OK, I'm stuck! Now what?

[patrick_g]

A long and relatively wide cargo strap can be secured and lead around a driving wheel (Front or back if 4x4) As you try to creep out of the mud the strap winds up around the wheel's circumference and pulls the tractor along. You can do both sides for better balance and rear wheels being wider are less prone to the strap falling off the side (usually) plus it is often a shorter distance to dry ground behind you. You can attach chains or ropes to the straps to reach far enough to connect to a tree, truck, stump or HD stakes driven deep into less muddy soil.

If you have a Danforth style boat anchor then this is a good time to use it as a self burying deadman. In the olden days folks would rig a second wheel to mount beside a normal wheel and use the empty wheel as a winch to move the vehicle (like a dually setup with one tire off the wheel.)


Best of luck to you.

Pat

 

[txdon]

"Why were you that close to that muck-hole anyway?" - Deadman

I was cleaning out the pond during last years drought and raising the dam. The heat had dried the top two inches of the mud and it felt solid.....not so. I was a lot farther from the water at the beginning of my ordeal but because of the slope the harder I tried to get out the closer I slid to the pond. Not a good feeling especially when I had to leave the tractor there overnight. A lot of people were praying for rain that night, I was not one of them.

We had a good rain about 6 months later and the pond's water level rose 5 feet in 3 hours.

DCS how are you doing?

 

[schmism]

i fall back to the chain and or snatch strap and the 4wheel drive truck....

i tell you that mower deck is like a sea ancor

http://www.snjschmidt.com/pics/property/Mar_07/DSC02700 (Large).JPG

 

[Rara Avis]

You could use a triangle fulcrum...

Lash two large beams together at one apex...
Dig a couple of small holes to catch the open ends of the triangle so they are leaning at a 45 degree angle or so...
run cable from tractor to the apex and secure
run another cable to the apex from pulling vehicle
pull the fulcrum over dead center so the apex swings about a 90 degree arc and your tractor be lifted up and pulled forward...

reposition and do it again until you are out...


We use this system with manpower only for moving large debrish during technical rescue operations at structural collapses....

 

[Timber]

YouTube - Fordson tractor stuck in the mud

I think this is what Timber is refering to..

LOL thank you that is exactly what I meant. This is a pretty standard method especially with 2 wheel drive tractors. It is no more risky then pulling out with another vehicle. You can also do it alone like most farmers work. Anything you do involving tractors and machinery involves some risk. Personal I find some 3 point implements quit scary. We had cord wood saw that ran on a PTO and 3 point hitch. It looked Like 4 foot Skill Saw Blade mounted vertically and you loaded the logs on the table and it rocked into the Blade. I was terrified of that thing as a Kid and I am still not to thrilled with it as an adult

Thank you for posting that Irwin I new that clip was floating around some where

 

[kwolfe]

If you wanted to make that move safer, go in reverse. It would avoid the flipping risk. Also, could you chain smaller logs to the front rims (given you have 4WD. This would avoid the flip risk in the case that you had to go forward.

 

[patrick_g]

Don't razz the poor lad too much. There are only two sorts of operators as regards getting stuck: those who have messed up and become stuck and those who are going to (given the chance) mess up and get stuck. The only folks who never make mistakes are the ones who never do my hard stuff.

I used to make it a point of pride that I NEVER got stuck with my 4x4 Kubota. Then it was a point of pride that I never got stuck such that I didn't self rescue without involving a second vehicle. Then it became a point of pride that if I got stuck I didn't have to involve another person or someone else's vehicle. I'm holding firm at this level so far and in addition I have never got stuck so far in a pond that I couldn't get out with dry feet.

It helps that I have a 12,000 lb winch and a snatch block to double it to 24K lbs mounted on the front of my 1 ton 4x4 dually Dodge/Cummins. I haven't stuck the tractor since the last of the ice on the ponds (gotta break ice for the stock to drink.) It has been over a week since I stuck my 4x4 Dakota near the top of a slope.

I was counting cattle and noting ear tag numbers to see who was off hiding (they like to hide to calve) and suddenly I was stuck in the mud. Whoda thunk there would be a deep mudhole with standing water near the top of a slope?? Almost got out with the back and forth trick but couldn't quite get out at either end of the travel and finally gave up about the time I had churned the mud to a treacherous consistency and had the truck just about on the frame. I could have given up earlier but I was confident I could either make it or walk to get the Dodge and winch it out.

Naa naa naa naa... I do know better than to drive anything out onto what looks to be a dry pond. There is often a crust with soup below, even when the top is dry and cracked open big time. More that one "experienced" dozer men have been sunk after breaking through the crust.

A day or two after a medium light rain I have been stuck in my 1 ton 4x4 when I was only sinking in 1/2 inch (dry dirt below that.) Couldn't drive up a slope and going down was not a help. Luckily there were trees to winch to. Sometimes you can't go and the tires are no more than 1/2 inch below the surface. I find that if you take your shovel (you do carry a shovel don't you?) you can dig out the little 1/2 inch barrier in front of and behind the tires and drive away.

Pat

 

[scott_vt]

Mornin DCS,
I think for the most part everyone has given you good advice, but Ive gotten tired just thinkin about doin all of that ! Things are dryin out everyday, go have a few cold beers ans comeback to the tractor in about 2 weeks, Ill bet you will drive it right out !

 

[EddieWalker]

It's just part of tractoring that sooner or later you will get stuck. I use a chain on my backhoe to pull out my tractor and truck when they get stuck. It's pretty handy and has always worked nicely.

If I didn't have the backhoe, I'd buy a winch like Pat has. They are not cheap, but in the long run, it could save you allot of money and heartache getting yourself unstuck in the future. This isn't going to be the first time you get stuck. Even if you never drive over this spot again, there are other areas out there that will swollow your tractor in the right conditions.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[RonMar]

Don't razz the poor lad too much. There are only two sorts of operators as regards getting stuck: those who have messed up and become stuck and those who are going to (given the chance) mess up and get stuck. The only folks who never make mistakes are the ones who never do my hard stuff.

Like my older brother(ski instructor) used to tell me when I was young and learning to ski, " If you are not falling down, you are not learning anything new"