  There are two things about thinning in New Brunswick that are gartanteed. First trucks get stuck almost every day and two; your co-workers will be an international cross-section exceeded only by the United Nations Council.
Today brought the threat of rain and cool overcast skies. We got into our strip a bit late because we'd spent about a half hour driving around trying to figure out a back-back way to get onto the powerlines that made the front road of our strip. Once we got in the old way we ran into the foreman and he let us know that 2 new guys from Quebec would be starting today and we might see them because we're the only 2 franco-anglo's in th woods.
I'm bilingual because of 12 years of public school french immersion and my partner is bilingual because he've from Paris France. After about one tank of gas I looked up and noticed a guy in a yellow rain jacket comming through the woods towards me. I figured It must be one of the new Quebec guys so I put down my saw and yelled "Comment ca va?! " I was responded by a very confused Russian accent that yelled back "you help me?! I am in trouble.
" I dropped my saw and helmet and ran right over to him... I'm always scared about people getting hurt out here because its so difficult to get in and out of when everything's working fine I'd hate the see of have to try to get out with and injury. This however wasn't the case. After a few minutes of broken english and gesturing I figured out that he'd gotten his truck stuck comming in.
The week before we were working beside these guys (affectionately known to all as The Russians) and I'd been able to pull them out of the ditch and he figured I could do the same again today. Now, I wasn't too happy that he'd come back and interrupted me working because in this game as in most time is money but I'm a sucker of a good samaritan so I started walking with him. For some reason this guy believes that his early '90s stock 4x4 blazer with bald winter tires can go through anything and its bitten him in the ass before. Its not only that he tries to get down roads he has no business going through but he also tempts fate by always parking way off the road and taking unconventional lines through mud.
I've also never seen him get out an walk a stretch before trying to drive through. As I mentioned before I'd managed to pull him out on a previous occasion but that time we were both just pulling into the block and he in usual form drove way off the road to park and sunk himself.
I was still up on the hard pack so it was no big deal to put a chain on and give him a tug. Originally I'd put the chain in my truck with the assumption that I'd be needing it more for draggin myself out than others but was happy that it was working the other way around. When we got back to the parking spot (where I was parked) he tried to convince me to just hop in my truck and we'd drive down and get him out... right. The absolute cardinal rule of this kind of driving is to know what you're getting yourself into.
Another good rule is if you're trying to be the "rescue" vehicle it doesn't help anybody to get stuck yourself. The Russian seemed a little pissed that I wouldn't take my truck but we walked the road into the power lines and eventually to where he was stuck. Really, the road leading to the power lines was good but were he went wrong was once he got to the power lines he mistook an absolute 4wheeler trail for something passable by his truck.
It was soupy greasy, and about 4 feet deep. To his credit, I think, he'd made it WAY farther into the powerline trail than I thought his truck would. When we came up on his truck he was easily 300m from the nearest hard road and sunk up to the door handles. It was obvious that this would be the kind of all day rescue mission that would end up costing me a day's work if I got involved to any extent.
I know this well because I'd missed the previous Monday's work because I'd gotten my truck so bad that an F250 couldn't get in all the way to it on the Sunday night that I put it there and eventually had to leave it the night and return the next day with a 3tonne come-along and 30 feet of VERY heavy chain. Needless to say I'd payed my "stuck" dues for the month. I got ahold of their cellphone an put in a call to the foreman.
He's got a F150 4x4 but the transfer case is broken so he's currently 4x2 an I knew this so I left a lenghty shopping list of gear that would be needed to rescue the Russians and left back on my merry way to finish the work day the way I'd intended, cutting trees in my strip. I'm just getting home as I write this and at 3:3OPM as I was walking out of the block I was able to witness the "freeing" of the russian's vehicle. A jack-all was used to drop the blazer out of the ruts it had made itself and they finally got free after 8 hours of sitting.
Most guys make about 150 dollars a day and there were two Russian's travelling in that truck so I'm just guessing that between the two of them they lost $300 all because of impatience and bad judgement calls. Some guys build rigs for the express purpose of driving these roads. Just becasue you see tracks going in and coming out of a hole doesn't mean that you're truck will do it. There's a distinct different between a lifted full size with 38" Mickey Thompsons and a stock 1/4 ton. Ruts made by one will kill the other. Something to keep in mind when there's money on the line. Six Tanks of Gas - Pre-Commercial Thinning in New Brunswick - The Blog 
