Iam_Yu627]

Interesting. I didn't know this was a thing. Guess KZbin taught me something today.

[@BigTee612]

Could you imagine OSHA watching this video? Start with 1 person out of 20 wearing a life jacket while standing near open water and collapsed ice.

[@Puillui]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="884">14:44</a> what am I watching lmao an electric chainsaw during winter time that can’t even really cut some one hovering ppe over his face 💀

[@JohnByrnes-x7v]

That many snow cats two pulling might have had better luck !

[@tommyg5095]

Could you imagine the meetings , the endless paperwork, the frustration, the true weight of the situation if someone died as a result of not having that pond clearly barricaded. Whether it was a groomer or a skier, there most certainly would be lawsuits a plenty...

[@stevetimleck]

Too many chefs here too

[@scottkaiser8589]

That cat operator has the best seat in the house

[@jsjs6751]

Until the cable snaps. 😅

[@gordonwrichert8240]

this is going to be a battle!!!

[@robertpaul7048]

Your pappy is DAMN COOLto and deserves your loving respect!! 🤨🤨🤨

[@jasonranger4098]

Rescue missions are always fun!!!

[@ronaldbright8018]

In all honesty they should have called a professional recovery team.

[@VE3UET]

We dropped a CAT ATV snowmachine (Suburban on Tracks) thru Canal Lake about 100 feet from shore in 1988, Lots of lookers even had some boys from the military advising what to do, sadly the tow truck operator had no experiance on a recovery like this, eventually it did get recovered (cost 1,000$) and many broken and stretched tow lines

[@trinitybrian2807]

Shit happens. That was a fun video. Off road recovery channels will be watching.

[@Simon-Simon-Simon]

Bobcat skid stear would be handy to ckean front and sides

[@JackTruitt]

We had two cats in the river the big winter of 2023. Sometimes even experienced operators get in a bind sometimes

[@MuskokaFreerider]

It happens

[@travisrobinson7372]

Now if only someone in town had a excavator with ice picks welded on...

[@Hfamjam]

Your content is great

[@akane742]

Monty python goes on a recovery

[@1thundrus]

I helped dig out a groomer that got swept down the mountain and rolled a couple times. The guy was alright. It fired up after we got it dug out , they came back with torch and cheater pipe to fix front spindle and new bearing and drove back up to the trail and finally to the parking lot

[@tylerklasell7936]

Hey Matt. I ment to ask you this at haydays but, I have a 2019 skidoo backcountry 146 850. I currently have a 1.6 lug track and know I need a deeper lug but I want to go riding out at rabbit ears in Colorado. do you have any recommendations for best track lug size? The current track does have studs and the tunnel has the protectors in it so I may have to remove those protectors to get a 2.5+ track on. I am also looking at a clutch kit with adjustable weights, sounds like I will need that. also I bought a 509 alliance mono suit (non-insulated) Just curious on your thoughts of that mono suit. My apologies for rambling here but I would also like to get.a good pair of boots preferably ones that won't break the bank (under $200). I want to thank you for all the time you put into making these videos and editing them. I bought an Insta360 and hope that I can get some content this season. If you have any tips for shooting with the insta 360 that would be awesome too. I have a lot of friends who have never been sledding and when they come over I always have your videos playing. I have converted almost all of them into wanting to go out this season and I am so excited! MN just needs more snow. Again thank you so much Matt. I know that the days can get very long and you want to get the most out of your time out there too.

[@johnclarke8180]

Brother, thanks for sharing!!!!!

[@jimmywannstrom5151]

Definetly should have done more prepwork before starting to pull, Clearing out all the ice first and getting some kind of logframe to get the lift upwards first. Getting more logs and making a full ramp would have been faster that janking it back and forth. But ofcourse easy to say in the warmth and on the keyboard. Great job getting it out!

[@namelesskat4814]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="113">1:53</a> Do you know if he was let go or are they going to give him a second chance?

[@bobbyenglish7803]

Still working

[@ChuckBeefOG]

Probably back on the snowblower 😂

[@jimeverden2244]

​@@ChuckBeefOGor shovel 😂

[@golawnboygo]

ol boy from state farm aint laughing

[@robertsinclair]

From the moment the cat went through the ice, this was never going to be anything other than a sht show. Everyone running the recovery did a good job with the hand they were dealt.

[@bonemasterj]

As a guy chirping in: seem like you could just lay a log (or two) on the ground, allow the rope to move over it, and although the leverage point would be lower, it would still be above the water and work the same way.

[@GoatsBows]

Same thing happened a few years ago in Cooke city. They tracked a big excavator up the trail and just picked it up out of the water.

[@hele7070]

How the heck would you even know there was ice there!!!😮😮😮😮

[@DrewC830]

27 minutes of watching and I dont even get the pleasure of watching it come out all the way?