IT,
A combination of both... behind the tractor was a soupy mud hole. He did have some logs in place. He didn't have enough reach on the BH to push himself out. Also it is a HST tractor and he couldn't use the front bucket to pull himself out. I questioned him on this - and not knowing HST tractors took his word for it. If you or others could fill me in I will certainly pass it along to him for the next time. It seemed to be a challenge to get the revs correct and the ability to use the bucket at the same time.
A buried mine to the frame with the backhoe on. I was in such a muddy/soupy area that the BH could not push me and the bucket could pull me out when curling it. What I did in the end was to put it in low range, 1st gear, set the revs up a bit and got off the tractor. It took a while but actually crawled out of the hole. I promptly took it home and parked it for the day - figuring I got off easy!