Removing 1963 Ford Van from the woods

Instead of using the bus tread like I was since it was the same site clean up I decided to create a new tread showing how the van was removed. It was sitting upside down with no engine or transmission, and only had one wheel left on it. The pictures show some of the removal but I don't have the videos on this computer. The van was sitting for about 45 - 50 years like that. We lost one door, and the rear bumper when pulling it down the hill but that's better then not getting the whole van out. It was a swamp so that didn't help us any out. The van was about 50ft up the hill near the road.

We originally went up with the car carrier to look at the bus but couldn't pull it out due to being two wet so we tried the van and it came out pretty easy. The van was hooked up using two 15 inch J Hooks and then pulled back some, at which point the chains were readjusted and the van was flipped upright so it was coming down the hill on its chassis. The van took one tree down with it and it came down the hill without any real issues into it got to the down tree at the end, so that tree was cut into sections and removed. We then pulled the van up to the truck but its cab got caught on the tree right behind the bed so Paul readjusted the truck and finally pulled the van out completely onto the truck bed. Don't try hauling anything the way it was when first removed from the woods. We only did that because we were on mud and it was a dirt road with only tractor trailers, and dump trucks coming down it once and while hauling logs, and dirt out.

The van was re positioned down near the water, a domestic catalytic converter was found inside the van. We lost the rear axle when the van was re positioned so we had to throw the axle back on the truck. The van was strapped down the best we could and was re strapped down once we got to the Waite General Store in Waite Maine. The van headed to its final home in Danforth Maine all within an hour of arrival at the scene. Below are most of the images. I have a few videos not listed but there not really great quality. Anyone has any questions, etc... please feel free to ask. The van was on private property and was abandoned for over 50 years.

I have more images I will see if I can find them or the vidoes. Each video is only a few seconds long so I will see if I can combine them together. All the images were taken on my cell phone so quality might not be the best on some of the images in the woods.

Originally Posted by Repurposer

I see why no one has messed with it for 50 years.

Thats one of the reasons we were called in. Me and Paul pictured are the only two who still take on these types of jobs in this area anymore. It took only 20 minutes to remove. We were told it was there in 1970 when a local logging company cut the lot it was on. The one who originally cut it stopped by with the dump truck coming out from the gravel pit down the road while were pulling the van out. Still have to remove the other rear door and the vans engine then finish up with the stuff from the where the school bus is located next door.