Discuss 4x4'ing, Hiking, Backpacking, Camping
-
Older Fossil
- Grubstaker
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:33 am
- Location: Somewhere (Fulltime RV)
-
Contact:
Post
by Older Fossil » Sat Nov 23, 2019 11:57 am
We were recently staying at PSR and took a drive up to the Hunter Mountain Cabin. After we had just turned off the Saline Valley Road onto Hunter Mountain Road, we observed this Miller's Towing truck dragging two large tires along the Saline Valley Road and heading down Grapevine Canyon.
Does anyone know why they were doing this? Does Miller's have an arrangement with the county to perform some type of maintenance? If the tires were being delivered somewhere, I'd assume they would have been loaded on the flatbed.
-
D.A. Wright
- Death Valley Resident
- Posts: 2300
- Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 6:07 pm
- Location: Nevada
Post
by D.A. Wright » Sat Nov 23, 2019 12:21 pm
Maybe doing their own grading to smooth the way back because they are going in to bring something big out? The recently had to bring out a motorhome that lost a set of dual wheels and tires (worked loose and spun off), but that was on North Pass.
D.A. Wright
~When You Live in Nevada, "just down the road" is anywhere in the line of sight within the curvature of the earth.
-
ETAV8R
- Grubstaker
- Posts: 217
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2010 1:25 am
Post
by ETAV8R » Sun Nov 24, 2019 8:44 am
Wonder if they are finally going to get that Ford near Willow Creek and doing the loop.
-
Death Valley Dazed
- Death Valley Resident
- Posts: 703
- Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:24 pm
- Location: Utah
Post
by Death Valley Dazed » Mon Nov 25, 2019 12:02 pm
Older Fossil wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 11:57 am
Does anyone know why they were doing this?
Just now I called Miller's Towing in Lone Pine, CA to answer this question. The friendly gentleman on the phone explained how they have several sets of huge tractor tires ensconced at strategic locations inside Death Valley that they will hook up to their tow trucks on the way out to tow to "knock down that washboard that beats the hell out of our trucks. You know what that washboard does to your vehicle so just imagine what it does to our trucks with your vehicle loaded on top!."
He also explained that Miller's does not have a contract with the NPS for road work. BTW - the hourly rate for wilderness/off-pavement towing is $350.00 per hour.
Life begins in Death Valley
-
Older Fossil
- Grubstaker
- Posts: 200
- Joined: Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:33 am
- Location: Somewhere (Fulltime RV)
-
Contact:
Post
by Older Fossil » Mon Nov 25, 2019 12:51 pm
Death Valley Dazed wrote: ↑Mon Nov 25, 2019 12:02 pm
Just now I called Miller's Towing in Lone Pine, CA to answer this question.
DVD, thank you for making the effort to find out! It makes sense from Miller's point of view.
-
Kauri
- Grubstaker
- Posts: 394
- Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2010 9:17 am
- Location: Northern CA
-
Contact:
Post
by Kauri » Mon Nov 25, 2019 7:50 pm
Death Valley Dazed wrote: ↑Mon Nov 25, 2019 12:02 pm
Older Fossil wrote: ↑Sat Nov 23, 2019 11:57 am
Does anyone know why they were doing this?
Just now I called Miller's Towing in Lone Pine, CA to answer this question. The friendly gentleman on the phone explained how they have several sets of huge tractor tires ensconced at strategic locations inside Death Valley that they will hook up to their tow trucks on the way out to tow to "knock down that washboard that beats the hell out of our trucks. You know what that washboard does to your vehicle so just imagine what it does to our trucks with your vehicle loaded on top!."
He also explained that Miller's does not have a contract with the NPS for road work. BTW - the hourly rate for wilderness/off-pavement towing is $350.00 per hour.
Thank you for this information!
-
ETAV8R
- Grubstaker
- Posts: 217
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2010 1:25 am
Post
by ETAV8R » Mon Nov 25, 2019 9:46 pm
Knowing that they don't do road maintenance means they are out there retrieving a vehicle.
-
Candace_66
- Death Valley Resident
- Posts: 946
- Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 5:47 am
- Location: Las Vegas
Post
by Candace_66 » Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:08 pm
On November 3, 2017, I was driving south toward Hwy 190 on the Saline Valley Road. Along the way I saw a Miller's flatbed with a Jeep Grand Cherokee (bearing US Gov't plates
) on the back. The truck was pulling a "tire drag" behind it.
The driver parked where the SV Road meets Hwy 190. Mostly to add air to the truck tires (using an onboard compressor, see pic). He also dropped off the tire drag.
I already knew what the tire drag was for. Talking to him, he confirmed they always drag thre road when they go out on a job. In this case, he went all the way to Hidden Valley to pick up the Jeep. IIRC, he said the job would cost about $2000.
PB030118 by
Candace66, on Flickr
PB030119 by
Candace66, on Flickr
PB030121 by
Candace66, on Flickr
-
Death Valley Dazed
- Death Valley Resident
- Posts: 703
- Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2015 7:24 pm
- Location: Utah
Post
by Death Valley Dazed » Wed Dec 04, 2019 7:56 pm
Wow, Candace, a local newspaper reporter could not have done a better job with this report. Photos included! Thanks for taking the time to post this.
Life begins in Death Valley