What if it Muds?

Yup. Pole truck has winched it up so its level.

 

I had to mow a muddy field nearby. 60 horse New Holland farm tractor spinning a 6 foot rough cut mower and 2 wheel drive. I went afound a patch of trees near the road and buried the tractor in mud. If your going to mow a field with a 2 wheel drive tractor? Make sure the loader stays attached! It is a matter of angling the bottom of the bucket so it is straight down. With the loader arms, push downward. As the bucket (hopefully the hole in the bucket are sealed) hits the soft mud it will trap air. Then it is a matter of engaging the tractor in reverse and rotating the bucket up as well as pushing the arms down. If you do it right, the action described will move the tractor backward 3 feet.

Yes the operator needs to tighten the top link to the implement and raise the implement out of the mud as much as possible.

 

The tractor that I had at the time.

 

That's the old school way to remove the draw works from the sub structure on a drilling rig. The draw works are the winches that lift and lower the blocks (big pulleys) that hold the drill stem as it drills down and also lifts up as they "trip" the pipe back out. It also stands the derrick up as well as laying it down.

Nowadays they have to attach two other truck's winch lines to the back of the draw works to let it teeter over slowly onto the bed of the truck sitting on the ramps as he winches it ahead instead of lifting it up level like that to suck it on. Years ago a tail chain on the gin pole truck lifting up let go during a similar operation and the front of the bed truck slammed to the ground. The driver was killed when his seat pogo'd him back up into the roof breaking his neck.

 

Life long farmer, pulled belly dump on road construction and gravel road specialists. There is no good answer for how to get out of mud. Usually once you are in it there's not much getting out of it. Best answer is to avoid it or be prepared for it. By that I mean speed and momentum. I've never thrown chains in the mud. I'm sure for slippery mud that would work but if you're in deep mud I dont think its gonna work.

 

I know a few guys that haul a lot of calves or yearlings from out west with ridiculously nice trucks. Long and low, I always wondered what they would do if they ever got hit with a rain or snow 10 miles down the dirt trail.

 

Trucks like that very rarely haul out of the mountains... They usually load at feedlot, sale yards, and the like.

 

We have a run we do in the spring when it's usually muddy. The place is on top of a mountain, and the road up there is 3 miles of dirt/mud. It's mostly flat because you're essentially starting on the dirt when you're already almost on top. But there are a few good hills and turns along the way. The worst hill is near the end of the road where we unload. It's always muddy on the hill. And the hill has claimed many driveshafts and rears over the years.

I got up there one particular morning, I believe it was mid March. There was a bunch of snow on the ground, it was raining and the temp was in the 40's. So I knew it was going to be an adventure. Me and another truck (I'll call him Bill) headed back the road together, he led the way. He has the reputation of never getting stuck. I had just started doing this run the previous fall, so I was still 'that young guy'.

Anyway, we get to the hill, Bill advises me I better get a good run and hit the hill wide open and hold it flat or I won't make it. I hung back a bit to give him time to get to the top. He hits the hill and he's giving it all it's got. Mud and smoke flying, I'm watching and waiting for the pieces to fly. Sure enough, I hear the bang, and Bill is stopped dead in his tracks. Broke the rear. So they come down with the dozer and drag Bill up the hill.

They told me to wait at the bottom for the dozer to drag me up. I knew it would be half an hour until they got back to me, so I figured I'd go as far as I can in the meantime.

I lock the rears and the power divider and start up the hill in second gear. I made it to where Bill broke his rear, and I'm still chugging along, feathering the throttle as I go. The dozer was backing down the hill at this point. I grabbed the radio and told him to stop, I think I can make it. He assured me I couldn't but he stopped and waited. Bill was also there watching, looking dejected.

I made it to the top, no help needed. Bill calls me an idiot for not hitting the hill at a higher speed, says he never thought I'd make it half as far as he did. The dozer operator looked at Bill and says 'Id shut up if I were you, he at least made it, and didn't need help. Evidently he knows something you should learn'. In truth, I was just trying to not bust anything and avoid having to be dragged by the dozer, it was pure luck that I made it.

After that, Bill followed me when we went back there together.

Some times it better to just take it easy and not beat the hell out of your equipment. And not question the 'young guy'

 

I was lucky enough to be a "Bill" once years ago. Had a younger feller trucking with me late in the spring to move some equipment out from a winter only oilfield site, he was driving for the company that owned the equipment but was a fairly new driver with only a couple years experience. I went in with the heavy lowbed to grab the excavator, he rode with me to help load and come out and then I rode in with him to help him load. This was all during the middle of the night to try and stay on as much frost as possible, so we had everything chained up including steers.

There was a hill going up onto the lease that was rutted and about a foot of mud, I ripped and tore my way up the hill and onto the lease and barely made it but without having to go grab a tow cat to do it. When I rode in with the young fella he was just crawling along in the slop and I tell him "you better give it hell or we won't make it". He tells me the truck won't let him rip and tear, it has all this traction control BS...I figure we're doomed and gonna need the cat, but that truck waddled it's way thru that nastiness making "phsss phsss" sounds as lights flashed on the dash and this goofy traction control wouldn't let the truck rev up or spin the wheels. Be ###### if we didn't make it all the way in with far less enthusiasm that I had to use to get in and I learned a lesson. Shut up and let the young fella do his thing lol.

 

I drove one truck that had the traction control on it, and it didn't work well in the conditions I was in. I was in a land fill driving over the garbage. As soon as it would spin it would kill the power to the drives for a second. The when it would come back to life it was too late and it would stall the engine.

But yeah, it's interesting to me to see the different ways a person will try and navigate through mud. Some give it hell and others take the boring slow way. I prefer slow and boring, letting the drives dig down and do their job. Eventually they will find traction under the mud. And as long as it's still moving forward, I'll keep trying.

There's a power plant I go to that's at the bottom of a hill. The driveway is steep and usually snow covered in the winter. It's a chore getting out of there sometimes. I've seen guys try and spin their way out, which hurts them in the end. All that spinning turns the hill to a sheet of ice. I usually spin a bit myself, but usually make it, even if it does take granny gear at idle.