Stuck? no, Troubled? maybe

As you guys know, stuff happens fast. I've got a creek on my property and I always stay away from the overgrown bank. In fact, when I cut up trees that fall across the path next to it, I stack the 18" long logs on the edge of the bank and know that if I use them as "markers", I'm pretty safe with the tractor.

Anyway, I was mowing along it yesterday and hit a small pile of cut-up logs that had evidently fallen over and I didn't see them. The mower clattered over it and I looked back for a second. In the meantime, I felt the front end bounce up and to the right TOWARDS THE CREEK. I turned a little to the left to move back into the path and felt forward progress stop dead and the back wheels (still moving) start to slide TO THE RIGHT! I jumped on the clutch and prepared to jump off but everything stabilized. I cleared the brush from around the tractor and found that I had run over a log which caused the front end to jump but the real problem was that the front end and axle landed on a pile of BIG (10-12") logs that they got hung up on when the jump to the right occurred. Since it was around 4:00 PM, I was alone, I had no tools to free the front end, no vehicle to chain to and assist, I decided to leave it and come back with help this coming weekend. For a few seconds, I considered just backing out but being so close to the bank, discretion got the better part of valor. Laughing

It looks like it should come back out easy, the current angle isn't "too bad" but everything to the right is downhill into the creek at a steeper slope.

I figure with a big chain and a pickup truck pulling low to the left on the brush hog, a clear tractor undercarriage and a little care, I should avoid a much bigger problem of a tractor on its side in a ditch. I'll let you know how it comes out. Some of you guys may have been in stickier situations but this is about as "sticky" as I've ever been with my 3600.

Township guy was mowing with jd 4 wheel
drive tractor plus loader pulling a bat
wing mower got caught on a hillside they
used a wrecker to get him off. Good luck

I believe that our Mr. Howell can advise you on the matter; he also has pictures.

Personally, I'd disconnect that brush hog and get it out of the way; it'll make it so much easier when you hitch up to the tractor and drag
it off the logs and back onto level ground.

Just my 2 cents worth. Hope everything works out OK, and the tractor doesn't go for a swim. lol


:>)

(quoted from post at 14:26:26 08/08/16) Personally, I'd disconnect that brush hog and get it out of the way; it'll make it so much easier when you hitch up to the tractor and drag
it off the logs and back onto level ground.

Just my 2 cents worth. Hope everything works out OK, and the tractor doesn't go for a swim. lol


:&gt

Click to expand...

I wondered about that but I've come to the conclusion that the heavy piece of steel on the rear of the tractor is helping rather than hurting right now. That brush hog weighs quite a bit and is low to the ground. I sure wouldn't want to take it off without any chains and another vehicle attached and have the tractor slide into the creek. Plus, disconnecting everything in its current position and dragging it away is a job in itself, I figure. So, if I try it with it attached and am having trouble, I may opt to disconnect it.

Thanks for the thought. There's probably a half dozen ways that others have done this sort of thing, so I'm interested in hearing all ideas.

Seen and dealt with a whole lot worse over the years. Once had to pull one of a tree where it had slid into the tree and spun a 180 on the tree on a hill side.
If it was me I would get some help and pull it out the same way it went in. Maybe get the brush hog out of the way first.

If it were me i would leave the brush hog because it the closetest thing to the ground you can hook
to. I would hook a chain to the back of the tractor where its attached to the brush hog and ease the
truck and tractor back at the same time. Just dont get into no big hurry go easy and it should come
right out

like old said, try and pull it out the way it came in. if you are by yourself, it may be way better to call a small wrecker to come in and winch it out. looks like the lane is wide enough. i did a lot of winch outs with our wrecker, and it will get it without damage. my concern is if you truck is hooked to it, and it gets away and goes down the hill, it will take your truck and you with it. if nothing else, at least run a safety chain or cable across the lane and hood to a tree. that way, if she starts to go, the chain will hold it from going off the edge. have someone there with you with a cell phone. better to err on the side of safety.

Just a thought before you start to move it can you jam a board
between the bolster and axle that way it can't tip over any more
than it has. Can you also take and cut the logs up under the tractor
and pull them out ? I Dropped a narrow front end tractor in a
sinkhole I thought I was over far enough it went right to the frame
spent all afternoon with a shovel before I got it out.

I agree.

It reminded me of once when I was on a custom combining job. I was cutting milo on a hillside with a 10 foot drop off into a creek at the bottom of the hill. I was running crossways across the hill, parallel to the creek. The ground was frozen when I started in the morning and it worked ok.

Then in thawed enough so the ground was like grease. The combine started sliding sideways down the hill, so I stopped. Every time I tried to move the combine, it slid farther down the hill. I was alone at the time, so I let the combine set and got a big enough tractor to pull the combine back to where it was safe on a dead load. I worked somewhere else the rest of the day and finished that spot next morning when the ground was frozen again.

As long as the brush hog isn't going to swing to the low side and you can lift it enough to clear I
agree with leaving on for traction weight.

I think it is a good thing that the pix were posted ,. yes this does happen , even when we have our ft poised over the clutch , it still can happen, and if ya get a rolloveike my wifes uncle did with a 8n and a he had his leg under the steering wheel ,,the fire dept came to winch it offof him ,, no big deal until the battery shifted and arced with gasoline dripping ,,.. he lived two more weeks after the explsion ,. your slide over reminds me of the time when the m john deer took off sideways ,, I did indeed bail off hit the kill switch and wathed the little m nearkly roll over ,.,.that was greasey hill

Hopefully you didn't have to change you 'undies'. I have a long winded tale about me, my JD 60 (single front), rear plow and a 'nugget' in the drive way. Short version, caught the 'nugget' and got the front and 1 rear off the road. About a 60 degree slope, no neighbors within 5 miles. Took all the next day and a 50 ton chain hoist (and a whack of chains) and daredevllism to the max to get it out. That's the short version. ;^)

I was thinking the same thing. Mr. Howell would be the man to talk to. The picture does have a similar look doesn't it?

Got my BIL lined up to help next Saturday. I've got 4 or 5 good heavy chains and my and his pickup trucks. I think the plan will be to hook a "safety" chain to one p/u to keep it from going farther over. (Don't think there's a big enough tree close by to hook to). Thinking grab up high on the roll bar with the "safety" chain? Then hook the other p/u to the brush hog support structure, thinking that if I hook to the tractor, mower will probably wander around back there while we're pulling and get in the way. I'm going to start out with keeping it hooked up for "ballast" and going the way I came in. (When I took a boating class, they always said back out of trouble, going forward will most likely get you into more trouble.) When I've been pulling bushes, small trees lately, I've been leaving the brush hog hooked up and attaching to it. Much safer and the structure hasn't deflected at all, even when I've pulled tough stuff where the rear wheels were spinning and starting to dig a hole. With any luck, it'll come out under its own power and the p/u's will be there for "moral support". :lol:

farmerwithmutt,
I'm going to remove the logs under the tractor first. I'll have a prybar, shovels, etc and my chainsaw there as well. Don't think I'll need to build any structure under it. I've had to do that with my backhoe using planking, bricks, logs, etc. to get it out of the mud. Hasn't happened in a while as I've gotten smarter and avoid using it in areas that are "iffy".

My guess is that we may have to "adjust" our plan as we go, depending upon what happens each step of the way. It seems like I'm overthinking this but I'd rather do it slow and easy with a lot of forethought than end up saying "wow, didn't think THAT would happen" and end up with a tractor on its side in the ditch. :roll:

BTW, the pix show my new grill that I bought off of this site and installed a couple of weeks ago after I put a tree branch through the original one (shameless plug for YT)

You got lucky there. Real, real, real lucky. You could have cracked that nearly new two week old grill as well. All is well that ends well.

Mark

Never take your biggest tractor some where you think you might get stuck,always keep it to pull the others out.

In this situation a backhoe is your best
ftiend

Good thing it's not a very big tractor, you
shouldn't have much trouble getting it out I
wouldn't think. They aren't fun like that,
that's for sure. I hit a hidden stump with a
JD at work with a side mount Tiger mower and
it dragged me down on the side of an
embankment before I could stop. If I tried
to pick the mower up, the LH side would tip
up. I had to put my feet against the door
window to stay in the seat when we pulled it
out. Had our plow trucks at work like that
sometimes as well, they sure can make you
scratch your head sometimes for a safe and
rubber side down recovery.

It don't look so bad when youre standing on the
ground looking at it. However, looking at it from
the driver's seat is a completely different
matter!

Is there a new crease in the seat bottom?

I'm glad you only had the bejeebbers scared out
of ya!

Please be careful when you retrieve it.

Good luck!

Scott

If you got a backhoe I've seen where guys
anchor the hoe down then extend the arm
using the arm to pull the tractor out. The
first time I heard about it I was surprised
at how much hydraulic force comes off a
backhoe arm. Added bonus was the hydraulic
was a smoother pull. I think you're idea of
hooking on the mower is a good one
especially if you can hook on the top link
that should pull the back end of the
tractor down for more traction. Sounds like
you got an interesting day coming up.

(quoted from post at 00:29:48 08/09/16) [b:48a8a7c9da]If you got a backhoe I've seen where guys
anchor the hoe down then extend the arm
using the arm to pull the tractor out.[/b:48a8a7c9da] The
first time I heard about it I was surprised
at how much hydraulic force comes off a
backhoe arm. Added bonus was the hydraulic
was a smoother pull. I think you're idea of
hooking on the mower is a good one
especially if you can hook on the top link
that should pull the back end of the
tractor down for more traction. Sounds like
you got an interesting day coming up.

Click to expand...

kurk and farmerwithmutt:
I've got a Ford 755 backhoe (hence my nickname) and it is STRONG. I've pulled a lot of stuff with it. It came in real handy when I was rebuilding a dual axle trailer. Just picked it up with the bucket like a toy and flipped it to work on the underside. I've also used the arm several times to pick itself out of the mud. It weighs 19,000 # so it would certainly not get pulled into the ditch by the tractor or need anchoring other the pads being down. Unfortunately, the battery is out and I've got a couple of leaky hoses on the hoe that I need to replace, so I haven't used it lately. It would take a while to get the battery back in, fuel it up, check the fluids, air up the tires, get it started and moved to the creek so I'm hoping the tractor will already be out in less time using a p/u truck for assist. If things don't go easy I'll move to plan B, which is to bite the bullet, get the backhoe running and use it. If it was up and running, it'd be my first choice for sure.

Well, yesterday my BIL (Paul, old fart Canadian :lol: ) and I went out to pull it out with my p/u, bunch of chains, pry bars, etc. While we were just getting set up, neighbor Jim called my cell and wondered about the strange p/u (BIL's) in the drive and my p/u not there. Explained what we were doing, he offered to come with his tractor and pull us out. Told him thanks, we'd call if we needed it.

First we Cleared the logs from under the front end and it looked like we'd get it right out.



1st try:
Chained the brush hog to the p/u and pulled rearward while I was driving the tractor rearward. Moved about 3 ft, stopped dead with the front right tire slipping down the bank.


2nd & 3rd try:
Called Jim, brought his tractor over and we hooked his front to the brush hog, put a chain from the left top of the roll bar on mine and hooked it to the rear of the p/u parked to the side. Idea was to give us a safety anchor to keep it from rolling over into the creek. Raised the brush hog, put both tractors in reverse and it started to move and stopped with both tractors' tires spinning and digging holes. It was obvious we were still hung on something. Cleared some brush from the creekside of the mower and saw the right side was laying on top of (3) 8-12" logs that went into the creek and across. These were remnants of the deadfall I had cleared from the path and the source of the logs I had originally hit. Hooked a chain hoist to the roll bar and to the mower and we lifted it up further. Still wouldn't move, tires spinning. Got the chainsaw, standing on the slippery bank (did I mention it had poured buckets the last few days?), up to my waist in thorny brambles, brush and mosquitoes (humidity was so bad BIL's glasses kept fogging up whenever he got out of the p/u), feet slipping down into the 4 ft of water in the creek ( Did I mention it had poured buckets? ), cut up the 3 logs, had to crawl under the mower some and kick the pieces out.



4th try:
With the mower free and clear, we pulled with Jim's tractor while I drove mine in reverse and the p/u backing up to keep the safety chain in position and it came out pretty easily.

Took about 2.5 hrs. We took it slow, discussed every move and what each one's job was during each try so we were all in sync. I was standing with both feet on the left foot pad (out of the seat) facing the creek after the first try, as I realized then that if something went wrong, there was no way I was getting out of the seat, right foot over the trans, between the gear shift levers, under the steering wheel and between the left rear wheel and the hood as I pushed off with my left foot off of the slippery foot pad trying to stick the dismount, all while the tractor was moving down the bank. I'm no Olympic gymnast. :lol:

Decided to do some mowing (kind of like getting back in the saddle after falling off a horse) but figured I'd do it in a nice flat wide open area so I did about 5-6 acres the rest of the day until the skies opened up again around 4:00.

Glad to hear of your success!!

With a couple of stuck memories, I have now resorted to the wrecker/winch combo when possible. Safer and more productive, and the cost, while deductible, serves as deterrent for future adventures for a while!