One of those phone calls....

[jwstewar]

I was here at work a little bit earlier and got a call from the wife. "Jim, I've got a problem." /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif I hate when phone calls start like that. She said that she had the tractor stuck. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I asked her how she did it, she said that guess she got too close to the creek/drainage ditch that runs through our property. Since I assumed at this point she meant parallel to it, I made sure to ask, that she hadn't rolled it. She said no. I asked her if she had it in 4wd she said yes, I asked her about diff lock, she responded /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I tried to talk her through engaging that and then finally just said leave the tractor I'll get it when I get home. Now I'm sitting here watching the thunder and lightning and looking like it is going to be a monsoon hoping that we don't (an hour away) get any of it (even though we are dry as a desert except for the ditch) because that'll just make it that much worse trying to get the tractor out. I'm also wishing that I hadn't put the washer fluid in the back tires on Monday as that is another 300+ lbs. that I wouldn't have to be trying to get out with the truck /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I'm hoping the neighbor is home tonight and maybe I can get him up there with his Long. Sounds like a fun night tonight. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[LarryD]

I don't know how far it is across the ditch but if you've got the FEL on, you should be able to lift the front end up and get some dunnage under it and drive away. Worth a shot I would think.

 

[jwstewar]

Didn't turn out to be too bad. I was able to get it out w/o any trouble. When I first saw it when I came home, I thought "Holy Crap. She is way down in there."

Here is a picture as I was walking up to it. You can kinda see the weird angle it was sitting.

 

[jwstewar]

Another shot from the rear. What made it bad was the left rear tire was in the spoil of the ditch as well as the left front with this combo it took most of the weight of the right rear so no traction there either. I'll show a picture in a minute of why the FEL was of no help.

 

[jwstewar]

Here is how far the front left was down - a front locker would've been nice. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I guess this doesn't show the FEL area like I thought though.

 

[jwstewar]

Another shot of the left side still down in the ditch. Glad it wasn't any steeper/farther down and the MMM was there or she may have had a more serious problem.

 

[jwstewar]

I tried to just drive the tractor out w/ diff lock and FEL use. No go. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif The FEL couldn't get enough bite in the "quick sand" and the one rear tire was also there and the other rear didn't have enough weight. I went back to the house got my wife, the truck, and tow strap. Put the tow strap on the clevis hook and then that to the bottom connection of the drawbar and the other end of the tow strap to the hitch on the truck. One problem was I couldn't get a straight pull. I put the truck at the least angle I could and kind propped it up on the mound of dirt left from the last time we had the ditch cleaned out on the neighbor's property. This allowed me to pull down on the truck and pull up on the tractor so the tires would hopefully slide a little bit. I then turned the front wheels all the way to the right and had my wife just ease it out while I worked hydro/diff lock. No problems, truck didn't even spin a tire - not like the times when I've gotten it stuck and it wouldn't budge the tractor.

 

[jwstewar]

Here you can see the biggest casualty. A bunch of mud up around the front gear reduction. Since this was submerged for about 4 hours I decided it best to change the oil out once I was it off. Did that - even though I had just changed it about 2 or 3 weeks ago. I also regreased that side of the tractor and mower deck even though I had just done that Monday.

 

[jwstewar]

Here are the remnants of where she was. It has only been 2 or 3 years since we had this ditch cleaned out. At that time the excavator left the ditch about 4 foot deep. I'll probably end up renting a compact excavabor to reclean the ditch this summer. This is why I need a backhoe attachment for the tractor so that I can keep this ditch flowing.

 

[have_blue]

Looks like you had more of a ground clearance problem than a traction problem.

If it were me, I would have picked up the MMM to maximum height, leveled the FEL, applied a little down pressure to the FEL until the front wheel rose mostly out of the hole, then backed out.

Talk is cheap though. It may not have worked!

Glad everything is back to normal for you. The karma of universe is upset when the tractor is stuck. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif