Traction how to know when it's dry enough

[blackie65]

With spring comes rain and mud. I am about to unload a probably dumb question that has several obvious answers but: I am anxious to get back to the woods and start cutting wood for next winter. The lane I use to get to my woods is about 100 yards long and has field on either side. The fields had beans in them last fall and have had no tillage since the beans were cut. My question is, How do I know when it's dry enough to take my L3410 to the woods? I have been back the lane and in the woods on a quad and it is wet but I didn't have any trouble with sliding or sinking. Is there a rule of thumb? The last thing I want is to take this Heavy tractor back there and get stuck. Any advice is appreciated and I will even chuckle at the obvious answers

 

[Kyle241]

Something a local excavator guy mentioned to me and I have used it albeit my tractor is a lot lighter than his Case BH is, if you can put your heel into the ground and make a dent, the ground is too soft. Now that also depends whether you are concerned with ruts or not. If it's a laneway/trail and you can use a BB or something similar to easily fix these when it dries out, then no big deal. I just know from my first experience when I go my B20 10 years ago, I got into a wet spot and sunk it to the axles. Now that was frustrating to get out! So I wait patiently...and walk with my saw, chaps and helmet to cut up firewood.

 

[blackie65]

I thought about just using my JD gator to bring many small loads of wood up to the barn instead of using the tractor to pull my trailer. Guess it gives me a good excuse to spend more time in the woods

 

[peterc38]

If you think it is dry enough and you take your Bota down towards the woods and it sinks in the mud up to the axles and then some and you have to get your wife to pull you out with your pickup, it ain't dry enough! Not that that would ever happen to me :ashamed:

 

[Egon]

It all depends on how deep the muck is and how solid the base is.:thumbsup:

Give it a try but if it looks touchy eithe back out or have a good comealong and cable on hand.

 

[Baby Grand]

Definitely need a recovery plan for wherever you plan to go. Comealong and some cable & a snatch block or two can become your best friends in a hurry.

 

[ctgoldwing]

I would say a lot depends on the type of soil you are on. I live on a giant gravel area (glacial till). The land dries out very quickly. As an earlier poster mentioned I use my heel on the lawn to determine wether its hard enough to support my tractor with ind tires. It only take a second to look back & see if you are leaving ruts in the road / lawn.

 

[Baby Grand]

Maybe it's a little off the OP's original topic, but this got me thinking - we went to the local NOFA conference two weeks ago and a speaker from UConn's Ag school gave a slideshow on soil quality. A lot of his time was spent on the subject of soil compaction, why it's bad and how to avoid it. He stressed that just about the worst thing you can do is to drive anythin heavy with wheels or hooves on your field when it's too wet.

He described "too wet" as grabbing a handful of your soil, sqeezing it in your fist to make a meatball and letting it drop to the ground. If it stays a meatball, it's too wet.

 

[SandburRanch]

There is the boot heel method and there is the tap your boot toe/sole method. If no water/liquid mud appears on the surface after 15 or so toe taps it may be close to dry enough. I said "may be". If you get stuck you are walkin and I'm not liable.:laughing:

 

[boggen]

for me, i need to wait for when i get approx 5 to 6 days of no rain. then it is safe for me to drive without ruts.

this is just early spring doing above. all the snow melting and raining every other day or 2. makes things worse with how much water that has soaked into the ground.

once i get past above, then maybe while it is starting to rain it is ok, then perhaps a day afterwords before i can get out into the mud without making tracks