Jump to content
IGNORED

How NOT to use heavy equipment on a wet field


friesman

Recommended Posts

Its been a wet year here and very cool. this mess started off with a guy getting his farm equipment stuck in a field about 2 hours north of here. They brought in tractors to pull him out and it looks like things snoballed from there. I gotta think the backhoe guys didnt have a sniff at what they were doing.

 

Brian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of those deceiving situations where it looks dry enough, but ends up with a water hole under it all. Can't really blame the excavator operators for their problems, they went in to help, but how often do they experience a farmer's field,,, found out the hard way I'd say!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In 1972 while working on a regional airport in Nebraska, a farmer came over and asked if we could pull him out. He had gone into his fields and buried a Steiger 4wd tractor with dual wheels all around. There happened to be a D9 Caterpillar on our site but belonged to the dirt contractor. I put the two together and the contractor went over with the D9. The contractor knew better than to get into the mud so he ran heavy crane cable to the Steiger. When it was all said and done the Steiger was torn into front and rear.

 

Sure glad I kept out of it.

 

:farmer:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The southern Idaho potato fields are that way... after a good irrigation you REALLY don't want to wander off the road. We had a tractor/trailer driver decide that he could take a "shortcut" between fields. The cab started to sink so he pulled the logical trick... gun it and get through. Once it sank to the bed of the tractor frame and trailer (forget the axles, they sank in first.) he thought it a jim-dandy time to bail. We had one heck of a time digging mud and building wood board ramps. The cost for just the boards was pretty steep and thank goodness the trailer was empty. The tractor took about 4 days... it was obviously much further in than the trailer. It also took a D9 but he had to go crosswise on the road, reset the tackle, back up and take another few feet. I was a mechanic for the farm and more than happy with letting it sit until the ground firmed up but the farm owner was of a different mindset. I thought it rather hilarious until I got shovel duty... wasn't so darned funny after that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A very largr Bulldozer and long chain / crain cable should work. (but, who knows how big that Wet spot is)

 

otherwise will have to use cribbage and planks and I can't even begin to imagine what a PITA that would be. I'm just glad it isn't my equiptment in that muck.

 

Please stay on top of this and keep us informed as to how they get them out!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those pics were taken in early June after the wettest, coldest spring and early summer on record in the area.

it has since warmed up almost to normal and there have been several days above 95f that has really dried things out. Ive heard that a couple of weeks ago they were able to dig a trench/ramp to the track hoes using some regular backhoes on some kind of platforms and drove them out. The soil in the area is a mostly clay mix that becomes like rock when it dries out so its not like a sandy soil that might feel kinda liquid even when dry.

 

Brian

Edited by friesman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I happen to be a city dude, and I have had my share of mistakes with country people's ways, so I cannot express any real empathy about the site conditions, but when a guy like me see's stuff like that....

 

Well, lets suffice it to say, I thought that was really, really, gol dern funny!

 

Some buddy really mucked up there man!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...