Why FEL

[Buck]

Well after that post, "Why 4WD", I thought I knew enough to go anywhere.

Today, in Upstate NY's heat wave, I decided I'd get my tractor out for a little digging.

Last summer I cleared an area of brush, skimmed about a two feet of topsoil (the area is a topsoil mine) and sure enough that two feet deep area is now a pond. Not far from this pond is a drainage creek that I thought I could dig a swail to and have the pond drain nicely.

After my first dig I got stuck. In FWD. Back and forward. Back and forward. Back and forward. Even my MMM was clipped up, and it was in the mud. Then I tried Bob Trevithicks suggestion of Diff lock. No luck there either. Mud was 3/4's up my front wheel. I thought for sure I'd have to call my neighbor and have him bring over his JD 1050 with a chain.

I realized I'd been acting like a fool. After all, how many times have people warned against working in wet dirt on TBN?

Well here is how I got out.

I used the FEL. First, I put the bottom edge of the FEL vertically into the earth. This propped the front wheels up. Then moved the FEL outward using the bottom edge to propel the tractor backward. Repeated again and again. Finally, I got out.

My guess is that there are many veterans here who have got out of messes like this before using this technique. However, maybe someday someone will be as naive as me and find this post useful.

Buck

 

[ronjhall]

Buck
I had planned to do all kinds of projects with my tractor tomorrow. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif But I'm afraid that I would have to print out your pictures as a guide to get it unstuck. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Do you ever take your MMM off?

 

[Buck]

Ron,

No, I didn't remove it. I clipped it in the up position using the "traveling"clips.

Good luck tomorrow. I hope you can invent something good to do. I'll be powerwashing.

Buck

 

[MChalkley]

Buck - Nice photo lesson. We really appreciate the six trips you made through the mud to get those pictures, too. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Buck]

MChalkey,

That is exactly what my wife said when I came in the house.

Buck

 

[MChalkley]

Buck - Ah, that's an intricacy of the situation I didn't think about. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Yeah, I'll bet she said she appreciated you making those trips through the mud - I'll bet that's exactly what she said. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[MossRoad]

That's exactly how I used to get my 2500b unstuck. Sometimes that didn't even work, if the soil is too soft, such as the very loose sand that we have on our property. The soil would just shove forward. Then I had to use a long cable and pull it out with the pickup truck.

Very nice pictures. Thanks.

 

[Bird]

Buck, those tires look like racing slicks for a dragster./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[Alan L.]

Been there. I've used the FEL to get unstuck before, sometimes I can only go against the fence or in the creek, so it won't work. I spent the day in the mud with the tractor today too, but fortunately I didn't get stuck. Nice to have a rear mount mower in that situtation - you don't lose any ground clearance.

 

[smilingreen]

Buck,
Good job getting yourself out of the mud. Been there, done that trick a few times myself. Had my 790 (FWD, R4's) out in the mud today, also, but didn't even have to put it in FWD and I didn't get stuck. Slung a bunch of mud on top of my JD cap and the backside of my overalls, though!

 

[Harv]

Buck -

I've heard stories like yours before, but I want to congratulate you for being the first to provide photographic documentation of the event.

Clearly you had your TBN buddies in mind and were willing to share your misadventure with all of us. Somewhere down the line (maybe soon, since it's the wet season), you probably just saved somebody a whole heap of aggravation.

 

[MChalkley]

Harv - <font color=blue>you probably just saved somebody a whole heap of aggravation</font color=blue>

Yep - I'd agree. FWIW, though, it's a whole lot harder (and slower) to pull yourself forward using that technique than it is to push yourself backward. Even with a toothbar, which makes it a lot easier, it's still very tedious business. When I got the EF-5 stuck, for example, I had the back end in some very swampy ground, pushing up hill, against a 4" or so holly tree with the Brush Brute. (Ok, sure it was dumb - but how do you know what a new tractor won't do until you stick it? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif) Anyway, when I realized the back axle was on the ground (muck), the first thing I tried was pulling myself forward with the the Brush Brute. Even with all those teeth sticking in the ground, pulling against roots, stumps, etc. it would've taken a long time, so I put the transmission in forward, rev'ed the hand throttle up enough that the wheels were pulling forward slowly, then spun around and used the backhoe to push myself out. Moral of the story: If you don't have a backhoe, try to make sure you go into the mucky stuff loader first, or you'll likely be there a while.

 

[Thomas]

Hope you got a pressure washer. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif You weren't stuck if you got her out.
Stuck when you need another piece of equipment to haul you out...thats stuck. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif
From the newbies to the verterans we all get hung up sooner or later...its kinda like welcome to the club.

 

[lblair]

Ive been there also. Many many times. Myself when using the loader off comes the MMM. It only takes a couple minutes to remove and could be the difference in holding you in the muck! Larry

 

[skipper]

Sure your not in a LA. swamp?/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[RobS]

Hey Buck, nice tractor /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif I've had to use that same extraction method even with the R1s and no MMM. Sometimes the tractor wins, sometimes the mud /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[woodmills1]

just had to say my chains are really eatin me through the early mud season here in NH. not to mention 4X4 and no MMM.

 

[MDNY]

Buck: Nice photo's. I remember days similar when I lived at home in the boonies and we had a Forn 8N. Luckly no FEL to get me into trouble, but a couple times I got stuck. Had the benefit of trees and a hand winch to get me out.

I liked the phot of your house on your web page. My wife and I are in the process of planning ours. Meet with the Architect Friday to make some updates to the plans. We will have a Victorian with a small amount of modern flair. My pride and joy is the turret in the master bedroom, very much like yours. Will post pics towards end of summer when it's done.

 

[Buck]

MDNY,

I try to take some shots of the inside of the turret, if my wife will let me.

Buck

 

[MDNY]

Buck: Thanks. I have attached a (not real good picture) of what we are trying to build. The architect will be done next week with our final draft and from there we have about 90 days to go until ground breaking.