I discovered tonight the off-road capabilities of my Fabia VRS are... zero!! What I thought was a firm grassy field was in fact a boggy paddock. I missed the clues on the way in - the tarpaulin on the ground at the entrance... the mondeo parked at a funny angle (also stuck) and every other car there was a 4x4.

A range rover tried and failed to pull me out - first time I had to find the towing eye, so had to consult the manual. You pull a plastic cover off by a fog light and screw in a towing eye (which is REVERSE threaded!!) which is in with the spare wheel. The range rover just couldn't pull me out at all (no, I didn't have the handbrake on) without also sliding around, so car is currently abandoned and will meet up with a tractor tomorrow.

Very sad to leave my VRS. I knew I should have bought a Yeti

On a brighter note as you can see from the state of her clothes in the photo, SWMBO fell in the mud trying to push me. So there is always a silver lining.

Immense photo Pete. SWMBO does not look happy!!!!!

Pfft muddy missus, white seats... good job you left the car there mate

When dogging goes wrong!

When dogging goes wrong!

HAHAHAHA !

Is that an Afghan Hound in the passenger seat ?

whats the plan to get it out then?

When dogging goes wrong!

ROFL!!!!

Oh dear...great photo though!

Got it back safe and sound. I've never been towed by a tractor before, I am now in awe at these pieces of machinery, it got me out in about three seconds! Talk about the right tool for the right job.

Think I might look around now for some "traction mats" to keep in the boot. It's ironic to have survived all the snow only to get caught by a muddy field.

This is also a good point for you all to check your towing eye is in the boot as I have heard a number of stories today from people who got stuck only to find no sign of their towing eyes.

SWMBO reckons her back is really sore today! I mean, here's me having to cope with all this mud on by prized vRS and all she can do is moan about her back after pushing me in the pouring rain and falling over in it. Women!!!

The Yanks say something along the lines of "In god we trust, on John Deere we rely"

i feel sorry for the jag in the field there!

Got it back safe and sound.

SWMBO reckons her back is really sore today! I mean, here's me having to cope with all this mud on by prized vRS and all she can do is moan about her back after pushing me in the pouring rain and falling over in it. Women!!!

She can look forward to washing & detailing it over the weekend !

Got it back safe and sound. I've never been towed by a tractor before, I am now in awe at these pieces of machinery, it got me out in about three seconds! Talk about the right tool for the right job.

Think I might look around now for some "traction mats" to keep in the boot. It's ironic to have survived all the snow only to get caught by a muddy field.

This is also a good point for you all to check your towing eye is in the boot as I have heard a number of stories today from people who got stuck only to find no sign of their towing eyes.

SWMBO reckons her back is really sore today! I mean, here's me having to cope with all this mud on by prized vRS and all she can do is moan about her back after pushing me in the pouring rain and falling over in it. Women!!!

in awe of a tractor for pulling a little vrs out,i loaded some wheat at a farm in my 44t artic tipper a couple of years ago,unfortunatly i got very stuck,wagon bogged in down to the axles,a tractor about half the size of that turned up and i thought no way is that old little kiddie tractor going to pull this out,anyways the old boy got his chain out and we hooked it up,all the time me saying he was going to need a bigger tractor old farmer boy just smiles knowingly at me,not 3 minutes later and said piddling little old tractor had pulled me out of the field without breaking a sweat,somthing like that one in the pic would pull a bloody jumbo out i recon!!!!!

Looks like John Deere 6920s good machines with 160 bhp & shed loads of torque, can move 24 tonnes legally though has been known to pull an awful lot more!

Nicely done - good old John to the rescue! Why were you in there though?

i feel sorry for the jag in the field there!

That there yonder is an Aston Martin DB7 Voltante my friend - but half marks as the XK8 was based on the same floorplan

Steve

in awe of a tractor for pulling a little vrs out,i loaded some wheat at a farm in my 44t artic tipper a couple of years ago,unfortunatly i got very stuck,wagon bogged in down to the axles,a tractor about half the size of that turned up and i thought no way is that old little kiddie tractor going to pull this out,anyways the old boy got his chain out and we hooked it up,all the time me saying he was going to need a bigger tractor old farmer boy just smiles knowingly at me,not 3 minutes later and said piddling little old tractor had pulled me out of the field without breaking a sweat,somthing like that one in the pic would pull a bloody jumbo out i recon!!!!!

I think it may be a torque vs power thing.

Tractors don't always have a lot of power, have lots of torque (as long as you don't mind going slowly).

The John Deere in the picture would have hardly noticed something as light as a Fabia.

Edited 2 March, 201016 yr by DavidY

Nicely done - good old John to the rescue! Why were you in there though?

That there yonder is an Aston Martin DB7 Voltante my friend - but half marks as the XK8 was based on the same floorplan

Steve

Yes well spotted it was an Aston Martin, I'm well chuffed I got further than him in the mud, SKODA RULES! I was in there taking photos of some fireworks that were being done by some colleagues for a client but basically parked in the wrong place.

The weather was so bad I should not have even got out of the car but having got stuck was determined to get a photo no matter what the cost, got a couple of shots (see attached) to remember the evening.

The Fabia doesn't seem to be any worse for wear, other than a strange noise that sounds like loose trim outside the drivers door (a light rattle) - cannot find anything - and some odd noises from the front when braking last night, I think there must be a lot of crap caked on the bottom, will try and jet wash it this weekend.

A 4x4 with proper tyres would have managed no bother, just the stupid road tyres they fit to most 4x4's.