Blake GordonCar and Driver
From the February/March 2021 issue of Car and Driver.
There was that time a vehicle got stuck in the mud of a post-flood-stage Utah riverbed. Another sat marooned in a stream after sucking water into its engine. Once, there was even a propane truck that slid off the road and was hanging over a creek. In each instance of off-road calamity, a call went out to Rory Irish, of Moab Motorsports, who arrived in Trail Mater to help.
Trail Mater began life as a 1982 Chevy pickup that Irish built into a rock crawler for a friend before buying it back and modifying it into an off-road wrecker. “Most places, they’ll take an on-road wrecker and modify it for off-road,” Irish says. “But those are so heavy that when you get back into the trails, you’re struggling just trying to pull yourself around, let alone pull out another vehicle.” His wrecker features a fuel-injected big-block V-8, a rear end from a Dodge dually, and six winches. Irish also carries a welder, an air compressor, fluids, spare pumps, bolts, and steel plates for remote repairs because, as he says, “It’s always easier to drive a vehicle out than it is to carry one out.”
Blake GordonCar and Driver
Irish prides himself on having never turned down a call and completing every job without causing further damage. He has a few basic tricks. Letting air out of tires helps a vehicle “float” over a soft surface. A pole can break the suction between a car and the mud or sand in which it’s mired. He also hooks the tow strap low around his axle so it doesn’t damage a stranded vehicle’s plastic bumper.
Irish’s services are specialized, so his fees vary. “I charge $150 an hour if I’ve got to go out and fix them or pull them out,” he says. “But if I have to carry them out, it’s $200 an hour, and I’m the cheapest in town.” A difficult tow can run nearly $2000, but Irish is always willing to bargain. “I’ve been there, and I’ve dealt with these issues personally,” he says. “I’m not going to prey on that.”
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