TigerfaninAR
Gold Member
Take your camera
BX-24 in the woods with the BH
- Thread starter ayelvington
- Start date
DavidAubke
Silver Member
My dogs share their taste for clay. Whenever the garage is open, they stop in for a quick snack of whatever stuck to the bucket. They'll also take a sample of any freshly-turned clay I may have just dug up. They only seem interested if it's bone dry.
Chilly807
Elite Member
I suspect you're going to make more of a mess than you already have. If the ground is saturated the only thing that will be able to get on it is an excavator. A Hitachi 160 only has 7 psi ground pressure, and that's not a small machine.
If you get it truly "buried", don't count on the RTV and winch to get you out. The tractor will act like a big ground anchor and try to suck the RTV in with it.. Unless you can get an up angle on the cable you're going to be pulling the tractor through the mud, not out of it. What you're going to be pulling with needs to be heavier or better anchored than what you're pulling out. I made the same mistake a few years ago with an ATV, and that doesn't weigh a fraction of what the tractor and hoe does.
A friend of mine nearly lost his excavator in a sinkhole a few years ago, all that was visible was the top half of the cab and boom. Expensive lesson in where not to go.
If you can't wait until summer to dig, I'd be hiring someone with excavator to do this one, it's just not worth the risk and work involved for a few hundred bucks worth of excavator time.
If you're determined to do it, build a set of two foot wide "tracks" out of heavy plywood for the tractor to drive on, it'll spread the load over a wider area. You'll need at least six pieces and a helper to move them as you drive, make sure the ends overlap at least a foot or two. If it slides off or through them, you're up the proverbial creek. Clay in this case !
Chilly
If you get it truly "buried", don't count on the RTV and winch to get you out. The tractor will act like a big ground anchor and try to suck the RTV in with it.. Unless you can get an up angle on the cable you're going to be pulling the tractor through the mud, not out of it. What you're going to be pulling with needs to be heavier or better anchored than what you're pulling out. I made the same mistake a few years ago with an ATV, and that doesn't weigh a fraction of what the tractor and hoe does.
A friend of mine nearly lost his excavator in a sinkhole a few years ago, all that was visible was the top half of the cab and boom. Expensive lesson in where not to go.
If you can't wait until summer to dig, I'd be hiring someone with excavator to do this one, it's just not worth the risk and work involved for a few hundred bucks worth of excavator time.
If you're determined to do it, build a set of two foot wide "tracks" out of heavy plywood for the tractor to drive on, it'll spread the load over a wider area. You'll need at least six pieces and a helper to move them as you drive, make sure the ends overlap at least a foot or two. If it slides off or through them, you're up the proverbial creek. Clay in this case !
Chilly
BotaBX24er
Silver Member
I second that...only thing is that the cost of that plywood would probably be the cost of bringing in the excavator.
I thought I almost hung up mine in about a foot of mud...darn thing kept piling under the belly as the wheels spun. I only took that chance because I know that under the freshly laid topsoil there was some solid ground. As someone else also said, what you're planning on doing is traversing into unknown territory. Good luck if you do and bring a camera...might be a good lesson learned for future trials...
OP
ayelvington
Gold Member
Today was a good day with the BX-24 and RTV-900. I was small enough to be able to use the FEL to dig a trench about 150 ft long (working at a right angle to the trench). I also used the FEL to dig a 4' wide swale through mud and roots.
The RTV-900 had no trouble pulling me out every time I sank. I assisted as much as it asked, and it pulled me out slowly but surely.
Water is now moving away from the road and towards the swamp like it's supposed to!
No one said it couldn't be done, so I did it!
The RTV-900 had no trouble pulling me out every time I sank. I assisted as much as it asked, and it pulled me out slowly but surely.
Water is now moving away from the road and towards the swamp like it's supposed to!
No one said it couldn't be done, so I did it!
savageactor7
Platinum Member
ayelvington I've used a couple of cable pulley's to get ours un-stuck back in the day. Use chains on all tires and keep them tight.
If it's a shallow swale hole you're digging start at the low end and work between the tires toward higher ground.
Between the BH pushing you out and the FEL blade digging in and pulling you out you should be golden. Try not to spin the tires stay in low 4WD and don't be afraid of getting stuck...getting unstuck is part of owning a BH..."they get stuck" it's the nature of the beast.
Yeah you'll get stuck but with experience you'll master the art of self extraction. Don't sweat it and take your time.
If it's a shallow swale hole you're digging start at the low end and work between the tires toward higher ground.
Between the BH pushing you out and the FEL blade digging in and pulling you out you should be golden. Try not to spin the tires stay in low 4WD and don't be afraid of getting stuck...getting unstuck is part of owning a BH..."they get stuck" it's the nature of the beast.
Yeah you'll get stuck but with experience you'll master the art of self extraction. Don't sweat it and take your time.