Started out with the Grand Daughter's car stuck in a snow drift in the lane. She works as a CNA on the weekends. She stays with us on Sunday nights and then goes to Cedar Rapids Monday afternoon to start her week at college. The drive was clear at 8 PM but drifted shut when she came home at 10 PM. Had to be the narrowest part of the lane. One side drops off about 6-8 feet into a creek that runs under the lane. It is an angle not a sharp drop off. I needed to get past her car so I could clear the lane behind it then back the car up and clear the rest of the lane to the house. Looked like I had room. I was being super cautious as I did not want to scratch her car. Well you guessed it I started to slide down into the creek. I got to looking and the car really was not stuck too bad in the back. So I shoveled the snow from behind the car for 30 feet or so. I was able to get the car backed up so it was not right beside the tractor. Could not back it any further as there was another big drift there. SO with the car out of the way I thought I could just lock the up hill brake and slowly rotate the tractor front end up the bank ending up facing across the drive. That worked fine. Now I had to use the differential lock and slowly climb the rear tires up onto the lane. That was working fine until one of the tire chain side chains broke. Not a cross chain, one of the main side chains. I do not remember ever breaking one of them before. Well before I knew what was happening I had spun that chain completely off the tractor. When that happened That side slide back down the bank. I ended up further in the creek than when I started. Plus the broken chain was in two foot of running water. I do mean COLD running water too. LOL.
By the way I am using JD 4450 2wd on the blower here at the house. So this is not a little tractor in the ditch. All the bigger tractors are at the farm. I did not want to have to take the chains off and drive one of them over and reinstall the chains just to pull me ten feet. So I walk back to the house and gather up some chains. Darn glad I had cleaned the lane back to the house. So I was able to use the pickup to carry the chains to the tractor.
Across the lane there is a Maple tree about fifty feet away from the tractor. So I run chains back to the front of the tractor. I then take chains and got to each rear wheel casting. I hook a chain in each side through the holes in the castings. With the tractor in low gear and at a dead idle I slowly drove forward. I gained about four feet before the chains where hitting the axle. So I take another chain and go to the next open hole in the castings. Hook/set that chain and roll back just a little to loosen the first chain. Took me five hooks to get out.
Then gathered up all the chains and the broken tire chain. Back to the house and shop put the chains away and repaired the tire chain. Walked back to the tractor. Drove the tractor to the shop and reinstalled the tire chain. Cleared the drive so the Grand Daughter could drive her car to the house. Cleared the rest of the drive in maybe 15 minutes.
So cleaning the drive, which usually takes 20 minutes or so, took almost five hours. So that got me to lunch. LOL.
Got lunch done and my son called saying that the local feed store had called and they wanted to load a load of NON GMO soybeans this afternoon. We have them sold at Ottawa, Il. That is 170 miles away. They haul them over and bring mineral mix back. They wanted to stock up before the supper cold hits here later in the week. We have them in a bin on a farm that is closer to me than he is. So I needed to clear the lane and barn yard over there so the semi can get in an turn around. The bin/buildings are back a 1/2 mile long lane. We have locked gates at the road. The lane has a cutout in a small hill. That always drifts full. So it is 4-5 feet deep there. So you need a blower to clear it. So I take the chains off the tractor. I hope I can get it clean without needing them. That lane should have snow, then the ice we got and then more snow on the top layer. I did take the tire chains along. LOL I get the entrance cleared and open the gates. I get one side of the lane clear leaving just a single pass for when coming back out the lane. Get everything cleaned by the bin. I was heading back out the lane and all of a sudden the tractor pulls down and the shear pins shear. What the heck !!! I dig the blower out. Someone had left a four wheeler tire, rim and all laying in the lane. I sucked it into the blower. Must have hit it dead center too. The rim was wedged in the blower itself. No way I was getting it out without tools and time. So I just used the blower like a rear blade and cleared the rest of the lane. Not pretty but got it done and the beans loaded.
When I got home it took me over two hours to get that darn tire/rim out of the blower. Lots of swearing going on the entire time too. LOL I can not get a cab tractor in the shop at the house so I was working outside. The wind chill was not nice. I will say this that old JD snow blower is pretty tough. That tire/rim did not damage anything. This snow blower was made by McKee for JD. Been a good machine. I have owned it for over 30 years.
So I worked all day and got darn little done. LOL I will sleep good tonight.
By the way I am using JD 4450 2wd on the blower here at the house. So this is not a little tractor in the ditch. All the bigger tractors are at the farm. I did not want to have to take the chains off and drive one of them over and reinstall the chains just to pull me ten feet. So I walk back to the house and gather up some chains. Darn glad I had cleaned the lane back to the house. So I was able to use the pickup to carry the chains to the tractor.
Across the lane there is a Maple tree about fifty feet away from the tractor. So I run chains back to the front of the tractor. I then take chains and got to each rear wheel casting. I hook a chain in each side through the holes in the castings. With the tractor in low gear and at a dead idle I slowly drove forward. I gained about four feet before the chains where hitting the axle. So I take another chain and go to the next open hole in the castings. Hook/set that chain and roll back just a little to loosen the first chain. Took me five hooks to get out.
Then gathered up all the chains and the broken tire chain. Back to the house and shop put the chains away and repaired the tire chain. Walked back to the tractor. Drove the tractor to the shop and reinstalled the tire chain. Cleared the drive so the Grand Daughter could drive her car to the house. Cleared the rest of the drive in maybe 15 minutes.
So cleaning the drive, which usually takes 20 minutes or so, took almost five hours. So that got me to lunch. LOL.
Got lunch done and my son called saying that the local feed store had called and they wanted to load a load of NON GMO soybeans this afternoon. We have them sold at Ottawa, Il. That is 170 miles away. They haul them over and bring mineral mix back. They wanted to stock up before the supper cold hits here later in the week. We have them in a bin on a farm that is closer to me than he is. So I needed to clear the lane and barn yard over there so the semi can get in an turn around. The bin/buildings are back a 1/2 mile long lane. We have locked gates at the road. The lane has a cutout in a small hill. That always drifts full. So it is 4-5 feet deep there. So you need a blower to clear it. So I take the chains off the tractor. I hope I can get it clean without needing them. That lane should have snow, then the ice we got and then more snow on the top layer. I did take the tire chains along. LOL I get the entrance cleared and open the gates. I get one side of the lane clear leaving just a single pass for when coming back out the lane. Get everything cleaned by the bin. I was heading back out the lane and all of a sudden the tractor pulls down and the shear pins shear. What the heck !!! I dig the blower out. Someone had left a four wheeler tire, rim and all laying in the lane. I sucked it into the blower. Must have hit it dead center too. The rim was wedged in the blower itself. No way I was getting it out without tools and time. So I just used the blower like a rear blade and cleared the rest of the lane. Not pretty but got it done and the beans loaded.
When I got home it took me over two hours to get that darn tire/rim out of the blower. Lots of swearing going on the entire time too. LOL I can not get a cab tractor in the shop at the house so I was working outside. The wind chill was not nice. I will say this that old JD snow blower is pretty tough. That tire/rim did not damage anything. This snow blower was made by McKee for JD. Been a good machine. I have owned it for over 30 years.
So I worked all day and got darn little done. LOL I will sleep good tonight.
