In my younger years I once got a bushhog stuck under a very large fallen tree. My much younger years I assure you. When I couldn't get it out driving straight forward I tried to wiggle it out by raising and lowering the hog. I would raise the hog and the front end of the tractor would come completely off the ground then drop the hog and pop the clutch. Each time I would gain a few inches forward. I finally got the mower out. This was back in the late seventies or early eighties and that mower finally died last fall. I hadn't thought of it before but that is probably why the back wheel fell off later that year.
Anyway, consider the tree as
ballast hanging off the 3-pt and I can see how adding weight BEHIND the rear wheels will take weight off the front axle and put less strain on it...... Unless you keep popping the clutch and banging it on the ground. That late sixties to early eighties Ford equipment was tough.
RSKY