It really does work

[Dr_Zinj]

Was cleaning up the property this weekend, raking leaves out of the ditches along the driveway, filling up the FEL, and originally going to dump them in the compost heap.

First load, drove to the end of the driveway and started down the trail toward the compost area and promptly buried the front end all the way to the axle in mud the consistency of wet cow manure. Okay, back tires only down about an inch, put it in reverse. No luck. Not budging. Engaged the 4 wheels (I usually only have it in 2 wheel drive), still no luck. Differential lock didn't even help.

So I dumped the bucket. Raised it up and curled in under, then dropped it in solid contact with the ground. Lifted and pushed with the FEL while driving backwards and sure enough, came right out of the muck. Note that this probably would NOT have worked if I'd also buried the rear wheels. Also note that I'm running with industrial treads, not AGs, which makes a difference in traction under those conditions.

 

[PHPaul]

Yup, BTDT.

Even better, I was trenching in a foundation drain line for a feller and buried my JD750 to the point that mud was up over the footboards. 4WD, diff lock and ag tires were getting me nowhere.

Wound up "crabbing" it out by picking the front up with the bucket, picking the back up with the 'hoe, crab the whole tractor backward a foot by curling the bucket on the loader and pulling the dipperstick on the 'hoe in at the same time, set it down, repeat...

Took a while, but I walked myself out of the swamp.

Feller watching thought that was REAL funny. Right up until he got my bill...

 

[TerryR]

A couple of years ago we had several snow storms without intervening thaws and I found I no longer had room to push the new snow off my driveway. I needed to push the frozen windrow into the ditch, so set my rear blade to the side a notch and started down the hill. Looking to the rear to set the blade, I quickly found the tractor turned into the ditch, with the front end at the bottom of the ditch, which was almost three feet deep.

So I tried that work it out with the FEL trick. I put the FEL bucket down and pushed the tractor back a foot or so, then lifted the bucket for another bite. As soon as I did the tractor slid right back in - the rear wheels were on ice and got no traction at all.

After fighting a losing game for a bit I trudged up the hill and got some large wooden blocks. I lifted the front end up in stages with the FEL and put the blocks under the wheels until the tractor set about level and was able to drive it out.

Terry

 

[KennyG]

Yes, the bucket will almost always push you out. However, a week ago I found out when it won't. I drove into an unexpected wet clay pit and promptly dropped to the frame. I had the box blade on the back and couldn't lift it high enough to clear the ground, so when I pushed with the bucket, it just dug the blade in.

To make a long story short, I had to unhook the box blade, rig up chains and a come-along to a tree to drag it out of the way and then the bucket pushed it right out. Another couple of hours I will never get back.

 

[4570Man]

I had my Kubota stuck over the floorboards. The mud was deeper than the dipper stick on my back hoe. I lifted the front up with the loader then I lifted the back up with the backhoe and moved the back of the tractor to the side out of the ruts. After the back tires were on solid ground the loader pushed it right out. Getting my F350 out of the same mud hole took much longer.

 

[Dr_Zinj]

@KennyG
If you're sunk at both ends with a 3PH attachment on, it seems to be pretty standard operating procedure to have to remove it in order to unstick yourself. Unless of course, you have a 100 ft electric or hydraulic winch on the 3Pt.

 

[Xfaxman]

@KennyG
If you're sunk at both ends with a 3PH attachment on, it seems to be pretty standard operating procedure to have to remove it in order to unstick yourself. Unless of course, you have a 100 ft electric or hydraulic winch on the 3Pt.

Or on a receiver hitch on the front of your truck.

From 10 years ago, when I had a tractor.

 

[4570Man]

I used the winch on a rollback to pull a tractor with a bush hog out of a ditch. My grandpa has an old army truck with a 20 K winch on the front, a 45K winch on the back, and a 20K max lift on the boom.

 

[Sysop]

When my hole for the septic tank fell in and I had to make a ramp down in to clean the hole out, I wanted the ramp as short as it could be so I wouldn't have any larger amount than need be to fill back in. I got stuck several times and had to use the backhoe to pull the tractor back up the ramp.

 

[texasjohn]

Yep, I've found the FEL trick to be useful on numerous occasions. I might even argue that the FEL pays for itself in avoided towing expenses, among other uses! That's why I've featured the FEL front end lift trick in my profile photo.