Had I known 4 cell phone pictures and a little story would cause such a fuss.....
I had thought about hauling another M9540 up to where the incident occurred but hated the thought of adding another trip with the trailer up and back if it could be avoided. Then while thinking it over I remembered a friend that has a Dairy Farm not far from where I had been working, call him "BR". Monday night I call him, I explained how I was in need of a little help if he had the time to spare. BR was working on his silage trucks between rain showers and could leave any time I came by. Great news, I wouldn't need to call in the National Guard after all.
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(BR riding in on his NH TN75)
I left around 3:30pm to head to his place and followed him down the road to the farm. After he looked it over he said the pictures didn't do the hole justice. BR thinks we can simply hook his tractor to mine and force the thing out using brute strength. I didn't think it would work but I was worth a quick try. Just about the time we decide to move on and try something else it begins to rain. Hard.
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Now we were on to what was my plan, Plan A.
Unhooking the mower carefully took some thinking. Would I be able get the weight off the hitch pin or will the mower want to keep sliding into the stupid hole? I backed up just enough that I felt the slack come in the hitch, unhooked the hydralics and PTO and pulled the pin with one finger.
Now for Plan A, BR would position his tractor on one side to lift the front end of the machine while on the other side I would lift the rear. As we lift the mower about 2' off the ground we pull backward at the same time about 45 degrees apart the mower will spin 90 degrees towards him. Brilliant.
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I reposition my tractor in front of the mower, pulling it by the loader up out of the mud pit and to the barn.
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Nothing broke, bent or scratched any more than it already was. But I didn't think it would be.
We talked a while about my stupid hole, farming and bad investments. He mentioned his TN75 was the best tractor he'd ever had. We talked about the differences between sync shuttle and hydro shuttle, wet and dry brakes. When he said it was time for him to leave I offered him money. I had soaking wet bills in my hand (had them in my front pocket during the monsoon) but he wouldn't take a dime. "I might be stuck in a hole one day", he said with a smile. "That's fine, call me, I'll be there." I said.