When we pulled the oil pan drain plug, we were struck with sheer awe. Mouths gaped open, laughter ensued as perfectly clear water drained from the engine and into an oil pan. The shock didn’t stop there though, we watched as clean water filled two oil pans – we gave up on trying to catch it and just let the water drain onto the floor. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, motor oil started to exit the engine.

This wasn’t a unique incident though. As we pulled successive drain plugs, we could believe the amount of water the Sea Rover had brought back with it. Transmission, transfer case, and front and rear differentials – they all had unbelievable amounts of water waiting to gush out when the drain plugs were removed.

Removing the Rover from the car hauler was much easier than loading it, but it still took quite a bit of effort. At first, we tied a two strap between the Rover and Kevin’s Chevy 1500 with the Detroit TruTrack locker in the back. Our plan was to pull the truck right off the trailer and onto the ground. So much for that plan… the Rover stayed stationary, but Kevin’s truck did not. In what would be a huge boost to Kevin’s truck ego, his Chevy not only pulled the frozen Sea Rover (probably weighing in at 7000 pounds now…), but also our car hauler (2500 pounds) and our Dodge 2500 HD Diesel (another 6000 pounds). We finally chalked up the rear wheels of the Dodge which allowed the truck and trailer to stay stationary as Kevin’s truck pulled the Sea Rover off the trailer.

Getting it into the shop wasn’t an easy task either. A 7,000 lb 4WD Sea Rover stuck in park is never easy to move. We ended up using the shop’s plow truck to push from the back while Robert’s (store’s general manager and part owner) 4WD farm tractor pulled from the front. Once the truck was in the shop, we were able to use floor jacks to raise the front, allowing us to push the truck with just a few men.

The gentlemen at I90 Enterprises, LLC far exceeded the service expected from a towing company. Professional, courteous, knowledgeable – if it’s a positive adjective, it probably describes these guys. Here’s the story behind the recovery of my truck:

On the night of the incident, one of the I90 Enterprises crew gave me a call and told me that none of the towing companies in the area wanted to attempt recovery of my vehicle. He then told me that there was a company in Beaver Dam (just over 60 miles away) who specialized in recovery of vehicles that had gone through the ice. He explained that the cheapest they would do it for was $2,000 and normally they charge $5,000.

He then said that he’d probably be able to do it for $1,500. I asked him why I would go with the $2,000 guy when I could save $500. He replied, “Well, we’ve never done this before. Tell you what, we’ll do it for $1,500 based on a 5 hour recovery time. If it takes me less, I’ll charge you less, if takes me more time, I’ll cap the charge at $1,500. It could take me three hours, it could take me 2 days. We need to get the experience.”

I told him to go ahead and get started on it. They called the next day around 3 PM and said, “Well, it took 5 guys with chainsaws a total of 5 hours to get it out, but it’s sitting at our lot right now. I quoted you far less than what we should have charged, but told you $1,500, so it’ll cost you $1,500.” I told him I’d bring cash the next morning.

Engelhart (where I work) offered to let me use the shop truck and car-hauler to get my truck. Cool, this should make it easy to get the truck back to Madison. We had no idea what was in store for us…

I arrived the next morning with $1,500 cash in hand and quickly saw the defeated Discovery parked in the lot. After parting with my cash, one of the I90 Enterprises employees helped me load my Disco onto our car hauler. What happened next was a delicate, tedious, and timely ballet of winches, cables, and come-alongs that finally culminated in success – it took over an hour to load my Discovery onto the car hauler from their flat bed wrecker.

So, once again, a huge thanks to I90 Enterprises for going above and beyond the call of duty.