Testing the water... er Mud

[Beltzington]

With the dry weather the water level of my 1/2 acre pond is way down. I want to drive my FWD CUTS tractor into the pond basin for two reasons. First, to pull out several trees and branches that have fallen in over the 15 years of neglect before we owned the property and second, to use my box blade to remove a couple feet of accumulated silt. Although the pond bottom has been exposed for the last month and can be walked on, I can, with my considerable 225lbs, still push a shovel handle about 1-foot into the muck.
While I have never purposely needed to drive into this kind of situation, I assume I should drive in slowly and see how the front holds-up. I do have a loader that could be used to lift the front-end if I bury it but I have never actually used this technique. Worse case is I can hopefully pull the tractor out with my truck should I get brave (stupid) and get all 4 wheels spinning.
Finally the question; Is there a method to get a fair idea when your tractor will navigate mud without using the time proven, "Heh hold my beer and watch this," method. Time is of the essence as it usual gets pretty wet during the winter months. TIA

 

[Mousefield]

I'm thinking you should be prepare to have it pulled out, good chance once you are in there you may have a tough time getting out. Can't "see" your pond but from your description I wouldn't be taking my tractor in there. :2cents:

 

[rekees4300]

Don't do it. You will become so stuck that you will need a wrecker to pull you out. To get the trees out use a long chain(s) and keep the tractor on terra firma. To remove the silt hire a trackhoe or dozer.

 

[jenkinsph]

Don't do it. You will become so stuck that you will need a wrecker to pull you out. To get the trees out use a long chain(s) and keep the tractor on terra firma. To remove the silt hire a trackhoe or dozer.

Ditto on that ^^^^^^^

I found it humorous about using the pickup to pull you out, think 80 hp tractor and a long chain or cable.

 

[Beltzington]

My gut already knew the answer but I was hoping someone would have an old farmers trick that works most every time. :laughing: The chains are a good idea and I have used them before to pull trees but you can see from the picture it is a long way from dry ground to the biggest tree which leaves me about 120 short on chains. Goes against my self-sufficiency to hire-out work when the tractor and me are sitting idle. Appreciate your feedback, maybe it will dry out faster since I improved the air circulation. I guess I can spend my idle time installing a culvert upstream which is another part of this project.

 

[Beltzington]

I found it humorous about using the pickup to pull you out, think 80 hp tractor and a long chain or cable.

Sorry, I should have mentioned it is a Chevy not a Ford or Dodge!

 

[KRB]

I've did this before. I just got stuck with the box blade, had to unhook pull out the tractor the retrieve the blade. Then I hooked up the pond scoop( determined the do this since I had a chance) could back in and scoop and the scoop full of mud put enuff weight on the rear to pull out easily, two wheel drive. But, never tied your pond good luck

 

[Mechanos]

Get a truck mounted winch and use the winch cable and chains to drag the trees and branches out. As for the silt, it either needs to dry for a long time or you need the right tool for the job. A CUT is not that tool...

 

[Rustywreck]

using the loader to push you out when stuck requires something firm for the loader to push on, which you may not find in the bottom of a pond.

 

[IronHog]

Don't do it. You will become so stuck that you will need a wrecker to pull you out.

A tractor with a diff lock will walk itself out of about anything with a chain...........

Need the right wheels though.....

 

[JoeinTX]

"Sorry, I should have mentioned it is a Chevy not a Ford or Dodge!.."

Well, ****, if you had a Ford or a Dodge to pull your chestnuts out then I might obligingly consider it. If all you gots is a Chevy then I'd put those thoughts away right quick.

From the description of your tank (Southerners and Yankees, think "pond") I'd probably not take any chances just yet. A dry tank that I'd consider doing work on is one where the bed is as dry as the surface ground around the tank. That being said, I'm in Texas where mud is (and historically has been) a rare commodity.

You can work your tank with your tractor but be sure it's certainly dry enough that you can get yourself out of trouble as fast as you got in it.

 

[buck12]

using the loader to push you out when stuck requires something firm for the loader to push on, which you may not find in the bottom of a pond.

Been there done that only it was a sandy creek bottom. Stuck tractor + FEL + mushy footing = stuck tractor

 

[TripleR]

Every situation is different, but my son and I did this last year with our L5030 and M8540.

We could walk around on it easily, but once we put the tractors in, we broke through the crust. We thought if we kept digging, we would eventually hit solid ground; never happened even 6+ feet down.

We still managed to muck a LOT of silt out and even though we had to use the FELs to walk ourselves out more than a few times, we never had to pull either tractor out which kind of surprised us.

The 8540 has Ag tires and the L5030 has Industrials.

Having had tractors in ponds bellied out, I agree a pickup, ANY pickup is not going to budge a UT or some CUTs. We have walked them out on chains by locking the rear differential.

 

[Bigfoot62]

With the dry weather the water level of my 1/2 acre pond is way down. I want to drive my FWD CUTS tractor into the pond basin for two reasons. First, to pull out several trees and branches that have fallen in over the 15 years of neglect before we owned the property and second, to use my box blade to remove a couple feet of accumulated silt. Although the pond bottom has been exposed for the last month and can be walked on, I can, with my considerable 225lbs, still push a shovel handle about 1-foot into the muck.
While I have never purposely needed to drive into this kind of situation, I assume I should drive in slowly and see how the front holds-up. I do have a loader that could be used to lift the front-end if I bury it but I have never actually used this technique. Worse case is I can hopefully pull the tractor out with my truck should I get brave (stupid) and get all 4 wheels spinning.
Finally the question; Is there a method to get a fair idea when your tractor will navigate mud without using the time proven, "Heh hold my beer and watch this," method. Time is of the essence as it usual gets pretty wet during the winter months. TIA

I'm thinking that's really not a good idea. If you decide to try it anyway, be sure to take pictures. :laughing:

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Sorry, I should have mentioned it is a Chevy not a Ford or Dodge!

So you'll need a wrecker to pull out the tractor and ANOTHER wrecker to haul off the Chevy....

 

[20 20]

Having done and still working on dredging a pond I would be VERY cautious about driving a tractor into a pond. The muck may not look bad but it can change from area to area. Once your in that soup a few things happen you lose traction, you sink, your stuck, then the worse, that stuff acts like a suction cup. Pulling out a stuck vehicle is one thing but a stuck vehicle in muck takes a lot more power just because of the suction created. If it where me I'd start slow and dig down to find the hard pan then slowly work my way further taking SMALL bites at a time.

 

[blueriver]

Ah heck just get in there ... have a camera and document all the pictures for us to see the progress.

 

[radioman]

The answer you are really looking for is crabbing backwards is easier then forward. The FEL pushes better due to angle of bucket then trying to lift and pull muck and make more muck.

If I were you, I wouldnt have ANYTHING on the 3pt except drawbar to hook chain to clevis on if you get stuck. If you get stuck up to axels, having less weight to pull or something else for mud to add more suction power is better. :thumbsup:

Good luck and hope you got a backup tow ready. If you think you might still sink, do you have lots of strong planks to put down to spread out the weight as a floating surface?

 

[IslandTractor]

I did this a few years ago. I have R4s on a DK40se and I could drive on the pond bottom without trouble but got stuck while trying to bull out some brush along the bank with my grapple. I just used the grapple like a bucket to provide some extra lift/push and reversed out of my rut. I was a bit more careful afterwards but was never seriously stuck. If I did it again, I'd just test the traction/floatation while near the pond edge and go gently. Maybe have a few 2x12 boards nearby to help if things got sticky.

 

[dynasim]

If you have a clay liner, and attempt to remove the silt all the way to the liner, can you tell where the liner starts? If so, that is what I would do. Essentially, create a series of full depth slots.

I have not done this sort of thing since I was a kid, and I had much bigger equipment then.

Chris