Field claims yet another tractor!!!

[timswi]

I've read several posts of people jacking up a stuck tractor but I don't understand how you would actually do that in mud? But I guess it depends on the situation?

I used about a 4x4 piece of 3/4 plywood under the jack..Lifted each corner and put a 3x3 piece of 1/2" plywood under each wheel..It was very muddy but the plywood helped distribute the weight..It does depend on the situation.

 

[MitchellB]

Unfortunately, I don't own or have access to a winch or trailer.

They are not very expensive and mine have been used more than once for various chores besides getting me unstuck.
8000 Lb. Cable Winch Puller

Of course a nice electric winch would be better, but these armstrong pullers will work.

 

[bcp]

I used one of those HF 8000lb winches. It came apart with about 500lbs pull.

Got one of these to replace it. It weights about 10 times as much as the HF 8000.

Maasdam 4T Pow-R-Pull® Cable Puller - 8000 lbs WLL - #8000SB

Bruce

 

[Mace Canute]

I used one of those HF 8000lb winches. It came apart with about 500lbs pull.............[/url]

Bruce

Exactly right! I had a friend who used comealongs a lot and he always said the cheap ones were a waste of money; they might theoretically have the rating they claimed, mechanical advantage-wise, but they either failed before you got to that rating or they slowly failed at cumulative lesser ratings.

This is one item where spending money on a quality piece is definitely a must.

 

[David P]

Your field sounds like one of mine, which is a peat bog. I have 200' of cable, which according to Murphy means that I generally get stuck about 205 feet from the nearest tree lol. My tractor is much heavier than any of my close neighbors so I wound up buying a Mile Marker hydraulic winch. It's bolted to a cradle that can be mounted to either the tractor's drawbar or a plate with a 2" receiver that I have bolted on the front of my tractor. Picked it up brand new on craigslist for $300; pretty good score. I had to buy a couple of 10' hydraulic hoses for when it's bolted up front but the winch works great.

 

[PeterK]

Similar situation in my field - twice.

Used a flat piece of granite in the muck to support a jack, disconnected the brush hog and pulled it off the rear by hand, woo. The granite will sink then stop when it hits solids, giving you a jacking base. Then slipped a sheet of plywood under the front wheels as far back as possible under the tractor. Jacked up the rear, one side at a time, and filled the tire depression with evergreen bows in front of the rear tires in such a way as they would get sucked undfer the tires. Believe me, mine has been down low in the muck, over the rear frame. SO basically, I lifted the tractor on plywood and drove over it. Once iot starts moving, keep the pedal steady from spinning and keep going !

So first thing, low range, start slow, the FWD will pull the front tires forward on the plywood after a little rocking f-r, the rears will get the brush drawn under them and enough to get a grip on the plywood that under the tractor.

1st time took me 4 hours, 2nd time lessons learned, less than 1 hour. My field changes so one year dry, next year soup under the field grass - you can't see it till your're in it, and then you're
screwed.

hth

 

[square1]

Here is the pole vault event.

Lets see now...what did I do with that pic of Dad's Super M with it's exhaust pipe driven into the ground...

 

[Gary Fowler]

I got stuck a couple times with my first tractor, a Yanmar 4220D four wheel drive. First time luckily a backhoe was present so they just threw a chain on the back of the bush hog and hooked to the back hoe bucket and easily yanked me out. The tractor was setting on the floor boards in muck that I couldn't use the FEL to push with it was so soupy. It was an area where my brother in law had dumped spoils from a pond when it was cleaned out. Dry on top, mush underneath.

The next time, I had a box blade on back and we were removing some spoils from a partially dried up pond. I had ran across this area several times picking up a FEL load of moist soil from the pond but on this trip the front end and one rear wheel just sank into something like quicksand. Even after dumping the load of dirt, the FEL had no purchase on the loose water logged sandy soil. We finally managed to get the box blade off, it was earthbound on the 3 PH but a sledge hammer to the lift arms got them loose. Luckily this time, we had another tractor and after getting the box blade moved out of the way, was able to pull me out. The soil was like walking on foam rubber. It just pumped up all around if you stepped on it. The next day the ground was hard as cement but will a little stomping up and down the dirt became saturated with water and again was loose and wet. I think there was an underground spring there that would well up if you vibrated the soil a bit. Well, we avoided that spot and dug quite a bit of dirt out of the pond with the FEL's on our tractors without getting stuck again.

 

[MitchellB]

I used one of those HF 8000lb winches. It came apart with about 500lbs pull.

Got one of these to replace it. It weights about 10 times as much as the HF 8000.

Maasdam 4T Pow-R-Pull® Cable Puller - 8000 lbs WLL - #8000SB

Bruce

Harbor Freight come-alongs might be junk today. ??????? I bought my 4 ton puller about 15 years ago from Northern Hydraulics which it is probably China made too, but I've never had a problem with mine. About the heaviest thing I've pulled though was my 8N or truck which I doubt weights much more than 3-4000 lbs or so, but that was rolling though thick mud. More money may buy you a better winch, but I haven't had to replace my cheap one yet.

 

[Sprinklerman]

We use to use a danforth boat anchor when there were no trees around , dig a hole and bury the anchor attached to the winch cable . Worked 8 out of 10 times .