Dealing with Mud

[PBinWA]

What about this one:

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I don't expect it would have the best duty cycle but if you plan to get stuck a lot then it might save you enough times to pay for itself.

Up here you are supposed to plan things out better. You do your dirt work when it is dry and your repairs and maintenance when it is wet.

When it's pouring out - just sit around and get depressed like the rest of us!

[Mith]

Woodland, we've got alot of clay here too, and its very wet (England, dont you know it, always raining.....)

Best solution I have found is wider tyres. I tried duals but you tend to slide about on the surface. My tractor is 2WD so it isnt very forgiving. Wide aggressive tyres, and lots of weight, its doing it for me so far.

I've found the best time to go out it during or right after rain. It wets the clay down, and its less sticky. The most problems I have is when the clay sticks and balls up on the tyres, and eventually you just grind to a muddy stop. When its wet the clay slides off the tyres and keeps the lugs clean, and it grips more.

I'd rather find ways to not get stuck, I don't really like sliding about in the mud on foot, but its great fun on the tractor.

[MossRoad]

You could try one of these hand winches. 3200 # rating. Just attach it to a 2" receiver and slip it in when needed.

[Barryh]

This is the confusion is the amperage. Every spec I read makes it an unlikely candidate for a PT (my tractor is at 35 amps I think). But I hear guys using winches all the time with no mods (on pickups with old alts, tractors, heck, quads....)

As the PT alt is so darn expensive I have no wish to fry the bad boy. And because I have the 1850 I am going places my truck will not go...

This one looks to be made for ATV, Yard Tractors. I'm going to go ahead and get it. Guessing it also has low amp draw. I don't think it would hurt your battery that much. It's also remote radio controlled.

My guess is even at 4,000 lbs, with the tractor spinning wheels, and with the winch pulling. It should work it's self out of trouble. The big question is, do you have many trees near by for hook up.

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[Barryh]

Depends on what you have for a battery. I don't know what they use in the red machines. If they are big enough, it shouldn't be a problem. However, deep draw downs are bad for starting batteries and will shorten their lives a little bit each time it happens.

Just something to keep in mind.

I would be more concerned about rigging up a safe, permanent battery connection for a portable winch. That might be a bit on the difficult side.

It's a full size battery haven't had a change to examine it closely just yet. My machines orange but, I'll forgive you. ... By the way good info about the deep drain.

[SnowRidge]

The big question is, do you have many trees near by for hook up.

You don't need any trees.

All you need is something substantial and a shovel. Then you hook the cable to the something and go and bury it out in front of your stuck machine. You also need to dig a slit trench out to where your something is buried for the cable to lay in.

Next, winch yourself up to the something. Dig it all out and repeat until you are on solid ground.

A little trick I learned in the military.

[SnowRidge]

This one looks to be made for ATV, Yard Tractors. I'm going to go ahead and get it. Guessing it also has low amp draw. I don't think it would hurt your battery that much. It's also remote radio controlled.

My guess is even at 4,000 lbs, with the tractor spinning wheels, and with the winch pulling. It should work it's self out of trouble. The big question is, do you have many trees near by for hook up.

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The spec sheet doesn't list the current draw at all, but it does say it has a 1.1 HP motor. Extrapolating from the other unit that gave both the draw and the HP, I come up with 103 amps maximum.

The specs don't talk about the radio controls. It would be nice to know they use an encoded signal that prevents them from falsing. They probably do, but I would feel more comfortable knowing that they do.

[SnowRidge]

What about this one:

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

I don't expect it would have the best duty cycle but if you plan to get stuck a lot then it might save you enough times to pay for itself.

Up here you are supposed to plan things out better. You do your dirt work when it is dry and your repairs and maintenance when it is wet.

When it's pouring out - just sit around and get depressed like the rest of us!

That unit is cheap enough to be interesting and too expensive to thrown away if it turns out to be junk. In other words, I would like to see someone else buy one and report back on its pluses and minuses.

Clark County, WA, one of my old stomping grounds. What part?

[Barryh]

You don't need any trees.

All you need is something substantial and a shovel. Then you hook the cable to the something and go and bury it out in front of your stuck machine. You also need to dig a slit trench out to where your something is buried for the cable to lay in.

Next, winch yourself up to the something. Dig it all out and repeat until you are on solid ground.

A little trick I learned in the military.

Interesting trick.. I've never been stuck before to where I couldn't get out or, where I needed a winch. Even done some off roading in my 4x4's. Guess there's a first time for everything... One of these days.

[J_J]

What is CU?

Carl, This is just one of my plans for a winch. I have an 8000 lbs Ramsey winch that i plan to use. On the small bucket, I am thinking about welding a receiver inside the bucket, I built the base of the winch to slide in a receiver. On either side of the winch would be a red or yellow top battery just for the winch, There would be a charging wire from the 12v system. If I got hold of something that weighed more than my PT. at 3900 lbs, I would hook a chain to the rear receiver and a tree, or a log deadman, anchor or spare tire buired about 3 ft.. . Technically, I could pull quite a load with this setup. I would also use a wireless remote to control the winch.