Getting Unstuck from the Mud

[oosik]

There is a 1200 foot long by 130 foot wide drainage swale( called "The Moat" ) between my little lake and the big lake. One winter I tried driving my first tractor - Ford 1710 4WD - across the ice on the swale. I heard the ice start to crack - rapidly backing up - not fast enough - front end drops thru ice - water is just deep enough to reach bottom of engine - bucket down and lift - tractor completely up out of water now except bucket on FEL. So ---- PooP - there I am. Check and fuel tank is completely full - set tractor RPM @ 1400 - walk back to house and get cable come along.

Giant pine to tractor with cable come along - put tractor in low range, reverse - crank, crank, crank - tractor is out - fast like a fox I am back in the seat - the world is right once again. Fortunately, the cranking on the come along was far enough from the reversing tractor that I was not in immediate danger of being run over.

 

[WranglerX]

Avoid mud!....

Had to use winch (10,000 pound) on Jeep to pull my small tractor out of mud bog.... For a while it was a challenge whether tractor would come out or I was going to put (slide) Jeep in bog with tractor....

Dale

 

[Kaje36]

Let me add to it. You have to get your front axle up and out of the mud with the front bucket. Then you have to use the hoe to lift your rear tires up and out of the mud, and then pull the tractor backwards. I keep my outriggers out when doing this out of fear that I might flip over. There is nothing fun about it, and more then once, I just wanted to get off of the backhoe and go hide in my house instead of dealing with it. Especially when it turns into hours of doing this!!!

Oh ya I bet! I have lifted the rear with the backhoe before, but thankfully the front was on firm ground, and even then it wasn't a lot of fun! The outriggers was a very good idea! I think I would try to set them into the mud just a little, so they were touching after I lifted up the rear, just to reduce the amount it could tip! I hope I never need to use this info!

 

[Kaje36]

There is a 1200 foot long by 130 foot wide drainage swale( called "The Moat" ) between my little lake and the big lake. One winter I tried driving my first tractor - Ford 1710 4WD - across the ice on the swale. I heard the ice start to crack - rapidly backing up - not fast enough - front end drops thru ice - water is just deep enough to reach bottom of engine - bucket down and lift - tractor completely up out of water now except bucket on FEL. So ---- PooP - there I am. Check and fuel tank is completely full - set tractor RPM @ 1400 - walk back to house and get cable come along.

Giant pine to tractor with cable come along - put tractor in low range, reverse - crank, crank, crank - tractor is out - fast like a fox I am back in the seat - the world is right once again. Fortunately, the cranking on the come along was far enough from the reversing tractor that I was not in immediate danger of being run over.

Wow! I am surprised only the front went in! very lucky, that could have been a really bad day!

 

[dnw64]

M88 Pulling an Abrams - YouTube

A VTR never failed me!

The more traction a vehicle has, the more stuck it will be when it gets stuck. If you never get it stuck that's only because you didn't drive it to the "right" place.

 

[mred2]

I have used most of these except the wood on the wheels. I have put many short pieces of logs under the rear wheels.

One thing that I once did was with a 2 wheel drive farmall, 1949. I put the front of it into the edge of the lake while trying to clean up around the lake. No diff. lock. No other tractor. I put a long strap on a tree, hooked the other end around one side of the rear axle and hooked it into the wheel.(the axle on this tractor sticks out about 12 plus inches.) As the real wheel and axle turned in reverse, it wrapped the strap around the axle and pulled itself out. After the wheel stopped slipping, the tire being a lot bigger, allowed for the strap to be unhooked. Might not work on some tractors, as no room for the strap to wrap around the axle, instead of the housing.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^
I've done similar sans wrapping it around the axle, on old farm tractors using a good tow chain. it only pulls you a couple of feet but lots of times that is all that you need. It's a good way to flip a tractor though, so always use reverse as the tractor will (usually) stall first.

 

[dragoneggs]

I agree with Both points, I know I don't know a ton about hydraulics, but it seems to be the same motions and force loads that I would encounter while digging.

But you really got to evaluate your situation, I hope with lumber just a little larger than the wheels the flip-over risk should be minimal, I have seen some people use some very large logs that really looks scary!

My thinking is that if you 'yank' tow in a direction that your hoe is not designed for (not in line with the hydraulic actuators, you could easily overstress a component. For instance, extend your hoe arm and then pull to the side. You can easily put more load and twist on it than the hydraulics can to the side.

 

[Garandman]

Remember: there’s stuck, then there’s Army stuck....

 

[Fuddy1952]

As a kid, mowing too close to lake, I got tractor stuck. Of course, more I tried, worse it got. Neighbor with identical tractor failed. So lucky for me there was a tractor dealership close by. The owner drove down in an early 30s steel wheeled John Deere, 2 cylinder I think it was. Big chain, I went underwater hooked it to draw bar. That JD never changed pitch...seemed like about 400 rpm if that. It pulled it out like nothing...and I had forgot and it was in gear!