...put the van round the back of the house the other day cos it is
closer to the workshop when I'm loading/unloading - well, since then it
has done nothing but bloody chuck it down (can you see where this is
going?!)  Need the van out for a 6am start tomorrow so thought I'd do it
now, been sunny all day so thought it would be OK - couple of van
lengths into the move you can guess what happens - absolutely sunk -
right down to the rims, not going anywhere no matter what I do - not
helped by the fact that it is FWD and I'm having to reverse it out.

So I hooked up the car with a strop and tried to pull it out - wouldn't
even move an inch - called my wife out to help (who doesn't drive
manuals, "can't", and hasn't done so in 10+ years) but after a bit of
instruction I manage to get her to just ride the clutch at the point
before the wheels of the van start to spin, hoping it will help - still
going nowhere - car tyres starting to dig in - at which point I remember
the waffle boards I bought from Nige a while back (thanks Nige!) but all
that did was stall the car as it was just too much for it, and I wasn't
too keen on ripping my tyres to pieces on the boards by giving it too
much boot!

Right, time to break out the SIII I thought, but that is hiding around
the back of the house too - the van is far enough out of the way to get
it out, but the motorhome is parked right across the front of the SIII -
tho somehow I manage to move the motorhome just enough without getting
it stuck to free the SIII (front end is now in the trees and back end is
in the hedge!) - jump in the SIII - the battery is dead! (because of
Christmas I haven't run her up in a while) Motorhome is close by, so
with the help of two sets of jump leads joined together I get a jump
start on the SIII, pull the SIII out only to realise the trailer is now
in the way, which is full of bags of rubble that I've left in there
waiting to go to the tip - struggle to drag it out of the way, and get
the SIII in position - set her up on 4WD, back wheels onto the waffle
boards and give it a go - just manages to get the van moving, so shout
the wife out again (who has gone inside because it is "too bloody cold")
and together over the course of 20mins we finally get the van unstuck.

I've now got a 25m, rim deep set of parallel marks through the garden -
ground was so soft that I literally had to drag it out with the SIII
until we got to the firmer ground.

Without the SIII I'd have been totally screwed - absolutely no way was
the van going anywhere.  Gave her a good run out down the road as a
treat, and then drove it through the garden where the van had just been
stuck and parked back in her spot round the back - didn't even break
into a sweat. Bloody marvelous!  Best 800 euros spent yet!!

Matt