I got a call this morning from Tucker's Jeff Godard. We talked about this accident and Jeff said it seems about one Tucker a year goes through the ice... somewhere. A few years ago I had a conversation with Bill Cook, the former East Coast Tucker dealer and he told me of a Tucker going through the ice. I mentioned it to Jeff, and he knew of that accident and filled in a lot of details I didn't know:
Jeff said it happened in Upstate New York or Vermont on a lake. There was an ice fishing derby coming up and they used a blade-equipped Tucker 1000 to remove the snow from an area for the derby. When the competition was over they again used the Tucker to smooth out the snow berms created by clearing the ice for the derby. It was while doing this the Tucker went through the ice...in about 80' of water.
The operator was able to find a bubble of air in the cab, gulped a lungful of air and kicked out the rear window. But on that model the size of the fuel tank, mounted right behind the cab, blocks some of the rear window opening and the operator wasn't able to squeeze through. However, he was able to kick out a side window and he swam toward the surface. But he came up under ice and felt along the ice until he found an open area. Most fortunately, people saw the arm sticking through the water and they pulled him to safety. Jeff said the poor man had nightmares for a while afterward.
The machine was recovered with inflatable air bags to bring it to the surface. It was rebuilt per the insurance company with a new cab, new frame, and I believe a new engine and transmission as well.
I'll repost a link I think Track Addict originally posted on the forum about another tragic ice disaster; this time about snowmobilers on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. It's a good read:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/02/25/winnipesaukee/vggPyHa8os3dmIGN9ZuJpI/story.html
Older forum members may recall the popular eighties TV show Hill Street Blues. Here's an appropriate clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pIkkzDagsY