Traction with FEL and Backhoe

[whodattractor]

Howdy,

I have a bit of land that I need to maintain with a tractor. I found one nearby that is a Massey Ferguson and it looks like a 2135. It has a front end loader and a backhoe, but it's two wheel drive. I get quite a bit of water that builds up when it rains, and I'm wondering if the tractor would have enough traction going through mud being two wheel drive (but with a front end loader and backhoe installed to even the weight).

Thanks!

 

[roadhunter]

My guess is that it would be fine. I had an old 2 wd backhoe and it got around in the snow just fine.

 

[DT86]

Keep looking.

 

[Grandad4]

Keep looking.

+1 Probably a good old tractor, but 2wd will limit what you can do in muddy conditions.

 

[whodattractor]

It has water filled rear tires and I thought the backhoe would help keep the back down, but wasn't sure. Thanks for the input!

 

[4570Man]

It won't do well on hills. I'm not sure about mud.

 

[Grandad4]

It has water filled rear tires and I thought the backhoe would help keep the back down, but wasn't sure. Thanks for the input!

Keeping the back down may not solve the problem of lack of traction in the mud. And eventually you find or make a rut deep enough that it bottoms out with all that weight. A lighter 4wd setup with R1 Ag tires all the way around would be more effective in mud.

 

[TomSeller]

It really depends on the hills you have, soils and the amount of weight you can ballast behind the rear wheels. If you can keep most of your weight on the drive wheels, you should be okay. Getter tooted analogy. If you can stack your weight to the rear, you should be okay. Too much on the front rear axle and you are in trouble.

 

[Kenneth S]

I drove my 2135 through a creek with about 2' of water still sitting in it, didn't get stuck (but I don't have a FEL and a BH on mine). A 2wd with a FEL is ok if what you are moving is very loose material. If you try to move material with a FEL that's compacted that's where having 4WD really helps, but you can loosen the material with the BH then use the FEL to move it. That's my 30 years of FEL/BH experience working for a construction company.

 

[buickanddeere]

It depends

 

[RPW]

Agree it depends. I don't have hills but we do get quite a bit of rain at times and with clay soil it can get very muddy. If the job needs to be done then careful planning and you can do it. I have used the FEL to help get me unstuck a few times. My backhoe is a baby one I use on the 3pt but it wouldn't offer much in the way to get me unstuck. Also if it's "that" muddy I have no business being on the tractor 2wd or 4wd.

Good luck.

 

[LD1]

2wd backhoes have gobs of fraction with all their weight. But that weight works against them when soft and muddy. If you absolutely have to have the ability to go through muddy conditions, keep looking. A heavy backhoe stuck in the mud is not fun

 

[Kenneth S]

Best thing is keep them out of muddy conditions as much as possible, having been in road construction for so long a 2wd, or a 4wd BH will get stuck in mud easy.

 

[buickanddeere]

Depends . A set of new R1-W radials will drive through where a set of worn R4 bias will spin.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have done a lot of spreading of muddy soil (debris dug out of ditches and ponds) with my TLB with R4 tires. I do a lot of spinning with all 4 wheels when back dragging and wouldn't want anything less than 4 WD. Granted, R1 tires on a 2 WD might be better than 4WD with R4 tires. R4 tires just don't have the tread depth to work well in mud.