How NOT to use heavy equipment on a wet field

[friesman]

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

[flb_78]

Whoops!

[Guest Ken8143]

Somebody was having a very bad day

[Marcarl]

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!

[Sylvester]

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.

 

[Flyinfool]

That equipment looks to be well planted, now it just needs a good serving of bullsh!t to fertilize it and by next summer there should be a nice crop of toy tractors ready for harvest.

[LilBeaver]

That equipment looks to be well planted, now it just needs a good serving of bullsh!t to fertilize it and by next summer there should be a nice crop of toy tractors ready for harvest.

 

[Hummingbird]

OMG - they are only 1 good downpour away from a lake.

[BuddyRich]

Shoulda put some boards under the tires/tracks:rotf:

What a mess....

[mbrood]

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.

[dray]

been there but not a case i had a 325B cat

had a heck of a time getting her out

 

[Yammer Dan]

Shouldn't have to water for a while....

[Trader]

What....isn't somebody going to suggest that it might have been due to improper air pressure?

[friesman]

What....isn't somebody going to suggest that it might have been due to improper air pressure?

 

:sign **** happens:

[LilBeaver]

What....isn't somebody going to suggest that it might have been due to improper air pressure?

 

This is clearly not an issue with tires. Obviously it is a direct result of switching to a heavier weight oil.

[Cruser]

Track hoe's are the very worst sort of machine for mud!

 

a couple of good backhoe operators probably could have walked themselves out of the muck before they drowned.

 

Those machines may well be there till it freezes.

[KiteSquid]

Does anybody have a M88 Recovery Vehicle on hand???

 

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/M88_Armored_Recovery_Vehicle_in_pm.jpg

 

 

AND know how to use it??????

Edited August 25, 2010 by KiteSquid

[Kregerdoodle]

OMG I would have loved to hear that phone call!!! well around Feb the ground should be froozen enough to get them out....LOL

[CaptainJoe]

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!

[silent67]

Get a:

Sikorsky Skycrane:banana:

[mrich12000]

I can just hear the phone call to Finning's Caterpillar:

 

Oh Hi can I have the rental dept.

Oh Hi, this is farm 34, could you send a recovery crew to get your machines..:bawling:

[CaptainJoe]

silent67,

the Sikorsky Skycraney lifts approx 20000 lbs or 10 tons... might not be enough for this mess. A trackhoes gotta weigh at least that, not counting the vacum created by that mud. Those people are scre##ed!

[friesman]

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 August 26, 2010 by friesman

[Sunrayman]

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!

[brewser23]

Must have been those slower first gen machines