Quick Sand!

[qualsite]

Got my 15,000 lb telescoping forklift stuck deep in a mud hole... evidently the hardpan was deeper in that one spot. Had to haul a lot of old concrete pieces and some railroad ties in front of the big drive wheels. Then got the tractor facing it about 100ft away where it was solid, and dug the front loader into the ground, and attached the chains from the front loader to the fully extended mast on the forklift. Then used the boom on the forklift to pull out of the muck, a little at a time, while repositioning the concrete and railroad ties. If there hadn't been a clear spot to be able to pull forward, I'm not sure what I would have done

 

[TimberFarm]

Same day got my excavator stuck in an area I had filled, but didn't get it graded before the rain came.
Piece of cake to get out. Just used the boom, lifted the tracks and threw a couple inches of drier under them and drove out

 

[Dennis Mohn]

Sorry no pictures. A number of years ago I was at Crane , Indiana with the C.Bs. We had a number of projects to complete and one was backfilling a low area. A large amount of overburden had been provided and more was coming. I had assigned two young men the job of backfilling and walked them out into the project area because it was very wet and swampy. We talked the project through and I took the time to make a few pushes to get them started and explained why it was important to keep a good base under the dozer to keep from sinking. After a couple hours they walked up to me and stated they had stuck the dozer. They figured if they added dry material to the mud it would get thicker and they could get through the job sooner. The dozer was buried up to the belly pans in the mud and several feet away from any stable ground. I told them to get some logs and put them under the blade to push down and be able to get logs under the tracks to get out. There was no bottom and the logs went away quickly. I "procurred" a 977 loader and began excavating a path to the dozer and after many hours was able to get a cable to the drawbar and pull the dozer enough to finally get traction with the dozer helping to get it out. Needless to say when they were sent to finish up the job, they listened to the old man. They did not get stuck a second time and the backfill was completed with the loss of only a couple days.

 

[orezok]

A different stuck story. A good friend of mine was a Marine Combat Engineer in Viet Nam. From time to time a tank would get stuck in the mud because the flat bottom created a suction that held it in place. He said to get them out, they would take a small amount of C4, push it under the tank and tell th driver to gun it when the explosion hit. Boom, suction broke tank out!

 

[rockinbbar]

When I get my 105hp 4WD Kubota with front end loader stuck, I can nearly always back it out using the loader. In your case you would pick you loader up high enough to be able to turn the forks straight down and into the dirt / mud to the point the tractor front end is nearly off the ground. Then curl the bucket (forks) upwards pushing you backwards at the same time as you're trying to back out. It may take several tries to clear the mud but it works 95% of the time. And believe me, I've been in some tough spots.

I didn't consider doing that in the above case because once I got down, even my weight on the ground within 30 feet of the tractor was all quicksand. It was wobbly and shook like jello just walking on it.

On the front of my tractor is my front hay spear, and it wouldn't do anything but stick in the mud clear up to the guard. I have used that method before that you mentioned, and it works well in lots of cases.

 

[LouNY]

When I get my 105hp 4WD Kubota with front end loader stuck, I can nearly always back it out using the loader. In your case you would pick you loader up high enough to be able to turn the forks straight down and into the dirt / mud to the point the tractor front end is nearly off the ground. Then curl the bucket (forks) upwards pushing you backwards at the same time as you're trying to back out. It may take several tries to clear the mud but it works 95% of the time. And believe me, I've been in some tough spots.

I've seen several situations were that would be of no use.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Results of "helping" a neighbor with fallen tree across his driveway.

no good deed shall remain unpunished ...

 

[LouNY]

Results of "helping" a neighbor with fallen tree across his driveway.

no good deed shall remain unpunished ...

A touch of mud on the tires, not bad.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Nah, that's just mud.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

I stuck an empty Mack dump truck and 4 axle trailer once. One level ground, didn't sink, I was on top of well compacted dirt. I had to get the pit operator up to the dump site to pull me out. I had backed in dumped both boxes and was about 150 from the dump piles rolling along at 5-10 mph and I just stopped. There was a patch of clay so slick, I almost couldn't walk on it. It got a couple of more trucks before the operator decided to grab a couple of buckets of dirt and cover the stuff. slickest clay I'd ever seen.