Mud!

[sidney411]

Well just in time for the dozer to get some of the perimeter fencing pushed out we got some rain finally. Just enough to make a muddy mess out of the fresh dirt in the dozer path. We had to get out and build fence even though it was raining, since we have cows that need in that pasture and the other guy couldn't lock his cows out from his side. First rattle out of the bat we got the 4230 burried up to the front axle. Had to get the neighbor and his extend-a hoe to pull it out. We ended up having to dig the holes mostly by hand and pull the wire out by hand while trying to not bust our butts on the slippery clay. It was a real fun weekend, in the 30's - 40's most of the time, but I'm glad for the rain. I wished I had my camera out there but I didn't wat to risk it getting all wet Anyone else get a little rain that needed it? :lol:

 

[warpaint]

Sorry about your troubles with the mud. Would have enjoyed the pics I'm sure.

Glad ya'll got some much needed rain. ;-)

 

[rk]

Well just in time for the dozer to get some of the perimeter fencing pushed out we got some rain finally. Just enough to make a muddy mess out of the fresh dirt in the dozer path. We had to get out and build fence even though it was raining, since we have cows that need in that pasture and the other guy couldn't lock his cows out from his side. First rattle out of the bat we got the 4230 burried up to the front axle. Had to get the neighbor and his extend-a hoe to pull it out. We ended up having to dig the holes mostly by hand and pull the wire out by hand while trying to not bust our butts on the slippery clay. It was a real fun weekend, in the 30's - 40's most of the time, but I'm glad for the rain. I wished I had my camera out there but I didn't wat to risk it getting all wet Anyone else get a little rain that needed it? :lol:

Glad you caught some rain...where are you at?

 

[sidney411]

n/w of houston. Come to think about it, I'm glad I didn't take any incriminating pics. That's not the 1st time I've had that tractor stuck, just the 1st time in mud. Was going along fine and all of a sudden sunk down in a hole :roll:

 

[backhoeboogie]

Years ago we had mud here at times.

If you take a chain and tie it through your tractor wheel spokes, then tie that chain to a tree trunk or something solid, put that tractor in the lowest gear it has, you can back it out or pull it forward, whatever the case may be. It makes one heck of a winch. You can move it 5 feet then reset your chains if necessary. I strung 100 foot of chain together once to reach a tree and kept from hauling my caterpillar to a tractor.

My backhoe is an extend a hoe and I sure like that feature. Comes in handy as you likely discovered.

 

[jw]

Backhoe,

Will you explain this a little better for me? I can't understand what you are using for leverage to pull the tractor with.

If you take a chain and tie it through your tractor wheel spokes, then tie that chain to a tree trunk or something solid, put that tractor in the lowest gear it has, you can back it out or pull it forward, whatever the case may be. It makes one heck of a winch. You can move it 5 feet then reset your chains if necessary. I strung 100 foot of chain together once to reach a tree and kept from hauling my caterpillar to a tractor.

 

[backhoeboogie]

The tractor pulls itself. Take a chain and tie it back to itself through the tractor's rear wheel. (just loop the chain through the wheel and around the tire and hook it back to itself) Take the other end of the chain and tie it to a tree trunk or fixed object with as little slack as possible. Put the tractor in low gear (usually in reverse) and ease out on the clutch. The chain in the wheel will pull against the fixed end and either the tractor moves as the wheel tightens or else you pull the fixed object out of the ground. As long as you have a tree close by, or enough chain to reach one a long ways off, you can always unstick a tractor. The tire literally climbs the chain once it gets under the tire.

I once sunk a bulldozer and did the same thing except I stuck the open end of the hook onto the track cleat and tied the other end to a tree. I expected the chain to break but instead the bull dozer pulled itself out.

 

[msscamp]

The chain in the wheel will pull against the fixed end and either the tractor moves as the wheel tightens or else you pull the fixed object out of the ground.

My luck, not only would I pull the fixed object out of the ground, it would then land on the tractor! :shock: :shock:

 

[backhoeboogie]

When we broke up Grandaddy's place over in Marshall, we rented the biggest Komatsu dozer I had ever been on to cut the right of way dividing up everyone's piece. I sunk it. If you moved a track it would only take it straight down deeper. There was no equipment big enough anywhere to get it out. I chained the sunken track to on old growth pine tree and backed onto it. Went back about fifteen feet and then spun the tracks 90 degrees. We unchained it and backed it on out of the mud hole. I had done it before with tractors but that was a first with a dozer track. I was on my knees gving thanks. Likely I would have had to call someone special out of Shreveport to get me out of that fix otherwise.

 

[sidney411]

Wow, would never think of that. The only problem is I was in the middle of a fresh dozed area and the closest big tree was either to my side about 200 ft or about 1000 ft behind me. Would it work from the side? Do you hook the chain to the wheel on the back side of the cab or the front? What about if you have a piece of machinery hooked up behind you? I'm trying to figure this out for next time, as I'm sure I'll do something stupid again. Will it work if I get my dually stuck too? :lol:

 

[jw]

Thanks Backhoe,

I can get a visual now.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Wow, would never think of that. The only problem is I was in the middle of a fresh dozed area and the closest big tree was either to my side about 200 ft or about 1000 ft behind me. Would it work from the side? Do you hook the chain to the wheel on the back side of the cab or the front? What about if you have a piece of machinery hooked up behind you? I'm trying to figure this out for next time, as I'm sure I'll do something stupid again. Will it work if I get my dually stuck too? :lol:

I wouldn't try it on a truck myself. Those wheels aren't very robust, much smaller rendering less net gain from motion, and you'd likely damage paint, balance weights, or even the tire. If I were stuck in rising water or other emergency, then maybe.

You can drive a steel stake in and I've done it. I try to go directly behind the tire as much as possible and back out (as I usually have driven into the mess) but it will work either way if you skew around the front tire.

 

[Conagher]

Wow, would never think of that. The only problem is I was in the middle of a fresh dozed area and the closest big tree was either to my side about 200 ft or about 1000 ft behind me. Would it work from the side? Do you hook the chain to the wheel on the back side of the cab or the front? What about if you have a piece of machinery hooked up behind you? I'm trying to figure this out for next time, as I'm sure I'll do something stupid again. Will it work if I get my dually stuck too? :lol:

sidney411,

Here's a trick I've used with success several times that does not require an anchor point near by. Get two strong poles about as long as the tractor. I usually just cut down a couple of straight elms approx. 4 - 6" diam. Lay one pole on each side of the tractor up against the wheels. Pole should be long enough to reach the back of the back tire and the front of the front tire. Would look something like this: l8l with the "8" being the tractor and the "l" are the poles on each side. Take a log chain and run it under the tractor in front of the back tires, loop around one pole, back under the tractor and loop the other pole, pull the slack out of the chain, and hock the chain to itself. Push each side of the chain up against the back tires so that the tire tread will grap the chain when the back tires start to spin. Climb on the tractor, low gear, good throttle and go forward. The back tires will climb the chain out of the hole. If you are in a large wet area you may have to repeat a few times until you get to solid ground.

 

[sidney411]

Will that method also work in reverse, instead of forward? I could see that it probably wouldn't work for a truck that doesn't have aggressive mud grips to grab the chains though, right?

 

[Conagher]

I have never tried it in reverse, guess it would work but would be concerned with the front wheels falling into the holes left by the back wheels and getting stuck all over again. Never tried this procedure with a truck.