damage done by pulling????

[whitearrow]

good evening fellas.i was wondering how would you know if you damaged your tractor by trying to pull something w/the draw bar.i had to try to pull out a dodge dually 4 door w/a 44 foot loaded goose neck trailer.of course i barely budged it.i mainly gave it a little jerk and dug in w/my john deere 5203 in rear diff lock mode.i can't find where it hurt anything but i was just wondering if you guys had any info for me for certain areas to look at.doing this sort of thing where would be the weak points?
thanks,
whitearrow->>>---------------->

 

[ToadHill]

The tires, with the kind of weight you were pulling, tire spin would happen before anything became a problem.

 

[RonMar]

As long as you wern't backing and ramming with it, Toadhill is right, the wheels should dig in and start to rotate and it will just dig a few holes. That is why tractors have such low gears, to give those AG tire lugs a chance to grip. It is when you hit things at speed, or rev the engine and drop the clutch on all that stored flywheel inertia and induce shock loads that stuff really starts to break...

 

[whitearrow]

i was mainly talking about the snatching motion.i was in low range 2nd gear so it wasn't that hard of a snatch.kinda like when something runs out of line.more or less a pretty sudden jerk.all this stuff started running through my mind like i might have loosened some of the bolts holding the tractor together or something.
thanks,
whitearrow->>>--------------->

 

[Birdhunter1]

Your best bet on something like that is two chains hooked to a tire between them to act as a bumper ans shock absorber:
Truck.........O.........Tractor>>>>>>>>

This method will stretch the tire and at most if it does stop the tractor it will spin the tires or pull down hard like a heavy draft load but it will not exert a shock load on either end of the chain.

 

[whitearrow]

what was connecting the 2 of us was a real heavy duty tow strap.does this help?
thanks,
whitearrow->>>---------------->

 

[Tractors4u]

The 5203 is a good sized tractor and hooking to the draw bar was the right thing to do. Unless you were snatching at high speed, you are OK.

 

[638]

Having driven a tow truck in one of my past lives, I can comment from experence. DON"T ever try to jerk pull with anything period. If you don't break the chain/cable, you may pull the front/rear axle out from under the stuck vehicle and/or damage the towing vehicle, and maybe end up with sore ribs from the sudden stop.

ron

 

[Z-Michigan]

Agree with previous comments. Tractors are designed for pulling, after all, especially a utility size machine like yours. I am surprised you didn't budge it though. I have a 5105 MFWD, R1 tires with rears loaded, and the tractive effort is bordering on incredible. I also have a Dodge 3/4 ton diesel so I'm pretty familiar with the whole setup. We've used the Dodge to pull out cars stuck in snowbanks and it was pleasantly easy. The tractor weighs at least as much and should have better traction, so ???

 

[john_bud]

Whitearrow,

Should be no harm done. The same thing happens when you are plowing and hit a large root or rock. The tractor stops and the wheels spin. No big deal.

jb