avorancher
Silver Member
Today, I hired a company to do some heavy-duty chipping at the top of my property. They showed up with a 6000 lb. chipper on the back of a Chevy Silverado. There are 3 rather steep inclines on the dirt road to get there, and it rained a couple days ago making things slick. Sure enough, the Silverado lost traction on the first minor hill and just sat there spinning all 4. I had my B7800 nearby and hooked up a chain and pulled in up to a level spot.
On the 2nd steeper hill, a similar situation. When I pulled in front with the tractor, they had their doubts this time (quite a mismatch in size). Well, the little orange beast met the challenge and I pulled the truck and chipper for about 200 ft. before they could manage on their own. After that pull, they all complimented me on the tractor and were rather surprised that it had that much pulling power.
The last hill was the real test. It is a long slope with a 90 degree turn going uphill. With a running start, they got around the turn, slowed, then started sliding backwards. As they slid backwards towards the turn, they got just enough traction to stop the slide. The driver was a bit pale... another 20 ft. and there was about a 300 ft. drop off the side of the hill. The driver had to stay in the truck and stand on the brakes to keep it from sliding until we got the chipper wheels chucked. A real scary situation.
They thought my tractor was too small to help this time, so the called for another 4wd truck. A Nissan showed up and they chained it to the front. Now both pickups were spinning... not moving an inch. They loaded up both beds with wood for traction... still no go.
I ran and got the tractor as the last resort, chained it to the Nissan and pulled the Nissan, the Silverado, and the chipper up the hill. I wish I had a picture of that one. (12 wheel drive)
I'm not saying that I had more power than either of the pickups, but today there are a bunch of people shaking their heads in disbelief at the little orange tractor that thinks it can.
On the 2nd steeper hill, a similar situation. When I pulled in front with the tractor, they had their doubts this time (quite a mismatch in size). Well, the little orange beast met the challenge and I pulled the truck and chipper for about 200 ft. before they could manage on their own. After that pull, they all complimented me on the tractor and were rather surprised that it had that much pulling power.
The last hill was the real test. It is a long slope with a 90 degree turn going uphill. With a running start, they got around the turn, slowed, then started sliding backwards. As they slid backwards towards the turn, they got just enough traction to stop the slide. The driver was a bit pale... another 20 ft. and there was about a 300 ft. drop off the side of the hill. The driver had to stay in the truck and stand on the brakes to keep it from sliding until we got the chipper wheels chucked. A real scary situation.
They thought my tractor was too small to help this time, so the called for another 4wd truck. A Nissan showed up and they chained it to the front. Now both pickups were spinning... not moving an inch. They loaded up both beds with wood for traction... still no go.
I ran and got the tractor as the last resort, chained it to the Nissan and pulled the Nissan, the Silverado, and the chipper up the hill. I wish I had a picture of that one. (12 wheel drive)
I'm not saying that I had more power than either of the pickups, but today there are a bunch of people shaking their heads in disbelief at the little orange tractor that thinks it can.