When you're on a 4 wheel drive tractor, with lockers on both ends, all 4 R1 Ag tires are turning, you're not going anywhere, and mud/water is starting to lap up over the footboards.

Hauling some of the sand the Town was so kind as to drop off in my front yard all winter, using my dump trailer and Guido:



Got a hole down in the back corner of the pasture where I dug up a Volkswagen-sized rock a couple of years ago, wanted to dump the sand in there.

Got the first load down there okay (New scissors hoist on the trailer did a GREAT job picking it up) so there's another smaller hole right next to it, figured I'd dump the second load there.

Of course, since I lifted the first load so easily, I should put more on the second load, right?

I WAS smart enough to take a slightly different path than the first time, but Murphy was watching me and the trailer sunk right to the axle. Locked up the diffs on Guido and he pulled it another 6 feet before spinning down and sitting on the belly pan.

Of course, when I went to dump the load so I could get out, I couldn't pick it up. Partly cuz it was too heavy, partly because the butt-end of the trailer was sitting on the ground.

All's swell that ends swell tho. Offloaded some with a shubble and used it to fill the ruts. Backed up enough to get the trailer back up on it's tires, dumped most of it and drove out.

I think I'll wait a few days before I take the Cabota down in there to spread it out...

You're not really stuck until you take a second piece of equipment to unstick the first and end up with both of them stuck.

people around here got Deere's of all types and configurations, 2nd hand , antique, brand new and
limited editions, but I gotta say we don't have one of those

When the Sigforum cant figure out how to get you unstuck.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
people around here got Deere's of all types and configurations, 2nd hand , antique, brand new and
limited editions, but I gotta say we don't have one of those

That's an Eye-talian orchard tractor, made by Pasquali. Some doofus previous owner painted it like that. It's now back to something resembling original colors:



Since that picture the wheels have been stripped and painted the original cream color and new sneakers fitted.

20hp one-lunger diesel (Lombardini) and a 9 speed (3x3) trans. Fully articulated, little sumbitch will go anywhere the tires can get some grip.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
You're not really stuck until you take a second piece of equipment to unstick the first and end up with both of them stuck.

True. While there are some indications that my Daddy raised at least one fool, he's still in Michigan. I (usually) know enough to quit digging...

I had my "big" John Deere buried nearly that bad once, I was a couple of hours scrounging up enough chains and wire rope to get out to where I dared to take my truck and winch to get it out.

have you seen this guys line up ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf5rrfNzHlY&t=23s

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
have you seen this guys line up ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf5rrfNzHlY&t=23s

Yup. That guy does NICE work. Also has deep pockets...

One time I drove to a wooded area to load up firewood. While we were there, a couple of geniuses up the hill managed to puncture a water main and cause a small river down the road we had crossed. If there was any other way out I would have taken it, but there wasn't so I made a run for it and ended up stuck. We asked the men if they would call someone for help since we didn't have a cell phone. Nope, they didn't want to get involved. We asked if we could borrow a phone so we could make a call. Nope, not their problem.

I spent a fair amount of time spinning tires and rocking and cussing before we figured out that we needed to unhook the trailer, drive the vehicle out, and use the tow cable to pull the trailer out. About 1/3 of the firewood had to be taken out before it would work, and the tow cable still ended up ruined. I was too mad to think straight, but everyone ended up living.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
You're not really stuck until you take a second piece of equipment to unstick the first and end up with both of them stuck.

When I was about 12 I got a 1952 Allis-Chalmers B stuck in a muddy tobacco field. So, naturally, I went and got one of our other Bs to pull it out and promptly got it stuck, too.

So I got the biggest tractor on the farm, a Deutz, and hooked it up and pulled one out, then the other.

My dad saw me parking three very muddy tractors and didn't even ask.

^^ We have a guy building a new house up the road. They decided to work on the septic field after a recent period of rain and he promptly got his backhoe stuck pretty good. The only other equipment they had on site was an all wheel drive telehandler, and they got it stuck while attempting a recovery.

He must have called in a favor because they had a Cat 953 out there the next day. Got the telehandler out. Buried the 953 going after the backhoe. I don't know what they got out there next, but that 953 weighs over 30,000 pounds and he had it buried track deep.

Fortunately I got to spend some time around the towing business. I got to see enough people get themselves in bad situations that I am pretty good at stopping before I find myself in one.

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
You're not really stuck until you take a second piece of equipment to unstick the first and end up with both of them stuck.

And the third....then 5 hours later you are rescued by the farmer

Or

When the wrecker shows up he says....I will be back with more cable

Or when you find yourself putting on chains at 2 AM so you can safely slide down the hill.....

quote:

Originally posted by a1abdj:
You're not really stuck until you take a second piece of equipment to unstick the first and end up with both of them stuck.

Maybe chongo will come along and tell about getting 4 allis chamlers and a pick up stuck....

When I had my John Deere 750, I had a Woods backhoe for it. Being a small and relatively light rig, I got a lot of jobs for it going into places where a bigger hoe wouldn't fit, or running across lawns that owners didn't want rutted up.

The backhoe was mounted on the 3 point hitch. The procedure with this rig was dig 4-5 feet of trench, get off the hoe, get on the tractor, move everything ahead 5 feet, get off the tractor, get back on the hoe...rinse...repeat.

Got such a job putting in a french drain for a fella. Digging merrily across the lawn, headed for the edge of the woods where he wanted the outlet and a dry well and noticed things getting a tad soft.

Well, on the very next get off/get on/move drill, I sank that sumbitch right up to the oil pan. Front differential, rear differential and backhoe frame all in the mud. No way to get anywhere near it with a tow vehicle, not that the feller would have allowed it across his lawn anyway.

Wound up crabbing it out by rolling the bucket on the loader all the way down and the dipper stick on the hoe all the way out, picking the whole tractor up out of the mud and rolling the bucket back while pulling the dipper stick on the hoe in, thereby moving the tractor back a couple of feet. A dozen or so repetitions got me back up on dry enough ground that I could drive out.

Laughing Boy sat on his porch and giggled himself silly the whole time.

His bill reflected that. He didn't like it, but he paid it. I declined to do any more work for him.

On the other end, we have people who aren't stuck nearly as bad as they think they are.

I was probably about 14 when the road washed out near my grandpa's house. The neighbor's son (in his 20's) had an M-715 that I thought was pretty cool. He tried to take it through the washout and hung up the back end bad enough that he wasn't going anywhere in either direction under his own power. He and his buddy were trying to dig it out. My dad and I stopped and dad offered to have me pull him out with our ~50hp tractor. Dude said, "No, thanks. That little tractor wouldn't even budge me." Dad shrugged and said, "If you change your mind, come up to the house."

After we fed cattle, they were still working at it. Dad sent me back down there with the tractor. Dude sighed and unenthusiastically said, "Fine. Give it a shot." I popped him right back up onto the road.

To be fair, he let me drive his truck after we got him unstuck.

I was stationed in southern Italy back in the late 80's (Air Force). Security Police ran a patrol around the perimeter of the base in what they called the 'War Wagon' - four wheel drive diesel, non war ready Chevy truck.

Of course they went mud bogging in the middle of the night once and got it stuck, tried to cover it up and called a buddy in TRANS who took the wrecker out & promptly got it stuck also.

When the rest of us were coming into work and saw the CES grader heading to the scene to pull both vehicles out, it wasn't a secret any more.

quote:

Originally posted by soflaac:
I was stationed in southern Italy back in the late 80's (Air Force). Security Police ran a patrol around the perimeter of the base in what they called the 'War Wagon' - four wheel drive diesel, non war ready Chevy truck.

Of course they went mud bogging in the middle of the night once and got it stuck, tried to cover it up and called a buddy in TRANS who took the wrecker out & promptly got it stuck also.

When the rest of us were coming into work and saw the CES grader heading to the scene to pull both vehicles out, it wasn't a secret any more.

I first came to Maine in 1973, got stationed at a little-known base in Winter Harbor. The base, since closed , was out on the very end of Schoodic Peninsula which is a part of Acadia National Park. Beautiful place and the reason I decided to settle here.

Anyway, at the time I was a PO3 (E4) and my job when I had the duty was Roving Patrol, which meant driving around the base in a Navy pickup. The base had an extensive campground with roads out through the woods that went right down to the shore. During camping season, part of the route was to check campsites for fires or general rowdiness.

One time while on duty, I was told to break in the FNG and show him all the places that needed to be checked on roving patrol. We rode around and checked all the usual suspects including the various campsites.

The newbie assured me he had it, so we called it good.

A week or two later, I got a call at home: "Did you show Seaman Staynes how to check the campsites?"

"Yup, sure did Chief."

"Did you make sure he knew the roads, what and where to check?"

"He said he had it, Chief."

"Then why did he drive out on the mud flats and bury the truck to the doors?"

"I dunno Chief, maybe he's just a dumbass?"

when it comes to 4 wheeling in the outback, its pretty amazing how 15 minutes of thought and planning can save you 6 hours of regret and toil

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

A week or two later, I got a call at home: "Did you show Seaman Staynes how to check the campsites?"

"Yup, sure did Chief."

"Did you make sure he knew the roads, what and where to check?"

"He said he had it, Chief."

"Then why did he drive out on the mud flats and bury the truck to the doors?"

"I dunno Chief, maybe he's just a dumbass?"

There's one in every crowd. Ha ha!

During my glory filled military career, I once managed to get a Deuce and a Half struck. Really stuck. This pissed off a lot of people.