Well, it finally happened today, without getting into the whole story of why it happened, I have sank my 955 in mud, right side track is level with the ground, left side is 3/4 sunk. I tried to dig it out with the bucket, but it is just moving mud. We cut down some trees and put them under the bucket to use it to raise the loader up and put some under the tracks, I might have moved about 2 inches! Does anybody have any suggestions? And if I need to get another piece of equipment to pull it out what size does anyone suggest? I have a friend with a 160 Deere excavator, could that dig it out and pull it out? Or do I need something bigger? A wrecker or crane is out of the question based on where the loader is located. Any and all suggestions are appreciated, even sarcastic comments, no one can be any harder on me than I already have been ointhead.
Redbank If you can get your tracks turning during the recovery, the recovery effort will be reduced. This will aid in breaking the "suction" of the mud against the belly. Just my $.02 worth Telescooper
anything nearby to chain off of? you can hook a chain onto the track pads on the front of the machine and tie them off onto a tree or another machine. once the tracks on the loader turn and the chain gets pulled under the loader ,and if the hooks stay on the pads , it will pull itself out. hook the chain to the pads right in front of the idler.
Thanks guys, yes the tracks are turning, Brian that sounds like a neat trick to try, I will check in the morning, there is a tree nearby if I have enough chain to reach, but I will have to do it in reverse, I need to back out of the mud.
Red Bank, can't say nothing sarcastic here, being stuck in the mud is no fun. Surely some of the track folks here will help you get it out. Stuck in the mud and tree reminded me of something. I was in Williamson West Virginia. The coal company provided an operator and a Deere 450 with a winch to drag my drill rig up the side of a mountain. We got to the bench on a slag fill that I was going work on and the operator had to fill the french drain at the edge of the slag fill with dirt to make a bridge for me to access the bench. He'd push some dirt, back up, push some more...he uncovered a spring. The 450 was just like you, sunk to the top of the tracks! Hooked the winch to a close by tree, no good. He had a full drum of cable, I said "a winch has more pulling power when the drum is a smaller diameter". We reeled off cable to reach a BIG TREE behind us. He'd put it in reverse and winch, moved a couple of inches. Did it again, couple more inches. Did this several times, dozer was inching out. Then one time, the winch just spooled up cable, but the cable didn't break. Huh??? I turned to look...an the tree was falling, and it was a big tree. I went one way and the operator went the other way and, sure enough, it landed right square on top of the 450. Just drove it down in the mud a little further! I looked at the operator and said "I told you it would have more power." He had to get some of his other crew up there, cut the tree off of it, and dig it out. :Banghead Felt sorry for him...they ragged that poor feller hard. I hope you get her out and don't have the problems we did.
atco that's nuts. i'm sure yer holding out on us with some interesting tales of your years of work. redbank putting the chains on the tracks should allow you to "winch" yourself out just don't pull over any trees like Atco you could try chaining logs or timber to the tracks to help pull it out you jusst have to be carefull and take them loose before they are dragged up into the loader arms or anything.
If you have a 10´long x 8-10'' diameter log, beam or section of telephone pole and two 4-6´long lengths of chain, you can probably get unstuck without the aid of another machine. Put the beam up against the both tracks as if you were going to drive over it. Chain the beam to both the right and left tracks. Drive over the beam and the machine is unstuck. If it´s a real bad mud hole, it´s helpful to lay out some mud mats or additional beams that you can drive the machine up onto in order to get back onto solid ground.
This guy used the same principle without chaining the beam to his tracks. He uses a few 2x6´s instead of a single large beam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umhEKEOzaw8
Pics????
Yeah, when it all settled down, no one was hurt, and machine wasn't damaged, it was really kinda funny to see that Deere get squashed by that huge tree. Gave a whole new meaning to "fall over protection structure". Interesting tales? Yeah, probably just like everyone else here that's lived a life of dirty hands, busted knuckles, and a sore back. :drinkup
Update-tried to winch with chains, tree at wrong angle. Cut up lots of trees to put under the bucket, lifted it up and put trees under tracks. Still no luck. Went and got a 35D mini excavator and dug out from behind the loader. Built kind of a ramp to back up on. Cleared off some more area to work and found a better stump to tie off to. Hooked up the chain to the track and manage to get the loader back about 25 feet. We broke about 6 or 7 chain links and hooks, probably should not be using 3/8 chain! Had to stop-out of hooks Will try to get 1/2 chains tomorrow, and have the 160 Deere on standby Thanks to all who responded, and I thought about pictures tonight, might try to get camera in the morning.
Well, we got it out of the mud this morning. We went and bought two new chains, Tractor Supply only had 3/8 chain, we bought the grade 70 transport chain. Hooked it to the track and it started coming out, had to rehook only once. While this was going on, heard my friend bringing the lowboy in with the 160. I drove up the hill and he saw me after he undid two binders to unload the 160 We had to get it out on our own, last night he came up and looked at the loader, turned around and told his son "Let this be a lesson on why homeowners should not have their own equipment":tong After he left my Dad told me it was his mission to get it out without the 160 . Anyway it was quite a weekend, had a whole lot to do, did a whole lot of work, just not what was on my list to do. It was a great feeling to work two days on this and finally get it out:drinkup I broke out the pressure washer and cleaned it up. I now have my inspiration to weld the grouser bars on:drinkup:drinkup:drinkup By the way, I never did take any pictures , but to give you an example of what I was in, the loader had sank about 2 feet between last night and this morning.
It's good to here you got it out .I had the GMC wrecker on "standby" in case it got ugly.
NO PICTURES!!! Man, we're going to get together and put a hex on you! At least you got it out...and didn't drop a tree on it like we did.
Actually I almost did, it seems the tree stump I had put my strap around had been through enough, after the last pull, it was starting to raise up out of the ground. And yes, please forgive me for the lack of pictures. And we had talked about a wrecker, but there was no way to get one down where we were at.
Glad to hear you got it out! For our benefit, a local towing and auto repair shop has an old military tank retriever that we have to call on certain occasions to retrieve our buried machines.
the log and chain works every time
Glaad you extracted it safely annoyed there are no pixx. :Banghead:deadhorse
I know, I'm sorry, but hey, if any of you guys want to fly in this weekend, we could get it stuck again:cool2
That sounds like a "Redneck Games Event"...or something kin to it! :lmao:falldownlaugh:duh
Well we had planed something similar to that this bank holiday with our Land rovers. Rednecks??? well we call ourselves "hillbilly 4x4"
When I got my 963, North Carolina had been in a 4 year dought. I think it's rained every day since then! My bottomland is now a bog.
What I was thinking, I should have said... Thank you all for those great suggestions for getting unstuck. :notworthy I hope I never have to use any of them. I never would have been able to think of them myself. Personally; I've been backing away from some areas. I've got about 1 foot of topsoil. Then a layer of clay. When I go over the same area once or twice, fine. That third time things start to slide and sink. The front tracks go down and I back out. Lately though, the hot weather is drying things out pretty well. Even after some downpours.
Had the same problem with a dozer. I think you already have the solution from others. That is: hook a chain/cable to EACH track and get the lines as tight as possible (use binders if you can). Then SLOWLY wind the chain around the track as you back up the line. Once you clear yourself, be careful not to let the chain off the tracks, as it can get wound inside the track frame and become a terrible problem to get loose. It's best to take the chain loose and reconnect if you don't keep the lines on the track. You can't turn the machine while you are doing this. It MUST remain straight so the cable winds on the tracks only.
Hey guys: I've been reading how you all got your Cats unstuck. Got to tell you a bit about my 953 Last spring I was out clearing trees from the line fence and doin some dirt moving for erosion control. Well it got to be late in the day and I was heading home and when going through a ravine I noticed a stump that just "had to be buried". I turned, was going to make a few scoops with the bucket and just as I followed through with the dig, my right track felt pretty soft and seemed to sink a little. Well I dumped right then and there and proceeded to back out, and then my right track sunk some more. Too steep of an angle to back up with on shallow grousers and just a little spin and there I sat. just plain numb.......well...the bucket was empty and so I had that going for me, and I could still move in the hole, but everytime I moved I sank deeper first on one side then the other....well I knew from years of tractor driving it is just plain better to stop when you are ahead, and I walked home about 1/2 mile away and brought the skidloader with a bucket full of cement and rocks, I raised the tracks of the Cat in the hole first with the bucket and threw all the rocks I could under the tracks to raise first the front, and then drove ahead until the tracks started spinning on the rocks. With the Cat inched ahead about a foot or two I was able to pack the backside of the tracks with even more rocks.......then back up on them. this went on for about three or four sessions of sea sawing back and forth until I had enough height to use the bucket to help push the Cat out of the hole. Just to give you an idea of how deep the hole was, I stepped out from the cab level with the surface of the ground when it was in the hole. I don't think it was laying on but it was darn close. my mistake was a rookie mistake, I was going to dig a "quick hole" and then head home. secondly I made my ramp way too steep for the moisture in the ground and thirdly I should have left a little wiggle room for me to move to one side or the other in order to get out of my own tracks while in the hole. Our ground where I live is clay/loam and it holds the spring runoff for a long time....well we live and learn I guess. This little bit of education came in handy in July this summer when I dropped an old two story Barn with bad foundation. lots iof digging there too and somewhat wet conditions.
Thanks for the post Monte, I am glad to see I am not alone with getting stuck . As far as "rookie mistakes", it reminds me of what a local grading contractor told me when he hauled my 955K in when I bought it, he said " when you wear out thress seats you will be good at operating a loader." I am beginning to think he might be on to something. Number one you can't learn if you don't try, number two how many years will a seat last anyway? If I wear out three I will have had a lot of experiences:drinkup
:iagree
Are those seats to be on the one machine or would we get an average hours of how long a seat will last convert it to weeks/months operating time so for instance ,6000hrs is the average for a seat, 6000x3 =18000hrs /10hr day average=1800 days/30 days =60months or 5years constant working,so in real time allowing for holidays ,weekends,and bank holidays,one must spend 6.6years of ones life operating a machine to become compenent operator.......interesting!
I bought my machine last year and since then have put 1100 hrs. on it......on one machine......but still learning bout things like rocks when going over the edge a bit working on logging trails and just about how much adrenaline one actually can have . I personally believe that no matter how much we work in this field, and no matter how much experience we have, there will always be that chance of getting stuck, rollovers, and sliding down that hill sideways. lets see....hmmmmmmm as for the actual hrs as to when one is a qualified operator......well if seats are the answer maybe armrests should be include cuzz mine have some deep gouges in them lol.!!!
Stock-not sure how you meant your post-mine was to be considered humorous, but I would say that after 6.6 years on a machine an operator would be pretty good, or should be. And Monte consider yourself lucky, I don't have armrests!:cool2
Red Bank: yeah know...when I bought my first machine, I was ignorant to certain things and when I climbed up into the cab one of the first things that I remember asking the saleman was why do they have so many hand grips in the cab.....and why did the salesman refer to them as oh $%@$ handles!!!!!! I found out later that week...... after that it was not a matter of if or when I was going to wear the seat belt ..but rather always. anyway this thread has been quite informing as to some of the tricks to getting out of mud and I thank you guys!! if anyone makes it up to SE MN sometime..... stop in!!! we'll set on the coffee pot for ya.:usa
I was hoping to see pictures ..... ointhead ointhead ointhead
I now have three posts ....YEAH YEAH ....:drinkup:drinkup:drinkup:drinkup
been there bud, if you can dig around each side and the rear with backhoe or trackhoe will help 75% and then pull out from the rear if you can. some times you can cut a good size log (hardwood) and put behind the tracks and chain each side to the track pads and try walking it out and push with the logs you have under the loader bucket. just some tricks we have used in the past hope it works.
1 of my 3 required
2 of my 3 required. whoa, wait, 72 more seconds.
3 of 3 required, now another hour and I can ask my question!
Well, this looks like a good place for my first post. I like this forum and am learning alot. I an not an operator but a mechanic and have been working on Cats for over 10 years. So anyway, since you all like pics, here is a track loader i got stuck in our test pit. Like i said, I'm not am operator..... Got it stuck in a previous dug trench, hung up on the belly and the bucked just sunk in the mud. Lucky i have access to all kind of equipment and a good shove and it was out.
Hmmm, pic didn't show and i cant edit my post.
Just like that lee on the river.
Yep, it that Probationary Member thing. I have a few pics of different things i can post when i get off Probation.
One reply said to chain a log across the tracks, under the hitch and then back out. This works pretty good, but you have to make sure you are either out of mud when the log comes up under the front of the cat so you can unhook it, or else use a thin enough log that it will break. We cabled a log across the back of the tracks on an 82-20 terex, and could'nt get to the cables,and didn't have enough horsepower to break the log. Needless to say I was in mud to my eyeballs with a chainsaw!!!!
Good point - I can see where that could happen with a dozer. With a track loader, that's not as big a problem since it's possible to raise the bucket arms for clearance. The log trick usually works great!
Best way I know of is to bring in a hoe. Hydraulics always beat traction, and instead of a chain, cable is much stronger. If you bring a hoe, you can make a ramp for you to get unstuck, you can control which direction you'd like to pull, and you have the most pulling power. Beats shoveling, and hammering logs under. Thats my opinion anyway. Everyone who has worked on a machine for more then a few years has gotten stuck and if they haven't they've never worked in a place they could.
If you only have this loader and a small excavator how would you go about getting this unstuck?
Is 1/2 chain strong enough for attempted recovery maneuvers while working with machines this big?
Grade#70,80,or 100 1/2" chains are best. The lower # chains are a joke 40,20.
I do not reccomend chain, but I also understand using what you have. 1 chain in a straight pull is a huge mistake. When all I have is a chain, I always loop it, and as many times as I can. I have recovered a badly stuck 938 loader with a 320 excavator and stood the excavator on its nose doing it. That was a lot of pull, and all with 3/8 chain, as that is what I had available. The trick was I made 4 loops, so there were 8 legs of chain sharing the load. It was only grade 70 chain, so it is rated at around 4700#, but 8 loops is 8 times as much. You have to be sure not to have any of it in a bind, or it will stress one leg more than the others, reducing the advantage. The other thing is to be sure of the strength of what you are hooking to. The strongest chain or cable is worthless if hooked to something that is not as strong. I have seen many accidents because of that.
This D-6 was recovered with a double loop[ed 3/4" choker. That was after breaking a doubled up 5/8" choker, which was what was available. With a chain, I would have wanted no less than a triple wrapped (6 legs) of 1/2" chain to pull as hard as it took to get this out.
Wow, I don't want to clean those tracks.