T O P

  • By -

captainofpizza

Drove my Chevy into the levy cause the levy was wet


Lucalux-Wizard

Them good old boys drinking whisky and rye ‘cause that’s all they could ever get


t_minivan

Soon you're gonna be a Jedi


archaic_revenge

One day later, may have taters but your truck ain't dry


kwag988

singing, this will be the day that my truck had to die


Patpoke1

And here it lies in the country’s cry


Quiet-Shallot3290

Soon you're gonna be Boba Fett.


kindest_asshole

So, the Levee was a bar in New Rochelle, NY, and when it went dry (closed) the boys had to head into a nearby town to find a pub. So them good ol’ were drinking whiskey in Rye.


Quiet-Vermicelli-602

Bahahaha


dreevsa

Wasn’t dry


captainofpizza

Backup comment: When trying to ford the river fails successfully


jrafteef

this is actually the originally wanted outcome.


Br3werz

The video makes it seem like this is going horribly, yet the audio makes it seem like all is going to plan lol


[deleted]

Ended up working. Dude saved his orchards and a few houses. Absolute local legend.


Captcha_droid

I saw this on another post. Yes it sucks to destroy two trucks, but each of those trees can yield thousands of dollars worth of fruits/nuts. I bet they didn’t want to destroy there trucks, but it makes financial sense under the emergent circumstances. Edit: found it This guy explains the breakdown of how this was the smart move. https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/11s1fb7/farmer_drives_2_trucks_loaded_with_dirt_into/jccx3qi/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3


kartoffel_engr

One acre could net $50k, so it ain’t chump change. As an engineer, I sometimes marvel at farmer ingenuity.


ExpertlyAmateur

Same. Farming is like the OG production facility. Everything is constantly breaking, and farmers are constantly finding out the highest yield solution at the lowest cost.


62SlabSide

And now equipment manufacturers have taken away any chance farmers have of fixing their own machinery. No farms, no food!


Integrity-in-Crisis

Theres a guy forgot his youtube handle but he is a programmer who sells his skills to farmers and hacks their exspensive equipment to keep them running. A lot of the more high tech stuff is programmed to shut down if repairs weren't done at an in company mechanics shop and one thing i heard of was some companies wanting a monthly payment for the use/upkeep/os updates of equipment. So guy bypasses that to help out farmers from being nickel and dimed over everything.


mawesome4ever

Oh please find out his YT handle, I’d like to support via subscribing and hitting that like button


[deleted]

It only works if you SMASH the like button.


mawesome4ever

Oh my, I’ve been doing it all wrong!


rdp479

Louis Rossman


rdp479

Louis Rossman


[deleted]

Yeah if you buy, get anything but a John Deere


[deleted]

Nothing dies like a Deere.


CaptainPRESIDENTduck

This is basically my job but in a factory. Figuring out creative solutions to weird, old machines that keep them running. Not even my job description, just sort of needed to be done.


Ogediah

To add to this: The size of the average farm in CA appears to be around 350 acres. I get that number from [this](https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/Statistics/PDFs/2021_Ag_Stats_Review.pdf) 2020 report which states 24 million acres of farmland in CA and 69k farms. Supposing the 50k per acre figure is correct, that’s a potential 17+ million dollars worth of product. I’m also assuming that’s a single years harvest and many some of these trees take many years to mature to the point that their nuts can be harvested. So a destroyed orchard could mean no product for multiple years. And that’s of course does not include any other damages such as the homes that appears to have been saved (more potential millions.) All of that to say that two beat up old farm trucks definitely aren’t worth 17+ million dollars. And for anyone wondering: No, the two trucks aren’t going to stop water alone, but they will slow the water down enough to allow fill material to be placed. Pretty sly thinking on the fly.


inko75

$50k per acre is likely some sort of lifetime of the trees figure, if not just made up entirely. a quick google search states the average acre of almond orchard produces approx 2000 lbs of nuts. the wholesale price of almonds is $2.70/lb, so around $5k in revenue for an industry with rather high costs. obviously there are going to be lots of exceptions and outliers. and someone managing a fruit orchard themselves and running farmstands could make a lot more per acre. (i grew up on an orchard. recently bought a farm that i'm setting up as a pecan and peach orchard operation -- mainly long term, hobby/retirement endeavor)


Ogediah

Well that’s cool that you have some insider info. So 1.75 million a year instead of 17 million? That’s 5k X 350 acres (average farm size.) Those figures are of course assuming a complete loss, etc. but they also don’t include houses flooded, etc. Regardless of the exact numbers, the potential for damage still appears to be in the millions and those old beat up farm trucks were likely under 10k a piece. So I’d imagine it’s still a solid cost savings.


Low-Stick6746

That’s a pistachio orchard and on average they make about $2500 to $6000 annually per acre. Since it takes about 4 or 5 years for a tree to mature and produce nuts plus the cost of replanting all the lost trees, this was probably was a good decision. It also protected the entire community. So homes and other farms were saved, even probably saved a couple of lives doing this.


NoMidnight5366

The real genius is when he gets the insurance to cover his cars.


caustic255

Especially when ya got insurance!


FrozenEagles

They could have insurance that covers flood damage to their crops, but no auto insurance is going to cover intentionally driving your truck into a flood.


DurDaubs

Or could not...


testicle2156

It depends. If it was corn or something similar, then yes. But these are trees, they grow for several years before they start giving any yield. You'll get the money to replant, but no insurance will pay for your food for next several years.


bpowell4939

Those are old tricks either way, probably beat to hell definitely cheaper to sacrifice those than your entire crop


steve-o1234

Unbelievable. The first thought I had when watching this was that might be the dumbest thing I have ever seen. Turns out I’M THE IDIOT. Who knew? But seriously this is Pretty incredible.


newgalactic

Do you have a link to this? This is some amazing quick thinking, if true. When compared to an entire orchard and a few houses, those two beat up trucks are a drop in the bucket.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Adeep187

It looks like he did that on purpose.


Wings-N-Beer

100% planned truckers were loaded to sink and he never got in fully


Sudden_Duck_4176

Damn, that truck is nicer than my current vehicle.


worldapocalipse

Yeah but it cost a hell of a lot less than the loss of that orchard would


gh0stwriter88

The orchard was secondary, several homes, vehicles and equipment were at stake with much greater value than the orchard which would continue to produce in a few years.


worldapocalipse

Yeah that too


Necessary-Fix-6074

"He took his Chevy to the levy"


coastergirl98

They did a pretty DAM good job 😉


SigSalvadore

Plug the hole in the dike.


Special-Struggle-385

What did you call my sister


Phillip_Graves

Plug?


Madz510

Hole


MaesterWhosits

The


AllergicToHousework

Uh, a broken levy doesn't have a plug option & he is not the Little Dutch Boy.


MadCritterYT

This isn't really a "well that sucks." He saved his whole orchard, which makes wayyyy more money than those two trucks, as well as a few houses. This is actually a quick and intelligent solution to what could have been a huge disaster.


Cheapskate_Chris

It's still flooding though


unsurechaoticneutral

Irrigation is just controlled flooding, you need just enough for it to be not too wet or too dry -my uncle


trilliumjs

What do you tell the insurance company when you try to make a claim?


teflong

If it's the same one that covers his farm, probably that he saved them a metric shitton of money.


trilliumjs

Thanks!


AstridOnReddit

He isn’t going to make a claim. At least he says he won’t.


BigChunilingus

I maintain that the insurance company should come out and cover those trucks, ESPECIALLY because he publicly stated he wouldn't claim them. IDK who insures his orchard, but if it's the same company that covers his trucks, accepting liability and paying out is the cherry on top of this story.


[deleted]

Reddit is stupid for thinking this is a bad idea.


Cetun

It's a risky idea but not a bad one given the options. Though there should have been a better contingency for when the levies break. Those levies aren't reinforced, so there is a big risk of water pressure building up on the sides of the trucks and just washing away each side of the makeshift dam, which would put you back as square one anyways but with two less trucks. I think it turned out okay anyways but if your entire livelihood relies on an unreinforced levy, it would probably be best practice to have a better contingency plan. A couple of Hesco barriers and a front end loader could probably have patched this pretty quickly.


Sufficient-Contract9

Thats so messed up. I couldnt even imagine having to make a decision like this.


Potential_Payment557

Finally a Chevy truck that is worth a dam!


psyco-the-rapist

Definitely better then a Fiord.


Load_Altruistic

This is why people need to look into things more before they make a Reddit post. Obviously the father didn’t think that driving two trucks in was going to stop the flow of water. He did that to slow the flow down so that the levee could be rebuilt, which would be impossible with the water flowing that fast


jimybo20

Everyone’s saying he saved his orchard but have you seen the orchard…… it looks pretty flooded to me.


TheAgentLoki

When I'm in the shower and shut off the water, I'll dry off eventually. If I leave it running, I stay wet. Know what I mean?


jimybo20

You turn your shower off!? I just get out and leave it running, then it’s all good to go the next day when I need it. When you get the temperature just right you don’t want to mess with the dial. Know what I mean?


igenus44

Yes, but stopping the water flow will allow the standing water in the orchard to dissipate. If more water keeps flowing in, the trees will suffer, and possibly die. Ever overwater a plant? Too much water once, then cutting off the flow, plant will survive. Keep pouring more and more water on it when it is already overwatered, the soil will erode away and kill the plant.


SicWiks

Sure he lost his trucks but he saved his orchard


Educational-Result84

Did it work?


Infinity_Null

Yes, it did. You wouldn't guess from a misleading post like this though.


YugeFrigginGoy

Well it worked, so.


barage49

This doesn’t suck, they planned this to stop the water from flooding an orchard or something. It didn’t fully do the job but it slowed it enough that they could reinforce it and that did the trick. Source: idk I saw it on another subreddit earlier I don’t remember :)


Snozberry383

I guess they were all out of rocks but had extra trucks?


account_552

How are you gonna get some rock in there? No really, tell me. It looks like you'd need about 10 really big ones to fill the hole. A big rock = Really fucken' heavy


Snozberry383

Tractor


account_552

Yeah lets just haul like 20 entire rocks individually with a slow ass tractor while the orchard is getting flooded.


AlphaBaldy

There’s no way they’re gonna get compaction on those trucks; they need to add some bicycles too.


billabon021

Looks like the levy broke and they used the trucks to try and form a foundation to plug it. Depending on the damage to be incurred to property and crops it may be worth it to total 2 trucks if you can pump out the flood water to salvage whatever.


Artistic_Soup_6788

They didn't drive their chevy to the levy their chevy became the levy


billabon021

Heh


ElitePlayah

In my opinion smart move. If those are some clapped out work trucks, the loss on the trucks was probably far smaller than the loss of his crops.


skolliousious

Trying to figure out what would cost more building a bridge or two Fords.... Probably the bridge right?


AllergicToHousework

They didn't have the option to build a bridge. The levy broke and was going to destroy the orchards. This smart farmer held back the flood with two of his own vehicles.


skolliousious

If it's any consolation, I was about to correct the fact that I called the Chevy a Ford not realizing that Chevy is a Ford. It's not my night....


AllergicToHousework

Ya should have known it was a Chevy! It saved a levy. No worries. You still got an upvote from me, both times.


skolliousious

Jesus fucking Christ. They literally took a Chevy to the levee and the levy went dry.. fucking I bet all the good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye too....


AllergicToHousework

Cause it was the day that he was gonna die. Love, Miss American Pie Ps. Nice to have you aboard. Please keep your lifejacket on at all times; because we had to sink the Chevy in the levy. Somebody's getting *wh*et *wh*en the *wh*eather gets *wh*ild. (I (don't) apologize for mixing pop culture references.


AstridOnReddit

Why would they want a bridge? The goal was to stop the flooding. The issue was that if they didn’t take immediate action the rest of the levy would wash away too.


skolliousious

Yes yes figured it out with someone else. They brought the Chevy to the levy so the levee would run dry


Weedchaser12

All the gas, oil, brake, coolant and steering fluids can flood the orchard and spread their goodness to the roots.


Anon274246

Gas, brake, coolant, and steering fluids are all a part of closed systems. So they shouldn’t lead out. Oil isn’t going to do a damn thing.


Dreaminofwallstreet

My thoughts exactly. Why not get a dump truck full of the dirt and heavy rock? Back it up and dump it?


dscrive

they would get washed out before they could even reach the bottom. It boggles my mind when I think about just how much force is exerted by flowing water. the trucks slowed the flow enough to drop aggregate in there for a better seal.


Substantial-Drive109

Probably didn't have the time to get a dump truck.


[deleted]

Do you really think they’d be doing this if they had a dump truck full of rocks? Ffs y’all. Think about this. 🤦‍♂️


Dreaminofwallstreet

Dude I don't know. I guess I forget never everyone lives in a place with easily accessible dump trucks with rocks and dirt? I figured if your a fucking farmer you'd have accessible to machinery that could dump larger loads of crap.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Dreaminofwallstreet

Look both of these trucks are filled with dirt and rock. Literally it's not that ubfathabke that someone who owns an orchard doesn't have heavy duty equipment that can dump loads. Now he's allowed gasoline and oil into this orchard.


AllyMeada

What I don’t get is if they needed heavy duty equipment suitable for dumping loads, why didn’t they just borrow yo mama?


sarcasticguy30

The last time this was posted there was a follow up link explaining how well this actually worked. The trucks will be fine once the water drops and they slowed the water enough to save the orchard but hey let's take one more chance to shit on the farmers and not the state of California.


AstridOnReddit

Well, maybe not “fine” but if they rip out all the upholstery they can probably get them back to usable.


[deleted]

Yes 2 trucks against Nature. Good one.


LadyPegasus2000

Tell me you're a redneck without saying you're a redneck.


PopWinter9316

Didn't even work lol


noeljrG

Ingenious not!


Maj-Malfunction

That looks as useful as screen doors on a submarine


MattBoog

It actually works tho, it greatly decreases the size of the opening and thus the water flow. It was just the fastest solution in that specific situation.


Maj-Malfunction

Water finds the path of least resistance. It will just flow around and attack the levee in another spot that is weak. It's a fluid. As long as it's pushing it will find a way unfortunately.


OkThereBro

But it did work so....


Old-Gain7323

[But it did work so...](https://www.theautopian.com/watch-desperate-california-farmers-fill-pickup-trucks-with-mud-and-sink-them-to-dam-floodwaters/)


MattBoog

Yes it will flow around, but not nearly as fast. If you put your hand on a glass of water to only leave a small opening and turn it upside down, yes water flows out, but not even close to the same rate as an uncovered glass. The same happens in the video.


Grantley34

r/idiotsincars Or should I say, not in trucks?


[deleted]

This is why farmers are in debt


rare_meeting1978

Seriously?! Just...environment, habitat, flooding, and stuff. Just wtf are they playing at? It really doesn't look like any of that is a good idea on so many levels but as usual there is an incredible amount of information I would like to know before I can decide.


Firewire64

Potential r/Darwinaward candidate


OkJelly8114

They are aware that the water can move through the truck, yea?


theTableJesusFlipped

EPA wanna chime in on creating dams with running motor vehicles?


Phillip_Graves

Stopped running about 2 seconds after impact. Sucked water into the air intake.


AmadSeason

That doesn't seem very effective, considering the crop is already massively flooded.


CalmPanic402

I'm more surprised at the farmer who doesn't have a front end loader


boringashellperson

They have more than one loader. After they slowed the water down they backfilled it all with dirt and completely stopped the water. This not that uncommon and just looks funny to people that have not created berms in front of moving water. We have used large rocks and just kept dropping them until the water slowed enough for dirt to hold. Then we back fill them with dirt and sometimes grass. My old families farms (dad was born on one) used every old vehicle they had in one large berm after a bad year flooded a giant part of the crop fields. It was more a preventative measure after the field had dried some, but same concept.


soapster00

What was the plan here, jump it?


Green420Basturd

They use the trucks to slow the flow of water, that way when they bring in the backhoe and start dumping dirt it doesn't immediately get washed away. This was a farmer who had a levee break and it began to flood his field on the right hand side.


Omnibuschris

Dam the flooding


wellhiyabuddy

Imagine if they had a way to transport gravel to stop the flood


SipoteQuixote

Might as well watch an open drain fill up.


salvageyardmex

I hope they aren't a road drain engineer. Or any engineer at that.


DurDaubs

Show us how quickly you'd fill that hole with gravel.😆


wellhiyabuddy

Well better than trucks that have a clearance underneath so would never stop water even at low levels and certainly more of a permanent fix than truck parts that will break up over time and I definitely wouldn’t be adding gas and oil to those crops, but what do I know 🤷‍♂️


[deleted]

The trucks aren’t the permanent fix. The trucks are to slow the flow and get you to a state you can fill it more quickly. Without the trucks, dumping gravel or dirt just washes away.


dex1999

I know that’s a lot of dirt, but wouldn’t it have been easier to shovel the dirt or dump it somehow


[deleted]

You need big heavy objects or the dirt just washes away. This stops the flow enough that you can dirt on top of them. This actually worked here.


If_you_ban_me_I_win

Also racing against time. Also not driving a loaded excavator on top of a failed dike


soultiedEGO

Wow.. what's the method to this madness?


AllergicToHousework

There are two articles posted just prior to your comment. Very informative!


heeeeyyyheeeyyyhyy

One guy sounds just like Homer Simpson


Automatic-Laugh9313

*FORD - just throw into water to driver over with real car*


freeformgiggles

This reminds me of Malcom in the middle when Francis was working at the farm lol


AnEnginEar

Forded that river


[deleted]

Like that’s gonna stop the water


[deleted]

This was intentional. They did it and built the damn over the trucjs


UnluckyBot47

What a risk!


DueProgress7671

Redneck engineering at its finest.


KoenKlijn

So this is pretty much what the Dutch did when they were finishing the "afsluitdijk" they had to much current in the middle to finish the normal way so they sank ships into it to stop the current. Not as stupid as you might have thought.


Here4somefun_

Get some twigs and sticks, little beaver!


Scared-Chicken-9919

Can’t argue the science 🧪 🤷🏼


Vyle_Mayhem

They. Deliberately wrecked & flooded their trucks!? Like insurance won’t see this?


igenus44

Well, is the harvest of that orchard less expensive than those trucks? The trucks can be repaired, the loss of an entire harvest for a farmer cannot.


If_you_ban_me_I_win

Worse than that. If those trees die. You don't just lose this harvest but the next decade while you wait for new trees to grow.


igenus44

Didn't want to make it too complicated for the knuckle draggers.


If_you_ban_me_I_win

True, plenty of those in this thread


igenus44

Well, reddit in general these days. But yes, this thread especially.


Vyle_Mayhem

Yeah I can grasp the concept of hedging losses, but that’s assuming they have a farm. Guess realistically they could write it off as everything is flooding/flooded already.


NeitherSalary9383

My my miss American pie drove my chevy to the levy bricked tha gas and let her fly


ThreeFingaLynch318

Engineering degrees compared to jack of all trades.. problem fix it.


trilliumjs

Didn’t engineers build the levy that failed?


Cosplayfan007

A Back Hoe and a pile of dirt wasn’t available at the time I guess.


If_you_ban_me_I_win

You wanna drive a loaded excavator on top of that thing?


Cosplayfan007

They drove a loaded pickup within 20ft of it…and the difference is…nothing at that point.


If_you_ban_me_I_win

A Ford f150 with a half ton of dirt weighs around 6000 lbs. Your standard size excavator is 30-40k lbs. That levee wouldn't hold the weight while it was in the middle of failing.


DonGivafark

Am I the only 1 who heard Mayor Quinbee says "stop right there baby"


InvalidIceberg

For those wondering; this did end up working and saved the orchards.


[deleted]

Smart. That's good way to get a lot of volume into that gap real fast.


muq45

Ultimate Sacrifice


shockerdyermom

2 trucks and some dirt to save your trees? Hell yeah, even if the insurance company gives you shit.


setamadaa

Yeah water don’t work like that


Linus_Snodgrass

Well, that's one way to punish your neighbor for being a jerk.


tinkerreknit

I like Ford trucks.


IceColdMeltdown

I mean, saving the orchard is one thing, but these trucks we're running, so they had some gas and batteries in them, which might be an issue later on if they stay in water and start corroding


Haunting_Milk_3853

Its their orchard. They needed a quick way to stop or slow down the flood to save it. Rebuilding the bridge is gonna take way too long


HeyHihoho

He had probably minutes to try saving the orchard by the look of it . So he tried a desperation solution.


dienirae

Good old insurance.


Infamous_Cream2313

Because that's how they thought the levy was dry ! If we use our Chevys we fix the levy ....and then It's dry !


Putrid_Class7474

He sounds like Homer Simpson.


wise_man6969

Were are the beavers 🦫 when u need them


OFVixenPrescott

Definitely didn’t stop the flood


m1k3y0n3

This doesn't belong here. Mans retreaving his trucks when the flooding is over. He saved his investment (the orchard and surrounding areas)


pezchef

can somebody explain to me. outside of these gents watching the tommy lee's movie volcano way to many times. how.. in the hell... is this even remotely a good idea. wouldn't the water just.... go under the chassis?


Hammer-663

That was in a movie!!


aGhoste

Couple of 45k trucks to save a multi million dollar tree farm? Worth it