NARRATOR: Known for its brutal winter weather,
Central Alaska is no stranger to high winds.
But for the last two days, the area has taken a beating.
And now, Martha Tansy and her daughter Elli
are trying to pick up the pieces.
We had trees down everywhere.
Roads were totally just destroyed.
That was probably one of the worst storms I've ever
experienced here in Alaska.
NARRATOR: With a lot of cleanup ahead,
they're planning on putting their newest rig to the test,
as soon as they can install a critical piece of equipment.
So, Elli, this bumper already has a winch in it.
We put it in there earlier, you know,
and it's going to be really, really, really heavy, OK?
ELLI TANSY: Mm-hmm.
MARTHA TANSY: This winch is really, really big.
It's going to be able to pull a whole lot
more weight than the one on the moose buggy.
NARRATOR: With a hauling capacity of 16,000 pounds,
the new winch is an essential tool in the backcountry.
MARTHA TANSY: Keep on coming.
Whoop.
OK.
So I'm going to try to push on the jack.
And then we want this part right here to line up with the frame,
OK?
Both sides.
ELLI TANSY: Oh yeah, I see them.
NARRATOR: It will not only help turn the truck
into the ultimate hunting machine like the moose buggy,
it will provide the power they need today to clear
their road of downed trees.
MARTHA TANSY: Building this truck
has been something that's so important to our mission
of feeding people.
Look at the difference here.
I mean, we've got like a good 18 inches or so.
It's going to be taller than the moose buggy,
so it's going to be able to cross
a lot more rivers, swamps.
And I'll have you push it real slow, OK?
Yep.
Keep on coming.
All right, this side looks good.
All right.
Bolt holes all lined up.
You start putting the hardware on that side.
All right.
NARRATOR: Every part they install
is an opportunity for Martha to pass on her knowledge
as a mechanic.
MARTHA TANSY: Every single bolt gets a washer and a nut.
Teaching Elli how to work on cars is super important.
It's a big deal.
I mean, it's survival.
If we miss something, it's not just,
oh, you know, we got to take it to a shop.
It's like, oh, we get stuck out in the middle of the woods.
ELLI TANSY: All right, I got them all on there.
They just need to be tightened.
MARTHA TANSY: All right.
[whirring sounds]
Let's hook up our battery cables.
Thank you very much.
Let's get this jack out of the way.
I got my battery cables here.
OK, Can you pull on that?
All right, we're going to test it.
OK, it looks like it's engaged.
[whirring sound]
Working really good. - Mm-hmm.
MARTHA TANSY: Yeah.
All right, let's bring it on in.
Yeah.
That's going to be nice.
Man, this is heavy duty.
We've got a lot of work to do right now,
and try to make our way through the woods
and clear the trees out of the way.
[engine starting]
See anything we're going to run over out there?
Nope, we're good.
NARRATOR: In the wake of a severe Alaskan winter storm--
MARTHA TANSY: Snow is a little deep over here.
ELLI TANSY: It is.
NARRATOR: --Martha and Elli are in cleanup mode--
All right, Eli.
This is the section that has some downed trees on it.
NARRATOR: --to clear the downed trees off the only road
that leads to town.
MARTHA TANSY: Being in a remote area,
we're pretty far away from any assistance out here.
See this tree right here?
ELLI TANSY: Yep.
MARTHA TANSY: See how the trees kind of
tangled up in all those birch?
ELLI TANSY: Yep.
MARTHA TANSY: We're actually wanting
to use that to our advantage.
We could have it like be a pivot point.
We can just pivot it and we could
get it pushed off the trail.
NARRATOR: To get the job done, they're
putting their new electric winch to the test.
MARTHA TANSY: This is a really big winch.
It's 16,500-pound winch.
So it's like it's really big and heavy duty
to be able to handle big trees like this.
Like it doesn't look like much, but there's a lot of weight
sitting there in that tree.
And it's in the ground kind of frozen like this,
so it's going to be-- it's going to be a test
on this big old winch here.
I want to back the truck up so we have that nice angle.
We'll hook on to the butt of the tree there with the tree saver,
run the winch line out, hook it.
And my hope is that it just comes and it pushes off
to the side all in one pole.
But if it breaks because it does look a little rotten,
then we'll have to take a couple of runs at it, OK?
ELLI TANSY: Right.
All right.
First up, we'll free up this tree saver.
MARTHA TANSY: All right.
NARRATOR: A tree saver is a nylon rigging strap designed
to disperse pressure and maintain grip
on trees and other objects.
We can kind of kick the snow around.
Let's try to see if we can get that tree
saver around that part.
Do you see a strap?
ELLI TANSY: I see one.
MARTHA TANSY: OK, can you pull it through?
Here we go.
Now it's tight enough.
OK.
NARRATOR: The winch line is also fixed with a dampener
as a safety precaution.
ELLI TANSY: What does the dampener do?
MARTHA TANSY: It's got some weight to it.
So just in case our line breaks, it'll just drop to the ground
because it'll have this weight on it.
[whirring sound]
All right, Elli, I'm going to start winching.
[whirring sound]
I got a lot of weight.
Hey, I see the tree moving.
It's working.
The tree is so big that it's actually
trying to move the truck.
So far, so good.
We just got a little bit more to go.
ELLI TANSY: Just a little bit more.
MARTHA TANSY: It takes a while, but we
eventually were able to get that tree over to the right side.
Got it.
MARTHA TANSY: Man, the truck did good, winch did good.
ELLI TANSY: All worked really well.
MARTHA TANSY: Hopefully there's no more trees,
but we'll see how it goes.
[music playing]