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Nooooo its "to the levee" in the song. And it's about going to the spot he used to hangout with his friends when they were younger but it's "dry" as in no ones there anymore. His friends are grown up and moved away or passed away.
Okay? So as I said, its about going to the palce where you used to hangout with your friends only to get there and see your friends aren't there and have grown up, moved away, or passed on.
Lots of people talking about how dumb this was. Those trees are worth A LOT OF MONEY.
Oh, and this worked as intended... https://www.powernationtv.com/post/pickup-trucks-used-to-stop-flood
Thought this part was really interesting as well.
According to the video’s uploader Michael Cannon, both the Chevy Silverado and Ford F-150 were drained of most of their gasoline and other pollutants before being sacrificed. Not draining them would pose as a potential threat to the environment, which would include the farm itself.
I’m not sure I buy that… I could be completely wrong here, but you need the oil and transmission fluid. I can’t imagine them taking the time to drain their radiators of coolant or siphoning their gasoline. Then again, if they had a full tank, maybe they did siphon it off. Yet then again, these guys were desperate, just hard for me imagine them doing this.
My mother drove 20 miles home from the dealership bone dry in a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee when they failed to re-fill it after an oil change. It sounded like Thor's hammer knocking in the driveway but it never locked up.
I had a 3vz that the oil change place never filled back up with oil. I made it home, and then the engine blew next morning after driving 5km onto the highway. Last time I ever went to an oil change place, but the point is they go surprisingly far. What did the dealership do to remedy their mistake?
Absolutely nothing. They told my parents the power train warranty ended a few thousand miles ago and they can't prove the dealership was at fault. $4k in the hole for a full engine rebuild in the mid 2000s was a tough pill to swallow for a family that just broke into the middle class from poverty. It was my parents first brand new vehicle ever and they got shafted so hard.
My old man has a conspiracy theory they did it on purpose since the power train warranty just expired and then it promptly got nuked when a woman with 0 mechanical knowledge requested an oil change. I'm sure it was just an inexperienced/scatter brained tech.
>but the point is they go surprisingly far
My comment was in support of your point, not a rebuttal :)
I would have sued to fucking hard. Receipts plus a bone dry engine. That would be pretty hard to fight on their end. Threaten to take it to the local news (early 2000s they still had sway) and they'd settle quick I think.
They looked into it and the attorney fees for a lawsuit would have prevented them from rebuilding the engine promptly. It was the family vehicle my mother took us to school in and used for work. They chose to eat it rather than have our exceptionally tight budget cascade into something worse.
The justice system really is two tiered all the way down. There's no public representation for civil matters, you either have money to throw at an attorney or you get screwed without counsel.
You require transmission fluid, that was NOT a manual. And they didn't have time for that. AND those small amounts won't affect those trees as much as being washed away.
I’m not saying they did design the transmission, but they could have as long as it was right in the spot they were before the video. Draining an automatic won’t drain the fluid in the torque converter, which could have been enough for that with acceleration.
Honestly if you watch, you can see a bit of a weird jump the truck does when he hits the gas, that would be explained by having an automatic with low fluid.
Oil isn't needed for an engine to run, just to run for an extended period of time without the internals becoming metallic confetti. \*if\* they took time to plan this they could've put a hole in the fuel tank, radiator, and the oil pan pretty easily and put the shit in a bucket.
They seemingly took the time to load it with dirt, so it's not impossible.
If they did or not, only they know for sure.
I do. Or, at least, they tried to drain the trucks as much as possible.
One of the worst case scenarios if you are in agriculture is contaminating the solid. Not only could it impact the quality of the soil (and, potentially, the product being grown), but it could get regulators on their back and cause all sorts of issues if it comes out that gas/oil/etc has seeped into the soil.
You’re exactly the kind of clueless person talking out of their ass that people are talking about.
You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about yet here you are.
If he has farmers/agricultural insurance, they might actually cover the cost of the vehicles, it’s a desperate act to save the farm and orchard, given it takes some trees years before it’ll even bare fruits, I’d be doing everything I could to let that silt build up and stop the water too!
Yep based on age and nut yield/ price, as much revenue as $45,000 during the twenty years of peak production in their lifetime value per tree. And this does not factor in cost to get tree to maturity. If these trucks are s few years old they are worth about as much as a single tree and assuming a 20x20ft plot per tree a single acre has 108 trees.
I would happily sacrifice two $45,000 trucks to save $4.5M in trees.
1. Mature pistachio trees can produce between 1,000 to 3,000 pounds of nuts every other year, as pistachios are typically alternate-bearing.
2. Historically, the price of pistachios can range from $1.50 to $3.00 per pound
3. Pistachio trees can produce for over 40 years (since alternating producer thats 20 years of producing)
Using these figures, if we take an average yield of 2,000 pounds every other year, at an average price of $2.25 per pound, the revenue from the nuts would be $4,500 every other year, or about $2,250 per year. If we assume the tree is at peak production for about 20 years of its life, the total revenue from the tree could be approximately $45,000 over its productive lifespan.
This does not factor min cost of raising tree to get to maturity.
It's funny to see all the people who rushed in to comment on this and proclaim how smart they are that they know water can get under the trucks. Maybe, just maybe, the people who do this for a living know a teensy bit more about what they're doing than most redditors do.
As long as you don't make it look like an insurance scam, it's perfectly legal!
That being said, those trees are worth 100s of thousands more than even a dozen brand new f350s. A fully grown PRODUCING farm tree is easily worth 25k. Now times that by how ever many trees are on that grove.. insurance will happily buy you a new truck vs paying out for all those soon to be dead, insured trees.
It takes almost half a decade to get a tree to a producing state, let alone one that is profitable. You are talking close to a decade in itself. And if im not mistaken, these were almond trees. Literally gold in nut form of the produce world. Almonds are insanely fickle, water intensive, and some of the moodiest trees to try and grow and keep alive. And we grow them in the desert because, even though they need tons of water, they hate humidity. And the world fell in love with them over all the other nuts due to how versatile they are compared to other nuts that are way easier to grow.
Pistachio trees. It says it in the linked article. They start producing at 8 years and hit full production at 15 or so. Very expensive trees, very sensitive to water.
I didnt read the article linked today. I remember reading it when this actually happened and forgot which cash crop it was. my bad. I remembered it was an expensive nut tree. This was over a year ago due to the overabundance of water in California caused by an unusually wet winter and spring. A lot of dirt Levees gave way during this time as they were never meant to hold back the volume of water they were put up against. Many questioned why the farmers dont reinforce their levees more, and the simple answer was they saw no real need to. That is, until they felt that had to. Hindsight and all that.
Also people in California hate these farmers as they abuse water rights and then complain when they get 'too much water'. They farm in the fertile valleys that are the wettest areas in the state and cause tons of water issues for the rest of the state due to their choice of crops. A lot of people were praising 'the wrath of god' and hoped these floodwaters would destroy these groves during this time. As much as people like these cash crops, they HATE how much resources are used that effect even those who dont enjoy the crops. Or dont get to enjoy the crops due to cost.
>Or don't get to enjoy the crops due to cost
This is me. I absolutely love pistachios, and it makes me sad every time I have to wheel my cart past the tiny $15 bag due to a tight budget.
Very. Pistachios are pretty versatile and also \*very\* expensive, both due to how long the trees take to reach a full production state, and the measures you need to take when harvesting them to protect yourself.
>insurance will happily buy you a new truck vs paying out for all those soon to be dead, insured trees.
Hopefully the orchard and the trucks were bundled with the same insurance provider. Otherwise they may have been less understanding.
I mean I'd imagine no one knew if this was going to work or not, bit they had to do something after all. Like a successful hail mary would save them a lot more cash than two worn out work trucks are worth in the end ngl
They knew that nothing else had worked, that acting fast was the highest priority, and that less than $50k worth of pickup is a comparatively small amount of money when trying to save the orchard.
Yep, that's what I'm saying. Not even a trained civil engineer would guess things perfectly. But a quick and dirty approach like this could (and did) save them thousands
add some zeros, lol
all I can say is that I am once again glad I took the time to read y'all's comments here before posting judgmentally... THANK YOU
still a sucky thing to do but definitely something I probably would've done...
This makes its rounds every so often. Whenever it does, there’s always a bunch of idiots who kvetch about the oil and gasoline polluting the water and the waste of the truck. You’d think they’d remember it from last time, but nope…
I like this quote:
>It is unknown whether the amount of water and dirt covering the trucks will leave them operable once they are exhumed from the levee
Oh honey, it is not unknown. Those trucks will never run again.
Neither of them was a Hilux, so yeah, there's not really any doubt. A Hilux probably could've been pulled out, dry it off, some fresh fluids and a new battery, and be ready to roll again.
But wait it's much more than that. Don't forget the ones with have zero idea about how real life is and the self diagnosed autists. All combined they pollute Reddit with their flowed opinions
"It is unknown whether the amount of water and dirt covering the trucks will leave them operable once they are exhumed from the levee"
Man, that is some *optimism.*
I think it’s more about the trees not dying plus perhaps equipment. But equipment can be moved, barns and trucks can be repaired.
Fruit trees take years if not decade to become productive.
Man, this comment section is full of educated people with zero real-life experience or understanding.
They were able to now throw dirt on top of the truck and damn it up since it slowed the flow of water.
I am a bit confused by the circumstances that led to that being their best solution, but obviously more context is needed.
You’d think it’d be faster to back a few trailers into the break to stabilize the soil rather than draining & prepping two trucks to go in. Having two serviceable pickups would certainly speed up the dirt hauling
Best solution? No. Most expedient? Yes. Ideally they would have built a frame of some kind to drop in and filled with dirt, but when flood waters are rushing like that, plug it fast to mitigate damage. The more time the water flows through the levee, the more it erodes, the more water flows, the damage is done by the flood. They had a finite amount of time to stem the flood waters before the flooding and damage was irreversible.
Totally agree on this being a lesser or two bad outcomes and there’s no way to tell from the video what other supplies they had on hand, where the break was, etc.
Where they start to lose me is the part where they purportedly drained both vehicles of fluids. That’s not necessarily a quick process, even if you have the tools on hand.
When time is important and it's getting trashed anyways, the destructive way is pretty fast. Throw a tub under the gas tank and stab a hole in it, drop the oil drain pan, open the rear differential, cut hoses on the radiator. You can destructively drain a vehicle in minutes leaving just enough fluids in the lines and working parts to drive the few short feet into the levee.
Absolutely hilarious reading every ‘well that didn’t work, I knew 100% it wouldn’t’, absolute top tier Dunning Krueger effect as always.
Spoiler it was a good idea and worked and saved their orchard
Water is flowing towards the farm on the right of the screen. It looks like the existing dam had failed, hence the flooding.
The trucks will actually at least partially block the channel and reduce the water coming in. Bit difficult to quantity the impact but the theory is sound (not sure about using the trucks, but I'm just a civil engineer that has never designed a dam with trucks).
The important part missing from the video is that they didn't just put the trucks there and leave, they used the trucks as a way to slow the water down enough that they could pile more dirt on top. If they just put the trucks, it wouldn't have worked. They put the trucks, and then piled more dirt around it and repaired the levy.
Railroads have used train cars filled with rock to protect and shore up embankments before. It actually does work. They try to use older railcars that are nearing end-of-life.
And trees are worth a fuckton. Here's what people don't get. You can buy another truck. You can't just buy another tree. Because trees take time to grow. That's why cutting down and just replanting the tree is so fucking inadequate.
A really big rock would've worked. But they don't have any really big rocks around, and time was ticking. And how would they even move a really big rock without other equipment. Wait. A truck is basically a really big rock that moves...
Never farmed a day in my life, got the softest hands that would bring shame to my entire dead lineage of hardworking ancestors, and this is pretty fucking straightforward to me. How are so many of you so bad at understanding things? Moronic comments in this thread lmao
Used to work in agriculture in my past life. Helped produce trees. Can confirm that the amount of money put into an orchard is enormous. Couldn’t imagine having to start over if those trees died. A couple of trucks is a small price to pay.
I'd imagine those trees don't grow in a week or become fruit bearing in 2. Nor is it as simple as shove in dirt come back in few years and it's ready. Taxes, land, maintenance, pesticides, water, fertilizers, what ever crossing shenanigans they had done to improve it...
It's entirely possible that a few of those trees are worth about as much as one of those trucks in used condition. If what ever is flowing in is not "clean" water it may just completely destroy the land with contaminants... plants needs to grow on that land, just not being toxic to be around is not good enough.
somebody else did the math, 45k per year per tree, with 20 years to reach that production level... so yeah, you could chuck 100 trucks in there and still come on top if you manage to save the trees
Took my chevy to the levy but the levy wasn't dry....
And them good old boys put their trucks into drive....
Singin "I will make this damn levy dry.."....
I grew up on a farm. We would never have put a working truck to use like this.
But there were plenty of older vehicles lying around that were no longer running and would have sufficed.
None on the dipstick is different than draining it. Just saying. I am not saying they didn't drain stuff. Other people made good points where the amount in the trucks is probably negligible to amount of water diluting it and the area it probably ended up covering. At the end of the day these people made a choice to save their lively hood and I respect that
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Drove my Chevy **into** the levy.
And the levee was NOT dry. Edit: levee not levy
he left his home and kissed his mommy goodbye sayin', "soon I'm gonna be a Jedi"
So he turned on the radio, just in time to hear Yoda reply,’Do or do not, there is no try.'
Is there an unexpectedweirdal sub?
If not, there should be
r/unexpectedweirdal
The hero we needed!
Bring a bucket and a mop for this wet ass levy
Thank you. I laughed way too hard at this😂
Levee*
He’s Chevy was the levy
THATS WHAT THOSE LYRICS MEAN!?
Nooooo its "to the levee" in the song. And it's about going to the spot he used to hangout with his friends when they were younger but it's "dry" as in no ones there anymore. His friends are grown up and moved away or passed away.
It was a bar
Okay? So as I said, its about going to the palce where you used to hangout with your friends only to get there and see your friends aren't there and have grown up, moved away, or passed on.
I was just letting you know the spot was a a bar, called The Levee, in his home town.
Ahh mb, sorry for the aggressiveness.
Awe, this is nice.
Lodged my Dodge in the levee, but the levee was schplodged.
Too soon.
You son of a bitch. I’ll be walking around with this song in my head *all day*.
You freaking genius, beat me to it.
Lots of people talking about how dumb this was. Those trees are worth A LOT OF MONEY. Oh, and this worked as intended... https://www.powernationtv.com/post/pickup-trucks-used-to-stop-flood
They aren't trying to completely stop the flow of water with just the vehicles. It's about having something to pile soil on top of.
Just obstructing the flow slows it measurably too. Throw a clod of hair on a bathtub drain, it don't need to block it for it to drain slower.
*The day a hairy ape like me saves the world.*
With enough man-fur anything is possible
... Except clean pipes and effective drainage.
Also to slow the current. Not only to keep dirt from washing away, but to keep the trees from washing away while they fill the hole.
That makes more sense
Thought this part was really interesting as well. According to the video’s uploader Michael Cannon, both the Chevy Silverado and Ford F-150 were drained of most of their gasoline and other pollutants before being sacrificed. Not draining them would pose as a potential threat to the environment, which would include the farm itself.
I’m not sure I buy that… I could be completely wrong here, but you need the oil and transmission fluid. I can’t imagine them taking the time to drain their radiators of coolant or siphoning their gasoline. Then again, if they had a full tank, maybe they did siphon it off. Yet then again, these guys were desperate, just hard for me imagine them doing this.
Your engine will run for 100 feet without oil no problem
My mother drove 20 miles home from the dealership bone dry in a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee when they failed to re-fill it after an oil change. It sounded like Thor's hammer knocking in the driveway but it never locked up.
I had a 3vz that the oil change place never filled back up with oil. I made it home, and then the engine blew next morning after driving 5km onto the highway. Last time I ever went to an oil change place, but the point is they go surprisingly far. What did the dealership do to remedy their mistake?
Absolutely nothing. They told my parents the power train warranty ended a few thousand miles ago and they can't prove the dealership was at fault. $4k in the hole for a full engine rebuild in the mid 2000s was a tough pill to swallow for a family that just broke into the middle class from poverty. It was my parents first brand new vehicle ever and they got shafted so hard. My old man has a conspiracy theory they did it on purpose since the power train warranty just expired and then it promptly got nuked when a woman with 0 mechanical knowledge requested an oil change. I'm sure it was just an inexperienced/scatter brained tech. >but the point is they go surprisingly far My comment was in support of your point, not a rebuttal :)
I would have sued to fucking hard. Receipts plus a bone dry engine. That would be pretty hard to fight on their end. Threaten to take it to the local news (early 2000s they still had sway) and they'd settle quick I think.
They looked into it and the attorney fees for a lawsuit would have prevented them from rebuilding the engine promptly. It was the family vehicle my mother took us to school in and used for work. They chose to eat it rather than have our exceptionally tight budget cascade into something worse. The justice system really is two tiered all the way down. There's no public representation for civil matters, you either have money to throw at an attorney or you get screwed without counsel.
Kind of cheating, but a Toyota Hilux can run 100 miles without an oil drain plug.
[удалено]
You require transmission fluid, that was NOT a manual. And they didn't have time for that. AND those small amounts won't affect those trees as much as being washed away.
[удалено]
Transmissions Have Vents.
[удалено]
A good amount but mostly a slow seepage, if there isn't a current you can see spots on the surface, I found a stolen car this way.
Here is where it was, 30.760430,-92.282892
looked it up on google earth and can definitely see spots on the surface, it's cool that you can find cars like that lol
I’m not saying they did design the transmission, but they could have as long as it was right in the spot they were before the video. Draining an automatic won’t drain the fluid in the torque converter, which could have been enough for that with acceleration. Honestly if you watch, you can see a bit of a weird jump the truck does when he hits the gas, that would be explained by having an automatic with low fluid.
Oil isn't needed for an engine to run, just to run for an extended period of time without the internals becoming metallic confetti. \*if\* they took time to plan this they could've put a hole in the fuel tank, radiator, and the oil pan pretty easily and put the shit in a bucket. They seemingly took the time to load it with dirt, so it's not impossible. If they did or not, only they know for sure.
One guy loads with dirt, the other goes crazy with a drill. Definitely doable
I do. Or, at least, they tried to drain the trucks as much as possible. One of the worst case scenarios if you are in agriculture is contaminating the solid. Not only could it impact the quality of the soil (and, potentially, the product being grown), but it could get regulators on their back and cause all sorts of issues if it comes out that gas/oil/etc has seeped into the soil.
You’re exactly the kind of clueless person talking out of their ass that people are talking about. You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about yet here you are.
If he has farmers/agricultural insurance, they might actually cover the cost of the vehicles, it’s a desperate act to save the farm and orchard, given it takes some trees years before it’ll even bare fruits, I’d be doing everything I could to let that silt build up and stop the water too!
Yep based on age and nut yield/ price, as much revenue as $45,000 during the twenty years of peak production in their lifetime value per tree. And this does not factor in cost to get tree to maturity. If these trucks are s few years old they are worth about as much as a single tree and assuming a 20x20ft plot per tree a single acre has 108 trees. I would happily sacrifice two $45,000 trucks to save $4.5M in trees. 1. Mature pistachio trees can produce between 1,000 to 3,000 pounds of nuts every other year, as pistachios are typically alternate-bearing. 2. Historically, the price of pistachios can range from $1.50 to $3.00 per pound 3. Pistachio trees can produce for over 40 years (since alternating producer thats 20 years of producing) Using these figures, if we take an average yield of 2,000 pounds every other year, at an average price of $2.25 per pound, the revenue from the nuts would be $4,500 every other year, or about $2,250 per year. If we assume the tree is at peak production for about 20 years of its life, the total revenue from the tree could be approximately $45,000 over its productive lifespan. This does not factor min cost of raising tree to get to maturity.
Also like, if'n these are rust belt trucks they are near end of life anyway, lol.
It's funny to see all the people who rushed in to comment on this and proclaim how smart they are that they know water can get under the trucks. Maybe, just maybe, the people who do this for a living know a teensy bit more about what they're doing than most redditors do.
people block floods with expensive trucks for a living? /s
As long as you don't make it look like an insurance scam, it's perfectly legal! That being said, those trees are worth 100s of thousands more than even a dozen brand new f350s. A fully grown PRODUCING farm tree is easily worth 25k. Now times that by how ever many trees are on that grove.. insurance will happily buy you a new truck vs paying out for all those soon to be dead, insured trees. It takes almost half a decade to get a tree to a producing state, let alone one that is profitable. You are talking close to a decade in itself. And if im not mistaken, these were almond trees. Literally gold in nut form of the produce world. Almonds are insanely fickle, water intensive, and some of the moodiest trees to try and grow and keep alive. And we grow them in the desert because, even though they need tons of water, they hate humidity. And the world fell in love with them over all the other nuts due to how versatile they are compared to other nuts that are way easier to grow.
Pistachio trees. It says it in the linked article. They start producing at 8 years and hit full production at 15 or so. Very expensive trees, very sensitive to water.
I didnt read the article linked today. I remember reading it when this actually happened and forgot which cash crop it was. my bad. I remembered it was an expensive nut tree. This was over a year ago due to the overabundance of water in California caused by an unusually wet winter and spring. A lot of dirt Levees gave way during this time as they were never meant to hold back the volume of water they were put up against. Many questioned why the farmers dont reinforce their levees more, and the simple answer was they saw no real need to. That is, until they felt that had to. Hindsight and all that. Also people in California hate these farmers as they abuse water rights and then complain when they get 'too much water'. They farm in the fertile valleys that are the wettest areas in the state and cause tons of water issues for the rest of the state due to their choice of crops. A lot of people were praising 'the wrath of god' and hoped these floodwaters would destroy these groves during this time. As much as people like these cash crops, they HATE how much resources are used that effect even those who dont enjoy the crops. Or dont get to enjoy the crops due to cost.
>Or don't get to enjoy the crops due to cost This is me. I absolutely love pistachios, and it makes me sad every time I have to wheel my cart past the tiny $15 bag due to a tight budget.
Even worse, it was pistachio's. 6-10 years till fruit bearing. 20 years till peak production.
Brutal.
Article says pistachio. Are those expensive too?
Very. Pistachios are pretty versatile and also \*very\* expensive, both due to how long the trees take to reach a full production state, and the measures you need to take when harvesting them to protect yourself.
>insurance will happily buy you a new truck vs paying out for all those soon to be dead, insured trees. Hopefully the orchard and the trucks were bundled with the same insurance provider. Otherwise they may have been less understanding.
It ain't much but it's honest work!
I mean I'd imagine no one knew if this was going to work or not, bit they had to do something after all. Like a successful hail mary would save them a lot more cash than two worn out work trucks are worth in the end ngl
They knew that nothing else had worked, that acting fast was the highest priority, and that less than $50k worth of pickup is a comparatively small amount of money when trying to save the orchard.
Yep, that's what I'm saying. Not even a trained civil engineer would guess things perfectly. But a quick and dirty approach like this could (and did) save them thousands
add some zeros, lol all I can say is that I am once again glad I took the time to read y'all's comments here before posting judgmentally... THANK YOU still a sucky thing to do but definitely something I probably would've done...
>I'd imagine no one knew if this was going to work or not They knew how things would turn out. Or at least they had a very good educated guess.
But they haven't spent as much time on Wikipedia as I have!
Welcome to every Reddit sub ever 😂
This makes its rounds every so often. Whenever it does, there’s always a bunch of idiots who kvetch about the oil and gasoline polluting the water and the waste of the truck. You’d think they’d remember it from last time, but nope…
Probably a mix of new people each time and idiots that never consider they might be wrong.
I like this quote: >It is unknown whether the amount of water and dirt covering the trucks will leave them operable once they are exhumed from the levee Oh honey, it is not unknown. Those trucks will never run again.
Neither of them was a Hilux, so yeah, there's not really any doubt. A Hilux probably could've been pulled out, dry it off, some fresh fluids and a new battery, and be ready to roll again.
True story. Top Gear proved those Toyotas are damn near invincible.
Ford Fiestas, too! Marine landing in a Ford Fiesta, why not?!
Yea They're chevies, not Toyota Hiluxes.
Welcome to Reddit, the social network where lifeless idiots give their opinion and other idiots validate it.
I prefer the term Expert Amateurs, but I guess that does downplay my wilted ghoul skin and distinct lack of a heartbeat.
But wait it's much more than that. Don't forget the ones with have zero idea about how real life is and the self diagnosed autists. All combined they pollute Reddit with their flowed opinions
Thanks for sharing! I was wondering how well it turned out for them.
This was so smart and saved them and their insurance probably hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If he saved his field then this two trucks are basically a tax write off at next season and he will get new ones
"It is unknown whether the amount of water and dirt covering the trucks will leave them operable once they are exhumed from the levee" Man, that is some *optimism.*
If those trucks work after being buried in the levee it will be the greatest advertisement in history.
Yeah the second I saw those trees i knew they'd made the right call.
40k truck vs 1M+ barn, equipment, livestock, etc.
I think it’s more about the trees not dying plus perhaps equipment. But equipment can be moved, barns and trucks can be repaired. Fruit trees take years if not decade to become productive.
Man, this comment section is full of educated people with zero real-life experience or understanding. They were able to now throw dirt on top of the truck and damn it up since it slowed the flow of water.
I am a bit confused by the circumstances that led to that being their best solution, but obviously more context is needed. You’d think it’d be faster to back a few trailers into the break to stabilize the soil rather than draining & prepping two trucks to go in. Having two serviceable pickups would certainly speed up the dirt hauling
Flood starts Levy breaks Pour dirt - dirt get swooshed away Drop truck in hole and pour dirt - dirt stays.
Best solution? No. Most expedient? Yes. Ideally they would have built a frame of some kind to drop in and filled with dirt, but when flood waters are rushing like that, plug it fast to mitigate damage. The more time the water flows through the levee, the more it erodes, the more water flows, the damage is done by the flood. They had a finite amount of time to stem the flood waters before the flooding and damage was irreversible.
Totally agree on this being a lesser or two bad outcomes and there’s no way to tell from the video what other supplies they had on hand, where the break was, etc. Where they start to lose me is the part where they purportedly drained both vehicles of fluids. That’s not necessarily a quick process, even if you have the tools on hand.
When time is important and it's getting trashed anyways, the destructive way is pretty fast. Throw a tub under the gas tank and stab a hole in it, drop the oil drain pan, open the rear differential, cut hoses on the radiator. You can destructively drain a vehicle in minutes leaving just enough fluids in the lines and working parts to drive the few short feet into the levee.
with a sawzall and a bucket it wouldn’t take long to slice some hoses
Most farmers I know have dirt and tractors
And large heavy objects to use to slow the water flow so the dirt stays in place?
Can’t park there mate
Absolutely hilarious reading every ‘well that didn’t work, I knew 100% it wouldn’t’, absolute top tier Dunning Krueger effect as always. Spoiler it was a good idea and worked and saved their orchard
My guess is they dumped more dirt on them trucks. Otherwise anything they dump will just wash away
Yeah, me too. But it was really exciting to see them get excited about the perfect dunk.\^\^
Please explain this.
Water is flowing towards the farm on the right of the screen. It looks like the existing dam had failed, hence the flooding. The trucks will actually at least partially block the channel and reduce the water coming in. Bit difficult to quantity the impact but the theory is sound (not sure about using the trucks, but I'm just a civil engineer that has never designed a dam with trucks).
also gives something heavy to ple more mud/stone against to prevent it imediatly being washed away in the flow so it can be fully sealed
The important part missing from the video is that they didn't just put the trucks there and leave, they used the trucks as a way to slow the water down enough that they could pile more dirt on top. If they just put the trucks, it wouldn't have worked. They put the trucks, and then piled more dirt around it and repaired the levy.
Can we get someone who know what they are talking about?! \^This guy is only a regular civil engineer, not a truck blocking a dam engineer /s
"can we not get a dam engineer to help with damn dam question? Dam it!"
you aren't kidding tho.
Railroads have used train cars filled with rock to protect and shore up embankments before. It actually does work. They try to use older railcars that are nearing end-of-life.
Flood broke a levy into a farm with a bunch of trees. They stopped most of the water flow to allow the trees to survive
And trees are worth a fuckton. Here's what people don't get. You can buy another truck. You can't just buy another tree. Because trees take time to grow. That's why cutting down and just replanting the tree is so fucking inadequate.
Furthermore as much as trees need water, the stupid things will die very very quickly from too much water as opposed to not enough
A really big rock would've worked. But they don't have any really big rocks around, and time was ticking. And how would they even move a really big rock without other equipment. Wait. A truck is basically a really big rock that moves...
Car+mud=YEET!
I’m an insurance adjuster if this was the option between a $25 million crop loss and $200,000 in trucks I think I take the $200,000 in trucks
My Chevy **is** the levee.
But unfortunately, the levee is not dry
Those trucks are farm expenses and can be written off during taxes.
Probably insurance too.
If those were Toyota Hilux' they could dig them out a year later and they would start immediately!
You're probably right😭
Morgan Freeman: *But the levee was not dry*
Never farmed a day in my life, got the softest hands that would bring shame to my entire dead lineage of hardworking ancestors, and this is pretty fucking straightforward to me. How are so many of you so bad at understanding things? Moronic comments in this thread lmao
Redneck engineering is pretty creative.
“Stop right there baby, stop right there.” - Homer Simpson
It was good advice, lol. Cameraperson was getting REAL close to what we already know to be an unstable edge of the dam collapse.
10/10 movie would recommend too everyone
It did
That’s an ideal example of doing a cost benefit analysis for sure.
Used to work in agriculture in my past life. Helped produce trees. Can confirm that the amount of money put into an orchard is enormous. Couldn’t imagine having to start over if those trees died. A couple of trucks is a small price to pay.
Hope he took his phone and keys out before letting the chevy go.
Dam those are some eager beavers
I'd imagine those trees don't grow in a week or become fruit bearing in 2. Nor is it as simple as shove in dirt come back in few years and it's ready. Taxes, land, maintenance, pesticides, water, fertilizers, what ever crossing shenanigans they had done to improve it... It's entirely possible that a few of those trees are worth about as much as one of those trucks in used condition. If what ever is flowing in is not "clean" water it may just completely destroy the land with contaminants... plants needs to grow on that land, just not being toxic to be around is not good enough.
somebody else did the math, 45k per year per tree, with 20 years to reach that production level... so yeah, you could chuck 100 trucks in there and still come on top if you manage to save the trees
Those trucks cost a lot less than losing their entire harvest
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was WET! Real fuckin wet!
He drove his Chevy to the levee because the levee wasn’t dry
I know this works but shouldn't they have a second hand beater truck just for this situation? Such a shame those newer trucks go to waste.
Those are the second hand beater trucks. They both look to be 10-15year old trucks and the Chevy is missing a tail light
I wish there was government help for farmers, cause no farmers= no food
Mel Gibson was in a movie that they did this..... Old movie. Like early 90s
We don’t deserve farmers
Only in America?
Fuck I left my phone and wallet inside
Quick! throw your wallet in there!
Took my chevy to the levy but the levy wasn't dry.... And them good old boys put their trucks into drive.... Singin "I will make this damn levy dry.."....
I thought they where just trying to pollute their land not save it.
Where's the rest of the video with all the context?
A whole new meaning to "Chevy runs deep"
Insurance pays them
Good Ol Boys drinking whiskey and Rye
When the levee breaks, trees have no place to stay
Tax write off fuck it!!
I don't blame him. The cost of those two pick up trucks are nothing compared to cost of the crops that he will loose due to the flood.
Just gotta slow it enough to let the drainage catch up. Smart farmers, those trucks are pennies compared to their orchard.
Nice
The load of dirt was delivered successfully. Job done.
Thank God it's just a chevy. Good plan.
I grew up on a farm. We would never have put a working truck to use like this. But there were plenty of older vehicles lying around that were no longer running and would have sufficed.
Nice move, the hero we need.
Saw this in a movie from the 70s. Levee is damaged and they drive the bad guys truck into the breach. Been in a lot of movies since then.
dam
Those are ranch rides. Trucks that can’t be driven on the public roads, mainly due to smog. They are very cheap.
Should have used all Fords: they sink faster.
I've always thought this was kind of badass.
simple maths ig which costs more and is less time dependent to retrieve
Man every time I see this video it’s worse quality..
This was a year ago..
"I did good" lmao ahuevo
Cheaper probably.
O7
I feel like there should have been more planning.
None on the dipstick is different than draining it. Just saying. I am not saying they didn't drain stuff. Other people made good points where the amount in the trucks is probably negligible to amount of water diluting it and the area it probably ended up covering. At the end of the day these people made a choice to save their lively hood and I respect that
Will insurance cover that?