Monday, April 6, 2009

Tractor stuck, part 5

I've gotten the tractor stuck a few times this year, and I've finally worked out a system so that getting the tractor stuck is annoying, but no big deal. The first part is how I hook up to my truck.

The trailer hitch is a relatively strong point to hook to one the back of the truck. I'm using my tie down cable here, looped back to itself and hooked.
If you click on this picture, you'll see the tractor in the distance. What I've got is a 150' length of 5/8th steel cable, and a 300' length, and a 50' length. I use the different lengths for different pulls, and so that I can lift it. The 300' length of cable is pretty heavy. Maybe 150lbs.

Ok. So with the tractor hooked to the truck, you put the tractor into neutral, and the truck into 4x4 low and pull it out. If the full-sized pickup doesn't do it, I switch up to the 500hp dumptruck that weighs 25,000lbs. I'm pretty sure between the two trucks I can pull the tractor out no matter how much I get stuck.

But that's the brute force way. I also have a big pulley that allows me to use leverage to double the pulling power, but so far I haven't had to use it. A straight pull is quick to set up and the first try. If it doesn't work I'll break out the block and tackle.

At the end of the cables, I've got 4 tiedown chains, so as I pull the tractor out, I can remove chains and shorten the pull. Most of the time all I have to do is get the tractor back up to the surface, which I can do in a 10' pull, and then drive it off.

1 comment:

MMP said...

I am jealous about having the power to pull a tractor out of the mud, but I am glad my land is better drained and less prone to get soft enough to get stuck in.

-mmp