MattL
New member
Ok, in case you can't tell from my past posts, I am VERY new to tractors. I live on one acre in an area that is mostly dark grey clay. Anything besides clay in this area has probably been trucked in. Sucks for drainage and stuff, for example, EVERYONE has issues with their septic systems during rainy season.
So, I got this cool like MF1220 tractor, 4x4, FEL, and thought I'd be able to start working on changing slopes and getting some water flow off the property so I'm not living in a swamp. But since all the water just sits, the clay ground we have soaks it up and is absolute soup. Everytime I fire up the little tractor, I get it stuck, or almost stuck. Then spend more time unsticking it than actually doing any work. It's getting really old. I thought I was a good driver, I have lots of experience with 4x4 trucks/SUVs and driving them in mud,snow,sand,rocks, but apparently it's different with these little tractors.
It almost seems at times as if driving in 2WD mode works better than 4WD. When in 4WD, the front tires seem to dig in and sink quicker in the mud, and in no time at all I'm sunk to the frame again. In 2WD, the front tires still dig in big time when turning, but at least not in a straight line.
Is there something I can do with tire pressures, driving style, wider tires, camber angles, Ackerman geometry, etc... that will aid in driving this thing in mud, or am I just outa luck until after rainy season, when the ground has then hardened back into the cracked cement look we get in the summer time.
Feel free to laugh it up at my expense! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I'll try to post some pix of it stuck next time it happens. And any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
So, I got this cool like MF1220 tractor, 4x4, FEL, and thought I'd be able to start working on changing slopes and getting some water flow off the property so I'm not living in a swamp. But since all the water just sits, the clay ground we have soaks it up and is absolute soup. Everytime I fire up the little tractor, I get it stuck, or almost stuck. Then spend more time unsticking it than actually doing any work. It's getting really old. I thought I was a good driver, I have lots of experience with 4x4 trucks/SUVs and driving them in mud,snow,sand,rocks, but apparently it's different with these little tractors.
It almost seems at times as if driving in 2WD mode works better than 4WD. When in 4WD, the front tires seem to dig in and sink quicker in the mud, and in no time at all I'm sunk to the frame again. In 2WD, the front tires still dig in big time when turning, but at least not in a straight line.
Is there something I can do with tire pressures, driving style, wider tires, camber angles, Ackerman geometry, etc... that will aid in driving this thing in mud, or am I just outa luck until after rainy season, when the ground has then hardened back into the cracked cement look we get in the summer time.
Feel free to laugh it up at my expense! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I'll try to post some pix of it stuck next time it happens. And any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!