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The other day there was a bit of action going on behind my house. There were a couple of wreckers on the lake shore, and several people out on the ice standing around. It wasn't until yesterday that the local paper had an explanation.
Every year they have auto and snowmobile ice racing on the lake behind our house. It seems that last Saturday (according to the paper) a 23 year old was driving his 4WD pick-up on the ice and found a pressure ridge (that's where the ice kinda jams up due to the movement of the water and ice...usually thinner ice or open water). The two wreckers were attempting to pull the truck out of the hole it had created. Now, picture this...the rear wheels are on the ice...the front of the truck nose down in the water up to the rear of the cab. It's out in the middle of the lake, maybe 500-600 yards from shore. Now this truck is not some old beater, oh no. Its a 2003 Ford F-250 extended cab (with the rear suicide doors) valued at $38,000! And of course, insurance doesn't cover this kind of problem. I'm not sure it it's out, or just down with Nemo, because I couldn't see it when I went by this afternoon.
Now no one was injured, but I think this is one of those times the driver must have "said it, then done it!"
It wasn't until the paper came out that I knew about the OTHER ONE!
According to the paper, last Friday (the day before), a 17 year old was driving his FATHER'S truck, a 1997 Ford F-150 (valued at $10,000) and hit the same pressure ridge. It is now resting comfortably on the bottom of the lake (only around 8 feet of water - but hey, what difference?) Only a floating spare tire and piece of wood, now frozen in the ice, marks the location. Again insurance doesn't cover the vehicles on the ice, nor does it pay for any recovery efforts. The DEP has given both owners 30 days to remove their vehicles. The 17 year old was also unhurt, at least from the dunking. Not sure what "daddy" had to say...
It only serves to remember that frozen lakes and ponds need to be tested real well before setting foot on them!
- Jim
Our yardbirds:
Belvedere, our '96 Jeep Cherokee, 4.0L ATX, 85,000 and going strong
Spencer, our '03 Chrysler PT Crusier, 2.4L ATX, 28,000 and just getting started
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Hard-core CEG\'er
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Dude. Cliff's Notes. I can't read all that.
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Originally posted by midcoastme:
500-600 yards from shore.
Holy crap, I'd be scared to drive my truck a couple of feet on to the ice.
Just a Plain SE.
AKA Big Country
I maybe path914's B**** now, but wait until he needs his clutch done. We will see WHO is WHO's B**** then!
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This is the condensed version. It took almost the whole page in the paper. 
- Jim
Our yardbirds:
Belvedere, our '96 Jeep Cherokee, 4.0L ATX, 85,000 and going strong
Spencer, our '03 Chrysler PT Crusier, 2.4L ATX, 28,000 and just getting started
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Cool! You should scan it and post it here.
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Addicted CEG\'er
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Quote:
It only serves to remember that frozen lakes and ponds need to be tested real well before setting foot on them!
I would never set foot, let alone drive a TRUCK on to a frozen lake. You just never know.
-Ken V.
1998.5 SE Praire Tan Zetec ATX
psycho_bass@hotmail.com
Roush springs Roush rear sway bar BAT struts 17" Millie Miglia HT3 and a ton of subtle asthetic mods
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Some people have more dollars than sense.
I live next to a river and when the river floods about a mile of the roadway is flooded. People drive right through the swift water to save 15 minutes. I've seen Cadillac cars get washed away down river. I've also seen minivans full of kids get drowned out and quit in the water. Some people are in such a hurry nowadays they will do anything to save a few minutes.
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What's with all the southerners hating the ice? Have you ever seen a frozen lake?
I've ice fished quite a bit, and never had a problem. You just need to make sure you know where you're going, keep a close eye out for anything different. (it doesn't hurt to talk with the locals either) Anyway, ice can be fairly safe. There have been years that I've had to drill through ice 5 feet deep (lots of fun btw). Now there are some very idotic people around here who drive with less then 6 inches, (somtimes even near 1 inch.) There is always an article or news story regarding these idiotic people.
You should see some of the lakes up here, there are friggn mobile homes one them.
Ever seen the ice highways up in Canada? These are used by semis to haul heavy items that can't be airlifted to remote areas in the arctic, They lose a few trucks every year but evidently it's not dangerous enough to lose profitability.
'03 Protege 5
MTX
'02 Mazda Protege LX
MTX
former owner of: 96 Contour GL
2.5 ATX
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Originally posted by hngiam:
Cool! You should scan it and post it here.
Oh, okay...here it is:
Diver, driver struggle to free truck stuck in ice
Darcie_Moore@TimesRecord.Com
01/20/2004
WEST BATH - Monday, with the sun dropping below the horizon and the temperature dropping into single digits, crews worked feverishly to pull a partially submerged truck from New Meadows Lake.
Chisels, chainsaws, oxygen tanks and blocks of ice cluttered the icy lake top surrounding the jutting truck, and its owner raced back and forth between submerged truck and tow truck in his efforts to see pull his vehicle out of spot where it had lodged in the ice. The truck has become a stark symbol of the hazards of driving on frozen bodies of water.
Brian Brown, 23, of Wiscasset, was driving on New Meadows Lake Saturday night in his red 2003 Ford F-250 pickup truck when,he hit a "pressure ridge," according to a Sagadahoc Sheriff's Department incident report. A pressure ridge is a phenomenon caused when the ice expands quickly and bodies of ice push against each other, causing a ridge to jut up. The ice along the four-foot wide ridge stays very thin or open water remains. Though most of the ice on the lake is thick enough to support vehicles, the pressure ridge poses a significant danger to drivers on the lake.
Brown was not the only driver to fall victim to the ridge. On Friday, Matthew Bruce, 17, of Alna, hit the ridge near where Brown's truck submerged. Bruce was driving his father's 1997 Ford pickup. He escaped but his father's truck sank to the bottom; a floating tire froze in ice at the surface marking where the truck went down.
Diver Chuck Fuller of Boothbay, who calls himself a marine contractor, was called to the scene Monday to help free Brown's truck. He donned his insulated wet suit, diving mask and flippers as he inflated an air bag attached to the front end of the truck. He said only his heels were cold, despite the fact that ice had formed on his suit, which made conditions out of the water colder than in the water.
"I was afraid I was going to turn into an ice cube when I got back into the water," said Fuller, who had to go into the icy waters more than once Monday as each attempt to free Brown's truck proved futile.
Hundreds of yards of nylon cable and rope were tied together to the back of the truck as a tow truck pulled from shore. Action halted several times to tighten the slack in the ropes. The truck inched forward, but, much to the chagrin of Brown and the people he was paying to free his vehicle from the ice, it nosed farther into the lake instead of rolling free.
A crowd of between 10 and 20 people stood nearby watching, helping or making suggestions throughout the day. Bruce and his father looked on to see if the truck would be pulled free.
Joe Freeman of Bath was also nearby with his camera as he watched the procedure. He came close to losing his four-wheel drive Chevy truck Thursday afternoon. Luck and quick thinking saved him after he accidentally backed into the pressure ridge and felt the truck sinking. He rushed to cut down a tree and put it in the hole and tied his truck to it to keep it from going under. That's all that kept it from sinking, he said.
"I was pretty sick to my stomach watching it go down, down, down," said Freeman. "Uncle Herb helped get it out," he said, adding that it took two pickup trucks working until darkness had fallen to pull his vehicle out of the icy lake's clutches. He was relieved he was able to save the truck with no damage.
Freeman admits that he didn't know many insurance policies don't cover vehicles going through ice, but is not alone when he said Monday, "I do now."
The sheriff's department reports that Saturday night, "as we were discussing an approach to pull the vehicles out, Mr. Bruce's truck sunk to the bottom of the river. At this time we cleared the ice."
Police have set up barricades, but a sheriff's department spokesman said they realize the barriers don't keep drivers off the ice.
"You really can't stop them," said Chief Deputy Robert Annese, adding that people will just move the barricades to gain access to the ice.
Monday's efforts ended with Brown's truck still firmly planted in the ice. Efforts are continuing today to remove his truck, and then retrieval crews plan to start on the truck that is completely submerged, according to West Bath Fire Chief David Hudson. Hudson guesses the water is about eight feet deep where the truck is half submerged, and that the truck's front end may be resting on the bottom.
Brown's Ford-250 has an estimated value of $38,000; Bruce's Ford-150 is valued at approximately $10,000. The Department of Environmental Protection gave the men 30 days to retrieve their vehicles.
Annese and Hudson, along with representatives of the Bath Fire Department, urged drivers to stay off the ice. They warned that most auto insurance policies do not pay for incidents such as the one involving Brown's truck. In most cases, drivers must pay for all work involved in removing vehicles from the ice,
Attempts to reach Brown for comment were unsuccessful.
- Jim
Our yardbirds:
Belvedere, our '96 Jeep Cherokee, 4.0L ATX, 85,000 and going strong
Spencer, our '03 Chrysler PT Crusier, 2.4L ATX, 28,000 and just getting started
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I grew up in northern Maine. My ice driving strategy: Let the other guy go first & see what happens... 
Must be that jumbly-wumbly thing happening again.
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