Almost lost it!

[deputyrpa]

Phew! I had a close call this afternoon! I'm so sorry I did not take pics, but my farmer/neighbor was busy and I had no time to run 1/2 mile in snow back to the house to get the camera.

I was on my way to a far woodline in order to skid out some 12-14" pine I dropped this morning. I had to cross three 1-2' wide creeks in teh farm field raods to get to one of the trees. I used the snowmobile to find and cut them, so now was tractor time! Well, the last creek is a field crossing with no culvert. It's been forded for many years, and it appeared fine with no open water, when I scooted across it with the sled. This is a weenie little creek here. Approach and departure are 15% slopes.

Well, the snow is ~2' deep, but fairly hard. As I approached the crossing, I went slowly, and stopped, then inched forward. As soon as my front wheels got near the approach bank...squish, down the right side went, the front tire buried in wet clay up to the top! I surveyed the situation, and apparently I drove into an old rut with water in it that extended to under the rear tire too! The ground was frozen on either side of the front tire, and I could not turn it because it was buried. The tractor was listed about 15 degrees right, and I turned the wheels in low reverse but the right wheels went down even deeper, and listed further. I had to use the bucket to keep from tipping over, as the both left tires were off the ground, even out of the snow. I tried using the bucket to curl out, but the bucket just sunk right in the stream channel. I'm serious that I could have pushed the DK45 over with one finger. I stopped before it got worse and called my neighbor, who came over to bail me out with his big JD 4x4...again. He had to clear the 2' or so of snow for traction, so he could pull from the left. I was able to dig the snow out from under the left rear, which was up in the air, and push it down with the loader. Then, as I put full down-pressure with the loader, he dragged me out. No damage, no injury. LOT's of sweat!!

Needless to say first job in the spring is to install a culvert there!!

 

[greenmule]

Well thats your excitment for the week,next week is coming!

 

[IXLR8]

Glad to hear it didn't turn out to be more serious.
You were wearing your seatbelt and the ROPS was in the up position... correct!?
I know the feeling, when I was carrying the 450lbs of truss 6' out in front of my bucket, with the bucket about 8' in the air. I was heading down and across a slight embankment, my lowside front tire dropped into a low spot in the lawn I didnt' see. At that point my highside rear tire had air under it and I could feel the tractor teetering that sent my pucker factor sky high. I was sure glad I was creaping along as slow as I could, in low at idle. SWMBO was watching and she did a bit of panicing herself. At that point I lowered the truss's to the ground, the rear tire settled back to the ground. I then backed up out of the low spot, lifted the truss's off the ground and proceded slowly around the low spot. No harm, no foul... lesson learned.

 

[deputyrpa]

Glad to hear it didn't turn out to be more serious.
You were wearing your seatbelt and the ROPS was in the up position... correct!?

All safety apparati were deployed sir!

I already flopped the Jinma with a load of gravel and front tire in a soft spot. There was NO warning there. My pucker threshold is LOW!

 

[Egon]

Glad to hear all turned out well.

 

[coobie]

Glad to hear it turned out well for you.coobie

 

[deputyrpa]

Thanks guys....

It took some time for me to hop back on it after we hooked up the chain to drag it out. My sphincter was so tight I could have sat on a screwdriver.....

 

[coobie]

Thanks guys....

It took some time for me to hop back on it after we hooked up the chain to drag it out. My sphincter was so tight I could have sat on a screwdriver.....

I feel your pain,a few years ago I was helping a neighbor out trying to plow his drive in a snow storm with my massey 1240 and almost rolled it on a steep hill next to his drive.With all the blowing and drifting of snow & being night time I lost where I was at.The pucker factor was great that night,I tucked my tail and came back when it was daylight.Better safe than sorry!!coobie

 

[deputyrpa]

I feel your pain,a few years ago I was helping a neighbor out trying to plow his drive in a snow storm with my massey 1240 and almost rolled it on a steep hill next to his drive.With all the blowing and drifting of snow & being night time I lost where I was at.The pucker factor was great that night,I tucked my tail and came back when it was daylight.Better safe than sorry!!coobie

Smart move Coobie. Night is the worst time for exploring new places!

 

[JoelD]

I tend to leave my bucket fairly low to the ground when going into unchartered teritory just in case.

Glad all worked out Deputy, you've got to be particularly carefull when alone and away from the house, out of shouting distance.

Just goes to show how fast things can happen.

Sounds like you were being cautious and it paid off, that's the key.

Glad you and machine came out unscathed.

Then again, maybe if you were doing 15 MPH you might have driven right over the gully and actually gotten your work completed .

Joel

 

[deputyrpa]

Then again, maybe if you were doing 15 MPH you might have driven right over the gully and actually gotten your work completed .

Joel

The term "hopelessly impaled in clay" comes to mind.....

 

[JoelD]

Well I guess if you want to get all technical and stuff you're probably right.

I was picturing the skimobiles doing 50 mph accross lakes and ponds, keep the hammer down and you skim, let up and you sink like a stone.

There goes deputy, hammer down, rear dif locked, snow and clay flying, skidding sidways like the mercedes commercials accross the field.

Brings back memories of sunday nights at the mudbog races.

What ever happended to the televised mud races anyway??

Good you didn't go over and good nothing broke. Quick thought, is there a chance any water could get into your front axle housing? I remember that being a concern on my dozer's finals.

Joel

 

[deputyrpa]

Well I guess if you want to get all technical and stuff you're probably right.

I was picturing the skimobiles doing 50 mph accross lakes and ponds, keep the hammer down and you skim, let up and you sink like a stone.

There goes deputy, hammer down, rear dif locked, snow and clay flying, skidding sidways like the mercedes commercials accross the field.

Brings back memories of sunday nights at the mudbog races.

What ever happended to the televised mud races anyway??

Good you didn't go over and good nothing broke. Quick thought, is there a chance any water could get into your front axle housing? I remember that being a concern on my dozer's finals.

Joel

Now who's the one drinking the silly juice?? Somehow, despite my fertile imagination, I cannot picture skimming over anything with a DK45. I've done a few driveway ice slides, and jumping creeks would have to be an unplanned incident too!

I think I'm through with skimming, hammer down and mud bogging! The last speed machine, the KDX220R, was sold a few weeks ago. Sorry to see it go.....it's like losing a gallon of testosterone.

Once in a while I'll see mud-bogging on the SPEED Channel, but that's rare. Too bad, it's great stuff.

I HOPE that since the front diff and axle are sealed, that water entry is not an issue. Perhaps someone could chime in on that.

 

[Thomas]

Safe to say most of us had our thrills such as you deputyrpa,and those moments shall make one even better operator...passing the knowledge a long.

Glad your safe and sound.

 

[deputyrpa]

Safe to say most of us had our thrills such as you deputyrpa,and those moments shall make one even better operator...passing the knowledge a long.

Glad your safe and sound.

Thanks Thomas.

I've been on tractors for a long time - and most of them didn't have seatbelts or rops. Unfortunately, many experienced operators get injured and worse every year. It reveals that events are unpredictable, and we are all at risk operating heavy machinery. You're correct, though, that by sharing experiences we can all do our best to minimize the risk.

 

[kentrodngun]

Now who's the one drinking the silly juice?? Somehow, despite my fertile imagination, I cannot picture skimming over anything with a DK45. I've done a few driveway ice slides, and jumping creeks would have to be an unplanned incident too!

I think I'm through with skimming, hammer down and mud bogging! The last speed machine, the KDX220R, was sold a few weeks ago. Sorry to see it go.....it's like losing a gallon of testosterone.

Hey, maybe Rick can set up a Kioti obstacle course outside the dealership to simulate your conditions and we can all compete with our machines.

With all the ice & snow this winter, I'm sure everyone got lots of practice in - I know I did, and I've got the tight pucker to prove it .

Rick, maybe you should offer a modest prize. I'm sure it'll be offset by all the repair business you'll get afterwards .

 

[Northland]

When I bought my tractor in Michigan the rear tires came loaded with Rim Guard.

​

Last week I was uncovering a pile of logs in my yard so that I could cut and split them. While I was doing that I ended up being sideways to the slope of my yard and ended up getting deeper into the snow and the log pile! A log lodged into my rear tire and broke the valve stem. The air and 20 gallons of Rim Guard leaked out. My tractor was buried in deep snow and I had a flat tire. I had to get the tractor unstuck and get the tire remounted and filled with Rim Guard.
​

Fortunately it isn't too far from my house. It was a mess though. The rear right tire was pretty much off the rim but still had the v-bar chain on it. I tried using a come-along and a snatch block yesterday but it wasn't moving.

The next day oday I went out and tried pull it out forwards by hooking a chain to the bucket hooks and use the snatch block and 100 feet of my new Samson 1/4" rope. I rigged it up as shown in the attached config and managed to easily pull it out with my truck; despite the slippery icy conditions.

My wife watched and gave me directions as I inched the tractor out with the truck. We had to stop often and turn the front wheels on the tractor and a few times I thought it might tip but it only took about 40 minutes to pull it out in front of the house. If that didn't work I would have had to to get my neighbour over here with his skidder-that or a backhoe or maybe a tow truck.​

Another lesson learned. Never let your tractor, or any vehicle, get sideways even on the slightest decline. I did something stupid like that two years winters ago but didn't get hung up as bad. I didn't have chains on the tires then. Now I have chains on the front and back tires and I still screwed up . ​

Thereafter I have to load the tire and rim into my truck and bring it over to Michigan to have it remounted and refilled with Rim Guard.​

This could have been a disaster but it's all good now. I can't wait to use my snatch blocks, slings and rope to pull logs out of the bush.​

​

 

[rd_macgregor]

With respect to the diagram...just don't expect the load to move directly toward the winch. The load will always move along a vector halfway between the winch and the anchor point for the other end of the line unless the load is on a rail or something. Sometimes this is a pain and sometimes it can be used to advantage (like when you WANT the load to go sideways!!).
If you are trying to cover distance with a load though, with the zero degree attachment, the load can be pulled all the way to the winch, whereas with the 90 degree attachment, the load can only be pulled halfway to the winch (and off to the side by as much), after which time the winch is pulling full-force on the anchor without moving the load at all (and the winch is trying to pull two trees down toward each other!), then the setup has to be relocated to do another pull.
My land is almost all hills and gullies, so it is hard to avoid some side-hill driving; I hate that creepy, side-slip feeling, though.
BOB

 

[Northland]

With respect to the diagram.
My land is almost all hills and gullies, so it is hard to avoid some side-hill driving; I hate that creepy, side-slip feeling, though.
BOB

Thanks for advice Bob. It will come in handy as I learn about rigging. The diagram I used was pulled from a web site that sells portable winches. I substitute my tractor for the winch. Like you my land is all hills and valleys so I must be careful.

 

[IslandTractor]

A log lodged into my rear tire and broke the valve stem.

Are your valve stems on the outside or axle side of the wheel? Mine are mounted on the axle side which is a bit of a pain for loading the tires and checking pressure but makes it a lot safer.