The Engineers Said Nothing Can Pull It Out —Then the Old Man Fired Up His 1952 Corbitt 100SD Wrecker
In March of 1979, a fully loaded timber truck broke through a frozen creek crossing in Appalachian North Carolina and sank to its frame rails in ice and black mud. Fifty-three tons. Eight feet of water beneath the ice shelf. Two recovery companies refused the job. The county highway authority said it would need to wait until the spring thaw. Then someone called Harlan Vess. Harlan was 68 years old. He ran a recovery operation out of a tobacco barn in Mitchell County. His primary truck was a 1952 Corbitt 100SD wrecker he'd bought from a failed logging operation in 1961 for $290. The recovery supervisor laughed out loud. Told Harlan to go home before he got hurt. Harlan uncoiled his chains and went to work. This is the story of what ice, mud, and fifty-three tons teach a man — and what that man passes down. 🔔 Subscribe for stories about the machines and the men that modern equipment forgot. New story every day. #Corbitt #VintageWrecker #TowTruck #OldIron #AppalachianRecovery #TrueStory #WorkingClass
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