Had to leave what I cut! Ugh!

[TreePointer]

If you haven't been around tractors long, make sure to keep your hand on that FEL control so you're ready to bring that bucket down real fast if you start to feel the tractor tipping into a rollover. As others have stated, keep it low with a heavy load.

 

[Freakingstang]

chains or not is not going to help with a full bucket and no counterweight. Are your rears filled?

My tractor is just a midget, but rears are filled and have 110lbs of wheel weights on each wheel. With 500lbs up front it is still useless. I need a minimum of 500lbs on the 3 point to do anything productive. more weight out on the three point acts like a lever. As others have said, raising the bucket is bad news, the fulcrum is still in the middle of the tractor, and being the weight is haging off the front, it will make more weight bias over the front axle. you hit a bump, rock, rut,, log, etc enough to roll the front axle pivot and its all over on a hill.

 

[Gasifier]

Finished cutting up and piled that wood I left out there the other day. Just walked in with the saw, not much cutting left. A decent amount of wood from that one tree. Truck therm says 14, wind is blowing a little. Brrrrrrrr.

 

[Jags]

Extend the backhoe out. You won't believe what putting that extra weight waaay out back of you will do. I have a 580CK Case. If I stretch the hoe out, I can personally lift the front wheels off of the ground if I grab ahold of the bucket. I had a friends son convinced that I was the strongest man on the planet.

 

[Gasifier]

Extend the backhoe out. You won't believe what putting that extra weight waaay out back of you will do. I have a 580CK Case. If I stretch the hoe out, I can personally lift the front wheels off of the ground if I grab ahold of the bucket. I had a friends son convinced that I was the strongest man on the planet.

You know, I thought about doing that and lifting a long section of the trunk of a tree after I put the backhoe out a ways. That should put some serious weight on the back wheels. (Not sure how much the hoe will lift, it is not as powerfull as the bigger ones I use to work with.) With the snow set up like the other guys said, and the weight on the rear wheels and the rear diff. locked I should, should be able to get up that hill. I have also thought about this. Not moving much wood with the loader. If I went back down with the tractor now that the snow is firmed up from freezing on the trail and there are grooves all through it from tractor tires. I could plow the snow off of the trail to where the wood is and then drive the 4wd truck down there. As long as the snow is not deep the truck will get through that no problem. Then I can put all the wood in the back of the truck which would put a lot of weight back there on the back wheels. It should go up that hill no problem. Of course I though I would get up that hill with my four wheel drive tractor too. I don't know if I want to risk it with either one. Do not want to have to leave either one out there. I did some work outside the house for a while and then went in the woods and cut and stacked the rest of the wood. I am taking a break in the house right now. Been outside for two and a half hours. Time to get warmed up a bit. That little bit of wind is nasty when it is 14 .

 

[lukem]

Extend the backhoe out. You won't believe what putting that extra weight waaay out back of you will do. I have a 580CK Case. If I stretch the hoe out, I can personally lift the front wheels off of the ground if I grab ahold of the bucket. I had a friends son convinced that I was the strongest man on the planet.

Beat me to it. Extend that hoe all the way out...if you need more get a scoop of dirt/stump/log.

We built a pond for a guy I used to work for. The only way we could get the Kubota out of the bottom and up the clay "snot" incline was to get a bucket of dirt on the front and pick up whatever stump we just dug with the hoe, cradle it between the bucket and the beam and extend it all the way out.

Don't raise the FEL.

 

[lukem]

I could plow the snow off of the trail to where the wood is and then drive the 4wd truck down there. As long as the snow is not deep the truck will get through that no problem. Then I can put all the wood in the back of the truck which would put a lot of weight back there on the back wheels. It should go up that hill no problem. Of course I though I would get up that hill with my four wheel drive tractor too.

4x4 tractor is going to go places a loaded 4x4 truck won't....in my experience anyway. Unless that tractor is up to the hubs in mud it will out "go" a pickup.

 

[Jags]

If you can stick a backhoe to the point you cant get it out....you had to have been trying.

 

[lukem]

If you can stick a backhoe to the point you cant get it out....you had to have been trying.

Like this

 

[madtrapper]

I just cut and stack where trees fall than usually split in the spring and move to the yard or just stack right there in the summer. I have stacks all over are farm right now as I have been mostly cutting dead elm and ash to sell.

 

[Gasifier]

My backhoe has a mechanical thumb so I may give this a try. Cut a section of a freshly downed Ash, the base of the tree about 4 foot long. That should weigh a good amount. Trap that with the thumb and hoe and extend it way out there. Then go down the hill leaving the hill in the condition it is in now. (Snow that is on the hill is frozen right up tight like you guys said. Big lug marks in the trail from the tires the first time.) Use the loader to plow the short section of road from the bottom of the hill to where the rounds are. There is also several more Ash in the same area I can take. Get everything basically scraped down to the ground. Then drive the truck down there. I have room to turn around a the bottom of the hill already. Back in to where the rounds are and when I leave I will have a full load of wood on the back of the truck to go up the hill in.

What do you guys think? Put your vote in. I may try one of them first thing in the morning.

Drive the wood out with the truck loaded. Truck has brand new 33" BFG all terrain tires on it.

Or do the same as described above and try hauling it up the hill with the tractor with front bucket loaded and hoe extended way out with large heavy tree trunk counterweight.

 

[Gasifier]

I just cut and stack where trees fall than usually split in the spring and move to the yard or just stack right there in the summer. I have stacks all over are farm right now as I have been mostly cutting dead elm and ash to sell.

That is a good way to do it madtrapper. I am just having a hard time leaving that wood out there. That is a nice looking saw you have there. How much heavier is that than my MS 290? Would you know off hand? How do you like it?

 

[Gasifier]

4x4 tractor is going to go places a loaded 4x4 truck won't....in my experience anyway. Unless that tractor is up to the hubs in mud it will out "go" a pickup.

I agree. I never got the tractor stuck. I just could not make it up the hill with the load. And almost without the load. I think the other guys were right. I had almost all the snow off the trail of the hill I was going down and trying to go up. Snow was fresh and it was very cold and this made it slippery. When I walked down today it was hard as a rock with big track marks in it from the tractor tires. Probably could go right up it now. Probably. I was really happy with how it performed driving around in the snow where I did not even plow. It did better because it was pushing down into all that snow and had a good grip from all that compaction. Problem was it was dam close to being at the bottom of the front axle in some spots. Had to clear some of that away. Don't want to lose the weight off those tires. Then I would be in a heap of chit.

 

[Flamestead]

I have the ice pick chains like the ones in the photo you posted, and I can go up hills steeper than I want to if there is less than a foot of snow. Somewhere past (deeper) than a foot of snow I think I'd rather have a set of Canadian ring chains with cleats, but I get by OK up to 2' deep. Occasionally I have to plow snow on steep sections on my woods roads, but generally am able to keep them packed down between storms. It helps that I am coming down loaded and going up empty. A few years ago I put a pair of cut-down forwarder chains on a 4wd Long 560, and its climbing ability was crazy-good.

The chains I have now were $900+ a few years ago (16.9-28 ag tires). Worth every penny to be able to do the work without the worry. They'll also save on your tires if you are in rocks.

 

[madtrapper]

I think it is a couple of pounds heavier than the 290. I had a 290 before I got the 391 I like the 3 alot better than the 2 I can cut a lot faster with the 3

 

[lukem]

My backhoe has a mechanical thumb so I may give this a try. Cut a section of a freshly downed Ash, the base of the tree about 4 foot long. That should weigh a good amount. Trap that with the thumb and hoe and extend it way out there. Then go down the hill leaving the hill in the condition it is in now. (Snow that is on the hill is frozen right up tight like you guys said. Big lug marks in the trail from the tires the first time.) Use the loader to plow the short section of road from the bottom of the hill to where the rounds are. There is also several more Ash in the same area I can take. Get everything basically scraped down to the ground. Then drive the truck down there. I have room to turn around a the bottom of the hill already. Back in to where the rounds are and when I leave I will have a full load of wood on the back of the truck to go up the hill in.

What do you guys think? Put your vote in. I may try one of them first thing in the morning.

Drive the wood out with the truck loaded. Truck has brand new 33" BFG all terrain tires on it.

Or do the same as described above and try hauling it up the hill with the tractor with front bucket loaded and hoe extended way out with large heavy tree trunk counterweight.

When in doubt go all out. Use the tractor.

 

[Jags]

When in doubt go all out. Use the tractor.

Agreed.

 

[Gasifier]

It is still -5 on my back porch. I think I will wait until it warms up a bit.

 

[thewoodlands]

It is still -5 on my back porch. I think I will wait until it warms up a bit.

Just south of you, could get windy.
http://forecast.weather.gov/showsig...al_place1=&product1=Lake+Effect+Snow+Advisory