Worst place you've taken a tractor (and gotten away with it)

Dr_Zinj · Aug 23, 2011

I liked the what have you lifted with your FEL thread.

Was wondering about peoples' stories of where they've been with a tractor. You know, swamps, rivers, mountains, log piles, talus slopes, sandy deserts (does driving a tractor for Uncle Sam over sand dunes in Abu Dhabi count? - that was fun, too bad they didn't let us take pictures), nuclear test ranges, etc.

How about getting away with driving a tractor through a place that would have gotten you arrested if you were driving a regular car or truck?

Farmwithjunk · Aug 23, 2011

Worst place I ever took a tractor was in the inner city to mow abandon property for the city of Louisville Ky. Never more than a few feet from pavement, houses, bus stops, and people wandering along behind the mower, it's un-nerving to hear gun shots over the engine of the tractor and know they WEREN'T hunters....At least not the sporting kind....One season of that was enough. They paid a premium to contractors, but it absolutely was NOT worth ANY amount of money.

ALMOST ran over a homeless man sleeping in weeds. Never again.....

foreman Etexas · Aug 23, 2011

My IN-LAWS

brin · Aug 23, 2011

We once filled in a 24 X36 in ground swimming pool..it was half full of water..we pumped most of it out, crushed in the concrete sides of the pool and then using my JD 3020 with FEL began filling it with clay...as the clay got toward the top I had to move further and further in on top of what had been the pool...with the soft clay and spongy at that it got real interesting quick and a number of times I had to use the FEL to push myself out after getting stuck in the still wet and moist clay...Got it all done though.

bigbull338 · Aug 23, 2011

lets see my brother took the tractor into some heavy woods to shredd for a new fenceline.an was wondering how he was going to find his way out even with the lights on.

slowzuki · Aug 23, 2011

Worst places?
-Crossing a foundation to work inside it, used bundles of 2x3's to cross the escavation.
-working inside a horse barn that wasn't meant to be accessed by vehicles
-driving into hay barns that were built for loose hay, you steered around the boards that didn't joint on top of a beam or down the front end would do into the cattle area below (happened lots)
-Pulling the neighbour out of the swamp - burried my tractor on purpose to get the loader close enough to lift the mower she was towing.
-Stuck down customers steep driveways in wet snow without chains. Embarassing as R4's are useless in that type of snow.
-Stuck off the side of a customers driveway with snow half way up the cab door.
-Mowing hay this year and looking back to see my new 600 mm wide tires (24") cutting 1.5 ft deep ruts in the wet area of the hay field when I thought I would float through with 4wd and 4 way diff lock.

eray1066 · Aug 23, 2011

One winter when I was 17 we were burning a brush pile of trees cleared from a small earthen dam. I was alone pushing in the edges of the pile in order to have a complete and neat burn. I was using the front mounted snow plow blade on a '49 International Cub (with chains and wheel weights and loaded tires), our only tractor at the time. Just as I pushed in to where the blade was in the fire and the front tires nearly on the hot coals, The rear wheels broke through what proved to be a thin layer of frozen ground over swampy mud. Right down to the axle. There was little time for swearing as the main task had switched to..PUT OUT THE FIRE!!!! My brother came by and we pulled apart the fire and threw snow on the coals. The fire was out but we sunk a large amount of wooden blocking the next day with a bumper jack before we were able to get the wheels on planks and drive it out.
We still use this tractor to cultivate vegetables on my daughters farm.

Gordon Gould · Aug 23, 2011

eray1066 said:
One winter when I was 17 we were burning a brush pile . . .

Good story - thanks

Short Game · Aug 24, 2011

Not long after I got my '96 Cub Cadet 7274 (Mitsubishi), while living on the north shore of the lower Columbia River, I went down a hundred and fifty feet of very steep grade to a dredge spoil beach to clear an area of brush and drift logs for a camp site.

Though it was unknown to me at the time, the previous owner had broken the ring gear in the front drive and the dealer mechanic had gotten the wrong replacement ring gear (probably the one used in the nearly identical, Mitsubishi built, 1991 Case IH 1140). The one the shop got had eight millimeter bolt holes, the one that belonged in it used ten millimeter bolts. So they bolted the ring to the differential case with the too small 8mm bolts through the larger 10mm holes. So, every time it was shifted from forward to reverse, the bolts got hammered by the sliding ring gear.

Anyway, the bolts decided to finally break with me at the bottom of that steep grade. the road was very loose 2 inch minus and impossible to climb in 2WD. I made many tries and the rears just spun. I soon figured out that the fronts were not pulling. I was trapped between a bone yard of big drift logs behind me on the river side, and that impossible grade before me on the other.

With the FEL, I started moving dredge sand from the small area I had gotten cleared away and began using it to build a ramp. I was digging everywhere except the lead up to the road to get material. As the ramp got longer and higher, I got better runs at the hill, and locking the rear differential, I kept getting a little farther with each try. By late in the afternoon, I had the ramp long enough, high enough, and the run to the road fast enough, that I at last made it all the way to the top.

D7E · Aug 24, 2011

Worst in my mind was when we were silaging steep banks in south wales (UK) and crossing a river with every load . I'm sure it seemed a lot worse than it was but with new front wheel assist 120hp tractors water did make it into the cab at one point and with empty 10 ton gross trailers the water would take them sideways a little when empty !

slowzuki · Aug 24, 2011

They used to cross the river in the water here with hay and the small tractors would suck water once in a while. Built a bridge in the 1960's to solve the problem. I once ventured down into the water under the bridge and the water was fast enough I couldn't stand in it with 2 legs, as soon as the second foot came down it was skidding you along.

PapaPerk · Aug 24, 2011

I hauled a loaded porta john back to the rental companies building! They went out of business while the John was on duty at my place. I let you figure out what it was loaded with! Lol!!!

I loaded the porta potty with my potty pallet forks and then put the tractor on the trailer with it. It was an entertaining sight going down the road! (0:

Cossack1917 · Aug 24, 2011

Here's some pics of one guy who DIDN'T get away with it!

Drowned tractor and magic mushrooms | English Russia

homedad · Aug 24, 2011

In my basement spreading pea stone before the floor was poured. I had an L185 DT at the time. It had no ROPS and I had to take off the muffler and exhaust pipe to get it through the day-light windows.

Bobby R · Aug 27, 2011

I had my first job (15 years old, back in the mid 60's) mowing highway right of ways, using an International Harvester 140. I remember a couple of scarey places I had to mow were very steep slopes. As I eased along, I remember the rear of the tractor was a bit lower on the slope than the front of the tractor, and I had to keep the front wheels steered slightly to the left (upgraded). I was a very nervous little guy before I finished that slope!

rekees4300 · Aug 27, 2011

The pond :ashamed:

bullbreaker · Aug 27, 2011

Does down the aisle count ?

And no I did not get away with it ! :mur:

Boone

aczlan · Aug 27, 2011

bullbreaker said:
Does down the aisle count ?

We drove away from our reception in a Deere 7410 with a cab (borrowed form the farm where she worked). It took me a few minutes to figure out how to shift gears/ranges as I had never seen that setup before... I would have preferred to have had 5 mins with someone who know how to drive it beforehand, but you work with what you have.
Cake topper: