I've been following this site for over a year and never felt the need to contibute...until now. Last night I was plowing off the beaver pond behind my house (Almonte, Ontario) and you guessed it...my B1700 fell through!
I had cut slots in the ice with my Stihl and it was over 8" thick. However I didn't realize that near the edges of the dam where a little water trickles out the ice was still thin. I was sitting 45 degrees in 5' of water with the rear wheels still on the ice and the front end totally submerged. In a panic I turned off the engine and then realized that the water would enter the exhaust pipe so I turned it on again and left it running. It made a really haunting blub, blub, blub sound as it ran under water! I tried to lift the front end up by using the loader on the ice but it only broke through and made the front sink more.
So I did the only thing that any displaced city dweller would do...I ran back to my house and called my friendly neighbour the farmer. He obligingly came and took one look and couldn't believe that the tractor was still running. He went on to scare the s**t out of me by saying that "if the rear wheels break through, she's gonna stay there till spring". Anyway between barbs, he easily pulled me out with his huge John Deere. I have to tell you guys that he was very impressed that the B1700 ran throughout the whole ordeal and continues to purr like a kitten, even though there was a layer of ice covering most of the front end when I got back home.
My only wish now was that I had a digital camera to share my adventure
I had cut slots in the ice with my Stihl and it was over 8" thick. However I didn't realize that near the edges of the dam where a little water trickles out the ice was still thin. I was sitting 45 degrees in 5' of water with the rear wheels still on the ice and the front end totally submerged. In a panic I turned off the engine and then realized that the water would enter the exhaust pipe so I turned it on again and left it running. It made a really haunting blub, blub, blub sound as it ran under water! I tried to lift the front end up by using the loader on the ice but it only broke through and made the front sink more.
So I did the only thing that any displaced city dweller would do...I ran back to my house and called my friendly neighbour the farmer. He obligingly came and took one look and couldn't believe that the tractor was still running. He went on to scare the s**t out of me by saying that "if the rear wheels break through, she's gonna stay there till spring". Anyway between barbs, he easily pulled me out with his huge John Deere. I have to tell you guys that he was very impressed that the B1700 ran throughout the whole ordeal and continues to purr like a kitten, even though there was a layer of ice covering most of the front end when I got back home.
My only wish now was that I had a digital camera to share my adventure
