I figured I'd start a new thread to cover some myths brought up in the "Should I wheel alone" thread below. I own and operate a recovery business in central Colorado, and I specialize in offroad recovery. I am currently the "go-to guy" for the Forest Service in my area, as well as attached as a contractor to several local SAR's, including my counties' Sheriffs Office SAR. I also contract out to several "conventional" tow companies, one of whom is AAA contractor.
First off, DO NOT depend on AAA or any other roadside assistance to help you, except maybe for referrals. AAA's guidelines indicate that service "can" be provided, as long as the vehicle is "within 100' of a year-round, publicly maintained road". Just because you are on a forest road in July doesn't mean you are covered. It is up to the contractor to decide what is covered and what is not. AAA does not pay enough to offset the risk of bending the rules, and an employee who takes a $100,000 tow truck offroad will find themselves without a job.
Second, if you are being charged more than $300 per hour for recovery, you ARE being ripped off. With an offroad recovery, you should expect to be charged for miles enroute, at a per-mile rate, a call or "hook" fee, and for winching. Winching can be charged by the hour, or by the foot, or by sets.
It can sometimes be indicated on the bill as "Labor". If the vehicle has to be towed, expect high per mile rates, up to $10.00 per mile, but only for the distance to a paved road. Also, don't expect the recovery truck and the tow truck to be one in the same. We don't take wreckers down jeep trails, and we won't tow your pride and joy back to Denver with a recovery - yes, you will pay for two trucks, sometimes independently.
Third, and most important, STICK TO OPEN AND MARKED ROADS AND TRAILS! If you decide to go "trailblazing" or past the "closed" sign, NOBODY will have any mercy on you. Particularly not whatever law enforcement gets involved - and any reputable contractor WILL contact LE before proceeding with the recovery. If stories of multi-thousand dollar recoveries give you nightmares, remember that most of those involve trespassing or corrupt tow companies combined with ignorant customers. Case in point from a recovery done last week - PreRunner (2wd) Tacoma drove 2.5 miles down a hiking trail above Vail. His bill? Just under $3900.... We can't just tear down whatever you drove through and drag you back out - we have to preserve as much of the habitat as possible, which adds alot of time. Time = money, and LE really doesn't care if you have it - they just want your junk gone. The aforementioned recovery took 46 man hours with oversight from the Feds. That same guy got quotes over $7000, and at one point contacted a helicopter service.
For what its worth, sliding off a wet forest road within 20 miles of us usually runs less that $500...

Good to have some clarification on this issue.

PM sent...

Good to know. I run a lot of fire roads and always wondered if someone could come get me if I had a problem. How do you get the vehicle of of a trail? If it was a slightly harder legal trail and say a axle broke, would you just drag it to pavement?

If you are referring to a broken semi-float axle, then no - I will usually provide a device that retains the wheel, and the vehicle is driven out, with assistance if required. Sometimes, its cheaper to fix the vehicle than tow it, and we do that, too. In worst case scenarios, we pull the entire axle housing and put a "dummy" in its place.

Interesting information. I always wondered if there were services like that. And it sounds like it's much cheaper than I would have expected.

Alot of guys charge more just because of the rarity, unfortunately. Also, most of our business comes from simple errors in judgement that aren't extreme. I.e. - tourists in an Audi trying to take a snowmobile trail in December because their TomTom shows a "shortcut" around the ski traffic...

thank you Regulator for clearing the air. i enjoyed reading your post. its all good info for us to know but hopefully never have to use.

Great thread, thanks!

Out of curiosity, what do you take down Jeep trails?

x2

Unfortunately, I use a TJ primarily, and I also run an XJ for light recovery and service. Sorry, no T4R for the business, at least as of yet. I bought the 4Runner for the wife, and its getting built, but the money for that is OUR money - lets call it a build in progress. As soon as I finish the front bumper, I'll probably enlist it for anchor duty.... You can read that as "an excuse to take the family rig offroad"....

That's great!

Thanks for all the info. The tow fee from a trail is one of my greatest fears. I think you have eased them a little bit. It sounds like the "horror" stories that I have heard were probably likely to people being off trail.