Ever get your tractor stuck?

[Mark_in_IN]

That's just what I did last night. I was mowing with my John Deere 750 a spot I know I shouldn't have been in and the next thing I know is i'm sinking in. I had no idea how I was going to get out because there was no trees to winch to & I didn't want to get my truck stuck. Luckily my neighbor came home right about the same time & I asked if he could pull me out. His John Derre 5400 had no problem pulling me out. So the question I bringing up is how would someone get a tractor out without any help?

 

[MJB]

I have had my JD4300 stuck a couple of times. Had to rescue it with my orange tractor./w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif Before you Kubota guys get too excited, it is not that kind of orange./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif My other tractor is an old '52 Case DC-4. I just put the range shifter in neutral on the 4300, hook up the chain, and the old Case pulls it right out./w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif Don't know how I would get it done without another tractor.

I love the smell of diesel in the morning. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[rf33]

I think that the best way to get unstuck without the aid of another vehicle would be to use a hi-lift jack of some sort with a large support under it (such as a piece of plywood) to keep it from sinking into the muck as well. Then jack up a tire, and put sticks, boards, etc under it to give you a "ramp" to drive out of the goop on. Repeat this as many times as necessary until you are home/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

rf33

/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[RobS]

I've used my FEL to help me out of a stuck or two. Lower the bucket and use the roll/curl to push/pull in conjunction with the drive wheels. I've also seen the same with backhoes /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[cowboydoc]

Once you're stuck then you pretty much aren't going to get it out by yourself unless you've got a winch and something to winch it to. You're going to need another vehicle. I know guys that have hooked up to one tractor with another tractor by themselves. Put the one tractor that's stuck in gear and then go get on the other one to pull it out. Dangerous at best. Alot of wrecks have happened this way.

I've buried tractors before and had to get pulled out with another one but by far my worst mistake was last year. I was mowing a grade that I've mowed since I moved. Yes it's pretty steep but if you take it easy it wasn't too bad. Anyway when I got to the crest going at a diagonal I started to slide sideways. It had rained a few days before and this piece was still pretty wet. Well here I go sliding sideways heading for the dropoff and about ready to roll it. I finally stopped it in a very awkward postion by hitting a tree with the rear tire. Just imagine the car hanging over the cliff scenario. My back wheel is supported by the tree and the front end is about 2" from going over the side and I'm on a bad slope. Well I've got one foot on the brake and the other on the clutch. If I let either go it's bye bye. Well here's the tractor running and I'm afraid to turn it off and lose hydraulics. I sat there like that for almost two hours before my neighbor comes over. He said I saw you sitting there an hour ago but just thought you were looking at something. Just came out and saw you still there and figured you were in trouble. He went and got another tractor and hooked on to my front end and pulled me back up the hill. To say the least I haven't mowed that area since!

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by cowboydoc on 07/19/01 09:17 AM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Hillbilly]

I could not count the times I have had a tractor stuck,on my JD 4400 I bought the extra weight extension bracket and attatched a trailer reciever to it and bought a 9000 portable "WARN" winch that slides into the reciever,very handy set up to say the least,I can get myself out of a jam,drag a piece of wood out of the brush,not to mention the extra ballast it gives me on the front along with my suitcase weights.Also I can put the winch on my pickup by using the trailer reciever on my pickup.The uses are unlimited.One of the best investments I have ever made!

 

[mlmartin]

While building a ramp from the stall area of the barn to the lower level, I slid sideways when the weak edge of the ramp let go. I ended up with a 5 inch tree in between the box blade and the back tire and the left arm of the FEL agains the trunk of a 3 ft ash tree with the tractor on one side and the bucket on the other.

I put the bucket down and lifted the front wheels off the ground. Then I attached a chain around the bucket frame on the far side of the tractor and used a 4 ton come-a-long attached to a chain wrapped around a tree. I got in a good half hour of rowing exercises pulling the front end back onto the ramp.

Then I repeated the above with a chain wrapped around the backhoe subframe to pull the far back wheel back onto the ramp. I had to use a chainsaw to remove the tree that was in between the rear wheel and the box blade. I hate using a chainsaw a few inches from an inflated tire. This rowing exercise episode lasted about 45 minutes.

Matthew

 

[glennmac]

I've gotten buried in wet muck twice far away from trees. Anything I put into the muck to help ramp or lift me sank also. Needed another vehicle, as others have said. I dont have neighbors with tractors, so I had to call a tow truck both times. I think the guy really took advantage of me: $100 each time.

I have been thinking of a front winch. Hillbilly, what's a WARN winch and what powers it?

 

[Hillbilly]

Warn is the brand name,I have mine hooked up to my battery posts,I bought the cable to the winch from my dealer when I purchased my winch. MY cable lead goes to the winch and the winch has a cable lead that plugs into the leads from the battery. The leads from the battery stay hooked up to the battery all the time,so if you want to use the winch on your pickup(mine stays on the tractor almost all the time),you just remove the winch from the reciever on the tractor and slide it into the reciever on the truck you can also instal a set of leads on your truck battery and make yourself a set of jumper cables with the same type of plug in as on the winch and have the regular post grips on the other end and this way you would not even have to raise the hood on your truck to jumpstart someone else,just leave the ends of the lead hanging in the grill.They now make a reciever for the front of your pickup for the winch,so if you need a winch on the front of your truck,you can install and remove it when ever you want to,this way you do not have to drive your pickup around all of the time with the winch on the front of truck.My Warn winch has 125' of cable on it,it really pulls the amps on a hard long pull,like dragging a log,but for my tractor on a short pull to get myself out of a bind it usually does not drain the amps completely,if it does you just have to let the tractor run and charge it back up,I have a deep cycle marine battery I am thinking about mounting on the tractor somewhere to run or help run the winch"maybe"I have the JD 4400 and I bought the front weight extension bracket and put the reciever on the center of the extension bracket and my weights are on both sides of the reciever.The extension bracket let me put a few more weights on the tractor along with the winch which is heavy.I also can put my chainsaw on top of the weights and use a bungee cord and holds my chainsaw in place. The winch got me out of another bind today.I do not even go to the woods without the winch anymore.

 

[Bird]

Glennmac, if you want to look at Warn winches, try http://www.gowarn.com

I once saw a gadget (don't remember what they called it) for sale for off road folks who get stuck where there's no tree to run a line to, and now I can't find one anywhere, so I've tried to sketch one (an artist I ain't) and attach the sketch. I suppose it would work if the steel rods were big and strong enough (about 3 or 4' long if I remember right), the loops were welded on right, and you have a big enough hammer to drive them into the ground.

Bird

 

[glennmac]

Probably a good idea as a last resort, Bird. I'll check out that winch site.

Hillbilly, as to the draining the battery issue, couldnt you just keep the tractors motor running while you are winching out. Or are you saying that it will drain the battery even if the engine is running.

 

[Hillbilly]

Thanks Bird,I did not know that web address off the top of my head.

 

[Hillbilly]

Glenmac,
My battery has 500 cca(cold cranking amps) I am not sure what the reserve cca are,I need a bigger battery and a little bigger alternator,but I get buy with what I have.
It will drain your battery while the motor is running(faster than the tractor can return the amps to the battery),if it is a hard enough and long enough pull,somethings pull easier than others,like a big log does not pull as easy as a stuck tractor where the wheels turn and with the engine running you can help yourself along while the winch is pulling. It is something you just have to get used to,most places when you have your tractor stuck 10' pull at the most usually and you should be out of the hole no problem,but if you pull 100' of cable out and try to pull your self up a cliff unassisted and the winch doing all of the work,you are going to have stop occasionally and let the battery charge back up. On along pull the winch is going to drain more amps than the tractor can recover,but a short pull I get myself out of the fix,run the cable back on the winch and keep on driving. The 1st time I used the winch,the instructions recommend you unwind all the cable and stretch the cable a little when new,which I did and I let the winch pull the tractor while it was idling up an incline,after a while I stalled it somehow,and I had to get the pickup and jumper cables.
If you want to ask me anything else let me know and I will try to help,all I can say is this thing has helped out of some real jams deep in the woods.Also if I cut a tree down and it falls into another (which with my luck happens on occasion) I can drag the tree down on the ground or out of the multiflora rose etc.

 

[Hillbilly]

Glenmac,
I forgot to say when the battery runs down,the tractor will keep running but the winch loses its pulling power.

 

[rf33]

Gotta agree with you guys that a winch or another vehicle is the way to go, but I think that the original question was how do I get out without another vehicle and without any trees around to winch to. Anyone have any good ideas??

rf33

/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[mlmartin]

Years ago, when I heated with wood cut from my own woodlot, I mounted my winch on a heavy section of square steel tubing. I bolted a trailer ball clamp on the other end of the tubing. Then I took my truck to U-haul and had a category two hitch mounted on the front. The ball stuck out about 2 inches in front of the bumper. Since I already had a cat-2 hitch on the back I was all set.

Most people who remarked about the front hitch thought I had a boat trailer. They figured that it would be easier to put the boat in the water if you were driving forward. I don't own a boat so I don't know if that's true.

Having the winch off the truck this way allowed it to always have a straight cable run to whatever I was pulling and I could put it on either end of the truck when I got stuck. It worked well for me for several years. If I were logging with my tractor I'd do the same thing, again.

Matthew

 

[Rch]

I've seen a farmer take a 8-9 foot oak plank, slip it in front of both rear wheels (perpendicular to the line of travel) and chain it to both wheels so that (hopefully) your driving up on the plank as it rotates under the tractor. Obviously, there is a real danger of flipping the tractor but he proceeded very slowly, in the lowest gear and slipped the clutch big time. Loggers will use a tree. At best, a risky manuever.

RCH

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Bird,
I remember seeing a similar device used by the US Army in WWII to winch DUWKS when they got stuck. It resembled a flat shovel or anchor and was fired from a cannon. They would embed themselves in the ground at a shallow angle as the winch or come-along took up the slack. The large amount of surface area gave a lot to pull against.

I suppose something similar could be fashioned if gettin' stuck was something that happens a lot to a guy. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Harv]

YIKES! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Strapping a board to both wheels sounds pretty scary to me!

A while back, our buddy Gerard posted this message about using the same method, only with much shorter blocks which could go all the way around without interfering with the tractor itself. This is the method I plan to use. Uhhhhh.... not that I ever plan on getting stuck. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Burying the carcass of a tire (just the tire, no rim) can get you a firm place to tie your winch cable to in an emergency. Be careful when you pull using a makeshift anchor. Just about the time you really start getting some serious tension on the line your makeshift anchor can pop out of the ground and slap you in the face! /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif