After an extensive recovery effort, that Ford pickup that crashed through the ice in Callander Bay in mid-March, is back on dry land.
See: Bad weekend for vehicles falling through the ice
And: Remember that truck that fell through the ice in Callander Bay?
Wednesday Lafond's Towing and Recovery out of Sturgeon Falls winched the truck onto a barge and floated it back to shore.
A mild winter played an important role in the month-long recovery effort, company owner Pierre Lafond told BayToday.
"Usually we're still working on the ice at the time this happened," he explained. "But the ice disintegrated super-fast and we couldn't get it off in a timely manner. With a delay with the insurance company, we weren't able to get it done safely on the ice."
The truck went through what's called the centre channel to the bay, and low water levels meant the truck was sitting in about four feet of water.
So Lafond's used a machine that can float on ice or water to pull the truck up on the rocks of a nearby island to avoid any potential environmental damage to the lake.
The company rented a specific piece of equipment for the job.
"It's called a fat truck. It has big tires that can go anywhere...mud, water, ice...it can go anywhere. If it goes through the ice all the workers are secure and it floats."
It came down to the ice thickness not being good, but the low water level did help.
"We knew the water wouldn't come up to the motor, so we put it there, for now, to barge it out later."
Electric winches pulled the truck out of the water and onto the island. It took about half a day to complete that job. But the low water level also worked against the crew later.
"You've gotta get a boat and a barge out there and with the water being so low you've got all these rocks that usually are below eight feet of water, but now you only have four feet so you've gotta take the time going around the rocks to get there safely."
So the crew waited a few days for the water level to rise then barged it safely back to Callander.
Lafond's company operates across Ontario so he sees a lot of this sort of thing. and is presently engaged in three other recovery missions, including a side by side that is sitting in 40 feet of water.
If you're wondering what kind of money is involved here, Lafond says it varies greatly by the job.
"Some are minimal, a couple of thousand dollars, just a front end submerged and you get there within the day and get off with everything going well. You've got certain things like this (Callander) where it's a process. The weight is there, it's a bigger vehicle so it can be 20 thousand or higher. In the last couple of years, we attended a vehicle that was 50 or 60 thousand dollars. It all depends on the depth, do you need divers, what are you working with?
"We did one a couple of years ago that was in a river with a lot of currents and those are all factors that drive up the price."
Lafond considers every job a challenge for his team.
"Every time we do a different one it's a different location. In the last five years, I'd say 10 to 15 all different locations, never two at the same spot so for my team it's a challenge. It's fun for us. We learn something every time. We love the challenge."
