First time out, already stuck in mud!

[freakinaye]

Good morning Kubota Tractor owners!

My brand new BX25D was delivered to me yesterday, I drive it out behind my house to knock down a small tree and....the tractor tires dug down deep in mud and I'm stuck

Going forward, I need help. The dealer added antifreeze to my back tires to help me on the hills, but of course that makes it even worse on my flat muddy areas. The soil/clay is soft and wet about a foot down (lots of springs around). I would get snow chains, but I wonder if they will even help. I can also get a bunch of fill perhaps and just start mixing it with the soil and hopefully overtime create a more solid surface to drive on.

I will also dig a nice trench going along the hill with all the springs, throw in some corrugated pipe and rocks, to help as well.

So anyways...what is the best way to keep from getting stuck in a foot of wet soil while I slowly get through this work?

 

[Bluegill]

What tires? Ag tires are best for mud.

If you have a FEL you need extra weight on the 3 pt hitch to counter that. Problem with FEL and no weight on the 3 pt, is the front tires have too much weight on them and sink quick. And because of the FEL hanging out front the rear tires have little weight on them and no traction.

 

[kubotaman574]

BX25 would have a BH on it for weight

 

[Bluegill]

BX25 would have a BH on it for weight

That would be enough counter weight. Didn't know if his had one or not.

 

[mike-o]

Only way is to dry out the soil, and it seems like you have the right plan for that. I managed to get mine stuck and had to walk my way out putting rocks under the ourtriggers & bucket to lift up high enough to put more rocks under the tires for traction.

Did you get your tractor from Parc's??

 

[Billdog350]

Best way not to get stuck is to get a few sheets of OSB for $8 and put them down and drive along on top of them and do your work on those platforms.

 

[cerlawson]

Did you try to use the bucket to push you backwards? You first open up to full dump position, then lower it firmly into the mud and give a few curling forward pushes of the lip of the bucket while in gear for backing up. Takes many tries. Sometimes it is all you need to get out.

 

[cerlawson]

For your sub-drain along the hill, here is some advice from a geotechnical engineer. Get it as deep as you can, since water can get past it and affect the area you want to protect. The pipe perforations should be small, such as what slotted plastic drain pipe has. You can get a pipe with a filter sock on it, but not mandatory. One thing that is mandatory is getting the proper backfill. Your use of "rock" is totally wrong. "Rock" has large voids that easily fill with mud and plug up the whole affair. The best fill for the trench is ASTM-C33 fine aggregate for concrete. In other words you use a clean, coarse sand. That is a filter of all soils and will pass as much water as comes into the trench. In some areas the term for this sand is "Torpedo Sand". You can top off the trench with road gravel if you wish, in case you think the sand might wash away down the hill.

Some may say using a sock on the pipe is filter enough. Once the "rock" voids are full of mud, nothing works. That can happen in as short a time as one year.

 

[85Hokie]

Good morning Kubota Tractor owners!

My brand new BX25D was delivered to me yesterday, I drive it out behind my house to knock down a small tree and....the tractor tires dug down deep in mud and I'm stuck

Going forward, I need help. The dealer added antifreeze to my back tires to help me on the hills, but of course that makes it even worse on my flat muddy areas. The soil/clay is soft and wet about a foot down (lots of springs around). I would get snow chains, but I wonder if they will even help. I can also get a bunch of fill perhaps and just start mixing it with the soil and hopefully overtime create a more solid surface to drive on.

I will also dig a nice trench going along the hill with all the springs, throw in some corrugated pipe and rocks, to help as well.

So anyways...what is the best way to keep from getting stuck in a foot of wet soil while I slowly get through this work?

For this very reason I have on board all the time 2 - 20' 3/8" chains! Trying to keep them stored was a puzzle, until I saw someone use 4" pvc pipe and a cleanout! I made two of them, they will hold a choker and 20' each side of the machine.

Using your bucket to get out is easy, if you are really stuck, you might need to extend your hoe and chain it to something near by, and pull yourself out backwards.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

So anyways...what is the best way to keep from getting stuck in a foot of wet soil while I slowly get through this work?

#1 Stay off of it till it drys.
#2 Send the BX back and get something much larger.
#3 Geofabric, tile pipe, rock, and top with gravel.

 

[78-79fordman]

Where's the pics of this stuck . Got to post pic forum rules . Lol

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Where's the pics of this stuck . Got to post pic forum rules . Lol

Oh yes, I'll second that!

 

[cerlawson]

Wolfman:

Number 3 will work, but try that in a caving trench 4 or more feet deep. Also more labor intensive than my method. Total cost is more usually. In my 58 years of engineering experience not one of mine has failed. Can't say the same for #3.

 

[ipz2222]

The bx is not a good mud tractor. less than 6 inches of ground clearance. I bought a 12 v electric winch and set it up so it quickly hooks up to my 3ph. Pull the cable out, anchor to tree or vehicle. Winch on and tractor in rev. Haven't got to try it yet and hope I don't have to. But I did pull a log out of a ditch with it.

 

[skeets]

OHHH I duno about the BX not bein a good mudder ,,its as good as anything else at getting stuck