BIG Ooops!!!

[EddieWalker]

Been there, done that. As you can see in the picture I've attached, I did something similar. In my case, I was filling in a hole from a tree stump that I had let fill with rain water. It was a spur of the moment idea to fill in the hole as I was driving the dozer back to the barn towards the end of the day. I saw that water in the hole and thought to fill it in and stop it from holding water. That was a big mistake.

The dirt turned to oatmeal in the hole with the water. The more dirt that I put into it, the better it looked, but then when I tried to drive over it, I sank. The first time, I got out, but I'm not so smart, so I did it again. That's when I sunk. Then I made it worse by trying to get out and digging myself down deeper.

It took a full day of digging with my backhoe and shovels to get it out. The tracks were just spinning and the weight of the dozer was on the belly pans. It acted just like a suction cup and nothing was going to happen until the tracks got down to solid material. I had to tunnel under the dozer and remove that mess in order to get the tracks to get down to the solid dirt that I had dug down to with the backhoe.

In your case, I don't think that pumping the water will work. I'm not even sure that the problem is water table related, but it could be. I think that you broke through the sand, which was more stable and able to support the weight of your tracks, and into the silt, which has no ability to support any weight.

I don't think you can dig down to something solid to get out, so that leave you with two options. Neither are good.

You can try to pull it out. With enough power, this will be the easy way to go. One advantage to a small dozer is it doesn't weigh very much. I got a JD 450G stuck in the mud once and was able to pull it out with my backhoe. Just hook the chain to the dozer and the hoe bucket and pull with the hydraulics. You will always have more power with the hydraulics then you ever will with tires and traction. If that's not an option, then a tow truck might be needed with a big winch. In the end, this might be the cheapest way to go. Just bight the bullet and write it off as a learning expense.

The other way, and the physically demanding way is to cut and place logs under the tracks. You need to create a mat. Imagine a log raft like Tom Sawyer would have used. Get some logs that are longer then the width of your tracks. You will probably need at least a dozen of them, but it might be more depending on how bad it is. The size should be big enough not to break under the weight of the dozer. I'd guess at least 6 inches, with bigger being better if you can handle them.

I did this one time and cut down the trees with my chainsaw fairly close to where I was stuck. It wasn't as bad as the picture, and I was out in just a few hours. I never took pictures of that one.

I couldn't get the logs under my rear tracks, but was able to lift the front end off the ground with my blade. I had to put some smaller logs under my blade to stop it from sinking it, but once the blade was solid, I was able to get the front tracks off the ground a few inches. With a shovel, I slid the logs in under the tracks. My first attempt failed because I tried it with just a few logs. They just sank into the mud. The next time, I put allot more logs in there. Maybe too many, who knows. But it worked. I was able to get up on the tracks and just drive on out of that wet spot.

The longer the longs, the more they will support. It's just as simple as making that raft or mat. If you are unsure of this, go to youtube and do a search for excavator and mats or stuck excavators. There is a guy that uses them all the time with his excavator while working in mud. He's amazing and if you find his videos, you'll see how crazy or good a guy can be with them and working in bottomless mud. If I find the links, I'll post them here.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[JayDavis]

The attached picture isn't a dozer, Eddie, but is the result of the same thing. A huge tree used to be there and we popped it out and a dozer filled the hole in with loose sand. Then it rained. It looked solid, but later when we walked on it you could see the ground rippling around like jello. It had a crust and the big F250 4x4 diesel sank like a rock and the backhoe as well. Hole was so big the backhoe couldn't hardly reach solid ground to pull itself out. It was all soft sand. The bucket would sink in and when the operator tried to pull it out the suction would make the rest of the tractor sink further.

Back to the dozer, SOMETIMES if you are lucky, you can break the suction by lifting the nose of the dozer up with the blade and wiggle your way out.... but if it doesn't work, you are usually in worse shape afterward. A good backhoe would some in handy We have dug out D5s and even a D9 once (that took all night). Good luck, hope it all works out.

 

[Sackett2]

I now see why one of those BIG drum wenches would be needed on a dozer

 

[ampsucker]

no experience here, but have to admit i'm intrigued by the idea of attaching a cable to the tracks someway. it seems like if you could tie off the tracks to a large tree or something, this would be similar to have a winch attached. when the tracks tries to rotate, the machine is forced out of the mud since the track can't slip if it's secured.

not sure practically speaking how this would work. maybe you can loop a cable or chain around a track piece if there is room to work it in?? just seems like it would be worth a shot if you are careful and the track is strong enough to handle the stresses....

also, as with any recovery effort, be sure to protect yourself and bystanders from any cables that whip loose. not worth taking unecessary risks. just call a big rig tow truck if you don't think you can do it safely!

amp

 

[capt jack]

I've been lucky with my dozer (so far) and not stuck it. however I did watch some "professionals" get one unstuck a while back. They cut some small trees 4"-6" dia., placed one across the tracks at the rear, and used short peices of chain to tie it to a track pad on each side. Then back up SLOWLY. as the first pole is about mid way under the dozer they added another one the same way at the rear. As the first was coming out under the front they released it before it hit the blade arms (they cut the chains as I remember).
Two was all it took, the poles acted as pry bars more then a firm surface. These guys said they had done it many times, But I had to see it to beleive it worked.
Jack

 

[Kernopelli]

I've been lucky with my dozer (so far) and not stuck it. however I did watch some "professionals" get one unstuck a while back. They cut some small trees 4"-6" dia., placed one across the tracks at the rear, and used short peices of chain to tie it to a track pad on each side. Then back up SLOWLY. as the first pole is about mid way under the dozer they added another one the same way at the rear. As the first was coming out under the front they released it before it hit the blade arms (they cut the chains as I remember).
Two was all it took, the poles acted as pry bars more then a firm surface. These guys said they had done it many times, But I had to see it to beleive it worked.
Jack

Took the words out of my mouth. A coworker has an old Cat D9 cable blade dozer and he has told me about several instances when he has had to do this ( he has to use a little larger trees though for a 70-80,000lbs machine). I remember once he told me he just used cable and U bolt type clips instead of chains and just let the cable break as it came around instead of having to re-rig or worry about saving the chains.

 

[RadarTech]

Eddie,
that's not stuck, I can still see the cab area!!!

The closet I have come is stuck in the snow at a weird angle...

I have seen losts of stuff stuck when I was in the Corps. Hummers, 5-tons, and a few construction loaders..
Wish I had some pictures...


Any word from the OP?

Later,
J

 

[Scooby074]

Do you know anybody with a decent sized excavator?

Between digging and pulling, an excavator might be your best bet. I dont think the pump will help too much.

Post pics if you get a chance, a good stuck makes good pics.

 

[BrentD]

Any possibility of dragging some long poles . . say 4"or 5" wooden poles, longer than the machine is wide to the back end of the crawler?and back up on them. It's a tough job to do but it works , did it numerous times. If you have any soft wood trees around lay the branches down heavily first then the poles and you will be very suprised what happens. It is like a pair of snowshoes in the snow. Good luck, and I hope your out before you read this. . .John

We tried a variation of this today except we actually chained each end of the log to the track on that side, and it almost worked. Dozer moved back about 6 inches then the Harbor Freight Special hooks I had just put on the chains gave out... Or rather the pins that hold the hooks onto the chain gave out. Either way, same result... Chains no longer have ends. We were able to retrieve both chains and log though, so we're going to make one last try tomorrow with new ends and a better attachment arrangement to the track.

I think the big issue now is that the dozer has bottomed itself out. (Well that and that we can watch the watter bubbling up out of the ground like a spring every time we pump the hole out.) The log strapped to the track is about the only hope we have short of getting a D6 or larger in to pull it out. Unfortunately we made several calls this weekend and can't find anybody close that has a dozer anymore. Seems like everybody is getting out of that business in our area.

I wonder if Fort Hood would send a Sikorsky Helicopter down to pull it out and call it a training mission.

Edit: Just read the second page. The pic Edie posted is virtually identical to what I've got except that the are where my dozer is stuck is in a trench about 4 feet deep. If you go down in the trench and look at the dozer from the back though, it looks exactly like the picture above. Just imagine that dozer with pyramid tracks.

And yeah, I know... Still no pics. I promise to take the camera out tomorrow morning and snap a few before we get started.

 

[PILOON]

Lay some lumber or logs under the blade.
Use the blade down pressureto jack the front up.
Then lay lumber under the tracks and drive forewards as much as possible an if successful OK but if it is iffy and only part way out, say 1/3 then add lumber at the rear.
In other words back and forth adding lumber or trees as required.

But don't just churn up the muck as you'll just dig in further and furthur.