Well, as the title reads, I entered a section of trail I've been down a few times with a John Deere 450c. I entered it and immediately knew something was wetter than normal. And then I couldn't back up. I attempted to move a little bit but was digging deeper, so I shut it down and went for supplies. Chainsaw and chains. After I got back I started cutting down trees and before you know it I have the dozer at a big angle, running, and I hear a hiccup out of the motor and I was like uh-oh, I through the three remaining logs at the back of the tracks and said F it, and somehow backed out of the hole. On the return trip home it was making a ticking sound coming from what sounds like the top front of the motor. I'm thinking I will now need to take the valve cover off and see what it looks like under there. Any Input on how to proceed would be helpful. I didn't shut the motor off because I thought if I did it wouldn't start again and I would be totally screwed from the angle. Maybe that was the wrong call. I know I haven't been in the Dozer with the blade that far up in the air as I tried to crawl forward out of it.
Check your fan and it's shroud for points of contact. Could be you shifted the cowling sheet metal and fan blades is just nicking the shroud. Quick, simple, no cost.
did you check your motor oil level?
Ticking would not concern me as much as knocking, the hiccup was more than likely fuel due to odd angle but as noted check the obvious, mounts, fan to shroud, look for what could have twisted or cracked.
I checked the oil and it was full. I will check the fan shroud tonight. I did notice on the way back it was intermittent. As it would click for a while, then it wouldn't. Thanks for the help you guys.