proudestmonkey
Platinum Member
I've had my 2230 since Tuesday. Been pretty careful until today. I've wanted to just kind of get used to it, and break it in all nice and easy like. Today, though, I decided to tackle an old rusty barbed-wire fence that runs through my part of the pond at the edge of my property.
The ground just thawed two weeks ago, and we had a good rain about 3 days ago, so I figured I better not get too close. I used a 15' nylon rope (rated at 7000 lbs.) to pull some posts from the edge of the water. I got the first two just fine, but the third one was longer and buried deeper into the muck--which I didn't know about until I got it out). I lifted the FEL to pull up on the post (first mistake--it pulled out somewhat, but also pulled my front tires into the muck). Then, I started to back out (second mistake, I had 4WD on, and buried my front tires more than half way). Oh no! Went to 2WD and hit the differential lock. Back tires spun. Tried to roll it out like a car stuck in ice. Started to get some give, but no go. I jumped off to grab my "come-along (hand winch)" only to realize there was no tree close enough. I considered trying to use the FEL to push backward away from the pond, but thought that might make things worse because it was like pudding under the FEL. If I had gotten that stuck in the mud, I wouldn't have known what to do.
Finally, I walked all the way up the big hill, grabbed a shovel, a few boards, and went to work. I also took a bunch of old dead ***** willow leaves and stuffed them into the muck behind the tires. Put it in 4WD again, backed up about an inch, got off, kicked the boards until they were under all the tires, and then tried again. Finally, slowly, the front tires grabbed wood, and gave the back tires enough leverage to stop spinning and start moving. Whew!
All in all, it was a little embarassing telling my wife, but it was a good learning experience. And with my new orange machine all full of mud, it really looked like a well-used piece of equipment (until I rinsed it off right after getting it unstuck of course). I thought of taking a picture for all of you to see it, but was afraid it might start sinking if I didn't get it out of there in a hurry (and I was a little panicked about my new toy/tool being all muddy).
The ground just thawed two weeks ago, and we had a good rain about 3 days ago, so I figured I better not get too close. I used a 15' nylon rope (rated at 7000 lbs.) to pull some posts from the edge of the water. I got the first two just fine, but the third one was longer and buried deeper into the muck--which I didn't know about until I got it out). I lifted the FEL to pull up on the post (first mistake--it pulled out somewhat, but also pulled my front tires into the muck). Then, I started to back out (second mistake, I had 4WD on, and buried my front tires more than half way). Oh no! Went to 2WD and hit the differential lock. Back tires spun. Tried to roll it out like a car stuck in ice. Started to get some give, but no go. I jumped off to grab my "come-along (hand winch)" only to realize there was no tree close enough. I considered trying to use the FEL to push backward away from the pond, but thought that might make things worse because it was like pudding under the FEL. If I had gotten that stuck in the mud, I wouldn't have known what to do.
Finally, I walked all the way up the big hill, grabbed a shovel, a few boards, and went to work. I also took a bunch of old dead ***** willow leaves and stuffed them into the muck behind the tires. Put it in 4WD again, backed up about an inch, got off, kicked the boards until they were under all the tires, and then tried again. Finally, slowly, the front tires grabbed wood, and gave the back tires enough leverage to stop spinning and start moving. Whew!
All in all, it was a little embarassing telling my wife, but it was a good learning experience. And with my new orange machine all full of mud, it really looked like a well-used piece of equipment (until I rinsed it off right after getting it unstuck of course). I thought of taking a picture for all of you to see it, but was afraid it might start sinking if I didn't get it out of there in a hurry (and I was a little panicked about my new toy/tool being all muddy).