Abstract: An extraction mechanism which may be utilized for the purpose of pulling sheeting elements after they have been utilized in shoring ditches. The apparatus includes a tower which may be seated firmly on the ground and have the top end thereof positioned by means of a boom of equipment utilized in the normal trenching operation. A series of cables and pulleys are provided with there being a hydraulic cylinder for effecting the relative movement of certain of the pulleys so as to foreshorten the cable or cables and thus produce the necessary pulling effort. The system includes winding reels to take up the pulled cable slack and clamp means for preventing movement of the cable first in one direction and then the other direction in accordance with the direction of movement of the fluid cylinder.