Buried the tractor

[MChalkley]

One of those ratcheting cable things with a hook on each end.

MarkC

P.S. Doggone it! He beat me to it again! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by MChalkley on 10/9/00 01:17 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[glennmac]

Oh, a power puller. (Did we all of a sudden shift to dentistry.) You mean one of those things that if you are Hercules you can get it to do one ratchet click, which then moves the object one atto-inch.

 

[Bird]

You've got it, Glenn./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif I said it was more exercise than I want, but before I bought a tractor, I used one to winch my brother-in-law's tractor out of the mud (he put it there; not me) and I was one exhausted sucker when I got through. I have a much better way to get unstuck now though. I have two friends in the area, one with 3 tractors and the other with 5, and between us we ought to have enough chain to reach the next county, so we can always pull each other out./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird

 

[gordon]

Still no gold on the property! I sure can't find it if there is and yes when I got finished tonight I gave her a quick pressure wash was pretty muddy.

Glad I waited until today to get it out would have never done it in the dark last night. I've got a Ford 8n that I could have hooked to it or gone to any one of my neighbors they all have large farm tractors---not. Bad enough the wife had to know about it let alone one of the neighbors. So I was determined to work it out myself and I did just that. Took a good hour didn't leave me enough daylight to go and brush hog the lot down the street, but I did do alittle more boxblading on the topside and wash the tractor down.

The tractor was at the bottom of the ditch and behind me was the pond so I couldn't back up could only go forward. Sure is alot easier to work yourself out backwards but not this time. Had to use the time tested method---good old logs and the front end loader.

A few logs and the front end loader saved the day. Was deep in the slushy mud, the front axle was pushing mud and when I started up the bank even with the boxblade all the way up and the toplink all the way in I was still dragging the box in the mud, leveled it out alittle though./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif First I tried to work myself out just with the loader so close but just not enough so I backed up as far as possible and put a few logs down for a bed. Then tried again---closer but just not enough to make the bank with the box dragging and I didn't want to take the chance and remove the box. So I put down a couple more logs. So I made another attempt at it and with working the loader slowly pulling myself in third gear and feathering the brakes she climbed out slow but sure and presto a muddy tractor but no harm done other than a slushy mess in the ditch. Will let it dry out and try to clean it out another day.

Nothing better than a nice moist clay and sand mix./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
If nothing else it sure has me wondering if in the same exact situation with the Michelins would I have been stuck in the first place. But that is one thing that I wouldn't want to do again in the near future so I guess nobody will ever know./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Oh well at least she got a good wash job out of the deal.
Gordon

 

[gerard]

All you old hands probably know about this way to get out of the mud (This is the place I learned about it!) but it was in an old post and is worth mentioning as Harv goes prospecting up in the mountains. Assuming your stuck good and have nothing solid to pull from to use a come along, A 4x4 wider than the wheel width can be laid across the rear tires, then run a short chain through the wheel and around the 4x4 on each tire. You can now creep (forward or back ward)slowly up onto some other logs 4x4 etc that you have laid out. I haven't ever had to try it myself but it sounds like it would be pretty effective (Creep being the operative word, I would want to spin the tires an rip up the undercarriage) Or you could just get some tires like Mark C's!

 

[gordon]

I've never used a come-along to get the tractor out. I don't own one close to the pounds of lift needed to budge my tractor on the rare day it does get stuck. But most of the times I've been stuck I've had the skidder winch on the back so no problems if I couldn't work myself out with the bucket easily.

Never heard of the 4by4 and a chain good idea hope I never have to try it out./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Thanks for bringing up that idea it may come in handy some day hopfully to someone else./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MChalkley]

Gordon - Very well documented! Especially for an event you'd just as soon forget! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

I don't know - it sounds so nasty that I think even the mighty Michelins may have been in over their heads on that one.

MarkC

 

[bpence]

Gordon, I've got to give you a ton of credit. You told your wife you got the tractor stuck, you told everyone on this board you got the tractor stuck, and you even went through the tale of getting the tractor un-stuck for all of us.

My version of what you went through would have gone something more along these lines: To wife - "got the tractor into a tough spot, too dark to safely move it out tonite". To everyone else - "that was a pretty good game the Lions played Sunday afternoon, huh."

You're moving up on my brave soul list.

Bob Pence

 

[gordon]

Nothing but an ego check I guess. It had been a long time since I buried her like that, guess that was half the fun the other half was when she climbed up the bank.

First you cuss the tractor for getting stuck than you applaud it when it pulls you out of a bad place that you put it in to begin with.

But by the sounds of it I'm the only one on this board who has ever got the tractor buried!!! Or else they don't want to admit it.----enough said-----
Gordon

 

[MChalkley]

Gordon - I think I said I hadn't gotten so totally stuck that I needed the loader to get myself out since I got the Michelins, but it may have been in another thread, now that I think about it some more.

Last winter, I got one side of the tractor in a real soft ditch and it mired up to the axles on one side. With the rear differential locked I could go forward and backward with difficulty, but couldn't begin to turn up out of the ditch, even by brake-steering. I eventually got it out ratcheting myself out with the loader. The most embarrassing part is that I deliberately drove into the ditch because I was absolutely sure I could easily get out.

MarkC

 

[Bird]

Gordon, down here in Texas you can't get stuck in rock hard dry clay! It's been a long time since I had enough mud to even think about getting stuck./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

 

[glennmac]

Gordon, it is well known that you are the only Tractorbynetian who has ever gotten stuck. All over the Northeast, whenever we see someone stuck in mud we say, "There's Gordon". And when I get stuck, I'll post it under your name so you can maintain your unique status. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Glenn

 

[gordon]

Good one Glenn now that I've stopped laughing I can reply. This is something that I would rather not be famous for, sort of like the Wide World of Sports and the skijumper at the start of the show. I can picture it now you and the wife driving down the road and see a tractor stuck---Look dear he pulled a Gordon./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Gordon

 

[gordon]

Well Mark how can I put this---I know that exact feeling---at least someone has had alittle traction problem at one time. You guys must use your tractors to do more than just cut grass. Don't you guys run the tar out of your tractors? No sense in getting a 4wd if you don't test it once in awhile just to be sure it's working properly./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Maybe I need to start another thread to see how stuck some people have gotten. Yea thats it.
Gordon

 

[ejb]

Gordon, I have never buried my tractor, but I have gotten the small one (a 2wd turf tire 27hp yanmar) stuck many many times, in fact it is one of the reasons that I ended up by a second, bigger machine (a JD5410, 4WD).

It doesn't take much to stick a 2wd tractor with turf tires in the mud, and I was always able to pull it free with my pickup. (or now wth my big tractor)

I have had a few scares with my JD5410, where the ground just kept sinking around my tractor, but even with the mud up/over the axes it kept on going thru like a trooper...I try to aviod situations like that because I know what an ordeal it is going to be to free a 10,000lb tractor from mud up and over the axels...that will require some heavy (read expensive) equipment, not to mention the embarassment...

I have a picture I'd love to be able to share with you guys if I ever get my scanner hooked up again...its a farmer, sitting on a JD tractor (not sure what kind, but its bigger than mine, has large-dual real wheels) with mud all the way up to the seat on all four sides (you can just see the tops of the 4 rear wheels)...the caption is "Every farmers worst nightmare". I love to look at it, makes me laugh and cringe at the same time....

Good luck.

 

[bpence]

Gordon, I thought I got a previous tractor (Ford 4000) stuck a few years ago, but I was mistaken. It wasn't anything that couldn't be cured by hooking a small dozer to the front and just pulling slightly.

Bob Pence

 

[Bird]

When you guys bury your tractors up to or over the front axle, I've wondered about how much water was in the mud and whether you might get moisture in the front axle housing through the vent. Back in the days when it rained in Texas a couple of years ago, a neighbor was putting out hay for his cattle (big 2WD tractor) and had to drive through muddy water for a few days to get to them; bad oil seals on the front spindles and he destroyed his front wheel bearings.

Bird

 

[Will]

Have any of you used a Hi-Lift Jack http://www.hi-lift.com/casting.htm? It looks like it might have a lot more pulling power than a come-along, and be useful for changing tires too. It looks like they are used a lot in 4WD off road situations and by emergency crews too, but I have no first hand experience with them.

 

[scruffy]

Depends upon which come-along you buy Sir! You can get a wimpy 2 ton or you can spend your money on something that will be versitle and cover any foreseeable need. I have a high-lift jack, and 2 come-alongs....never have used the jack.

 

[gerard]

The hi lift jack is useful but is rated at 5000lb capacity. More than the 2 ton come along but you can get heavier duty ones that will pull more than the jack. Definitely a useful piece of equipment though. I have one and have used it many times for different things.