Being humble and admitting you got stuck is good for the soul and once you get over the embarrassment, makes for a fun story later in the day over a nice single malt.
I've gotten stuck at least three times in less than six months.
First time, my tractor had about 2 hours on it and I had to get a neighbor to pull me free. I had completely bottomed out and was thankful I had gotten a skid plate even before my tractor was delivered.
Second time, I was well prepared. I tried throwing some logs under the tires. No good. I have a 2" receiver on the front. I slipped my winch into it and strapped to a tree. Five minutes later, I was free. Next time, I'll just get the winch and be done with it instead of slothing abut in the mud for an hour.
Third time, was digging out of this past winters blizzard. I drove up on to a snow bank to dump a bucket full further away and again, basically sunk and bottomed out. My neighbor was there with his much larger JD. He was unable to free me. This time, I got my pickup out and slipped the winch into its' receiver (the one on the back of the tractor was blocked by the rear blade and taking it off and moving it was out of the question.) Again, simple as pie, the tractor became unstuck.
In some instances, you can use a rope and a chain along with the curl function of the front bucket (or the BH) to pull yourself out but if it is a distance, you'll find it very slow going. Move five feet. Shorten the chain/rope. Move five feet. repeat.
I have 65' of wire rope on the winch, two lengths of AmSteel 50' long and four snatch blocks and six tree straps with shackles. I'll really have to screw up for that to not get me free!
An added bonus of the winch and snatch blocks is stump removal. The BX25D, while powerful, is still small. The BH, just cannot snap roots that are thigh sized. I am not going to the work of swapping the bucket for a piranna bar. If I try to pull a stump with the winch, the tractor just skids, even with the FEL curled and dug into the ground. But with the winch going to the stump then to a tree back to the stump and back to the tree, not a single stump has failed to yield to that pull. What I typically do is dig out four or five stumps, then with the rigging in place, pull them out one at a time. Makes it very easy.
