I never thought I needed a bigger tractor until ...

I had a 1500 gallon tank delivered yesterday. I specified use a small truck, it's a tight fit to circle the house and come out on the other side. Bozo showed up with a small truck (F350) but towing a monster backhoe trailer for some later assignment.

I couldn't persuade him to leave his trailer next to the tank, circle the house, and pick up the trailer on the way out.

He started around the house and immediately got wedged. He needed another 30-50 ft radius to avoid tearing down everything in sight. The only thing to do was turn it around and take it back out the way it came in.

We unhitched him and I lifted the front of his trailer with the ball on my bucket. I backed his trailer off into the orchard and rotated it 45 degrees, then unhitched and approached it from the direction he had arrived from.

Whoa! The trailer had backed nice. But then I couldn't move it uphill. Weight on the bucket stole traction (2wd) so I had to turn around and drive forward to pull it. Then I had plenty of traction but all that did was lift the front wheels, squat the tires, and the trailer still wouldn't move uphill. It must outweigh me at least 2:1. I had to inch it up the grade curling the backhoe bucket. Meanwhile it was raining buckets - my wife took one of the photos from indoors.

After I got it up on solid gravel and pointed the right way I could (barely) tow the monster uphill back to his truck.

I occasionally wonder if a bigger tractor would be useful here. For this, it would have been real nice! (But then I think another $10,000 just to help Bozo? uh - no.)

Bigger is always better but keep the one you have. Two tractors are ALWAYS better than one

I will be trading the L3400 for something larger when we move. We will keep the BX. Its just right size for around the barn and mowing the yard.

Jim

Raining buckets? Looks like wet snow in one of those pictures. You people in California have the worst weather!
Bone

Looks like the guy that delivered the tank should be wearing the white hard hat ...'cause you're doing all the work!

What'cha doin with the tank??

I would have said "thanks for the trailer buddy!"

Why wouldn't he leave it in the door yard and get it on the way back?

I was thinking I needed a bigger tractor yesterday wrestling frozen logs out of snowbanks...

Thanks everybody!

What'cha doin with the tank??

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The neighbor who operates my orchard needs to fill his 500 gallon sprayer a couple of times per application. He previously got the water elsewhere but now I need to provide it.

I finally got the project finished today. The tank is in place and plumbed.

The more I think about that kid they sent out ...

I took for granted I was dealing with an experienced trucker, and that he had followed my written orders to walk his turnaround route and appraise if his equipment would go through there. Unloading in the rain was distracting and I didn't notice he had a completely irresponsible attitude until he was about to tear down my house, the porch, the barn shown in my sig pix, and everything else in sight. I took charge before he did any harm. That torn up driveway surface was the only damage.

I would have said "thanks for the trailer buddy!"

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I like that. I should have told him to come back for it a week later, after the ground dried out.

Raining buckets? Looks like wet snow in one of those pictures. You people in California have the worst weather! - Bone

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Spring rain is nice. We need it. It wasn't very cold, maybe 45.

Hey CA.,

As 20-20 solutions are mostly hindsight...The damage to the soft ground might have been far less if you could have snatched the Tank (if it is Poly or some other light material) off his truck...maybe?

Always been insulted by people (like your driver) who don't listen and think their way is the only way. We had a delivery guy, very young, bring a Hitachi mini excavator...who firmly planted the right side trailer tires/wheels in soft soil at the driveway entrance...mising the driveway by two feet. He hopped on the excavator, decided to back off and sunk the wheels another six inches into the now, muddy soil.

After forty five minutes of jockying the equipment around, he chicken'd out, jump off and decided to call his boss (my friend) because he wasn't experienced enough to 'crab' himself off the trailer using the bucket and arm. After about an hour of this nonsense my brother jumped on and had it straightend out and off in five minutes......lifted the trailer out of the HOLE and sent him on his way. I guess my point is the kid wouldn't listen, take direction or watch our hand signals until he was in deep doo doo.

I rented a small jd loader /hoe out in Oregon. It was a hystat unit and I just got it home and started moving fill when the tranny locked solid(they later told me it grenaded and ended up toataling the tractor)

ANyways they send these two high school kids out to "fix the problem"

and they proceeded to spend an hour diagnosing what I did in 5 minutes, that the tractor was not going to go on its own power. Mean while I need to get 3 tri axle loads of moved, but they are still farting around with the defective unit. So they finally decide to bring it back to the shop, but the wheels are locked up tight and they try to come along it on their trailer, which would have been funny except I needed to get the rig gone so I could get a Bob Cat. So I jumped on the tractor, which still ran, and started it up against their protests and dragged the rig on the trailer with the hoe in about 5 minutes.

KIds these days....and I can say that, I am a high school teacher. I see it every day.

Maybe not a bigger tractor but 4 wheel drive would sure make a difference. Like Jim said, another tractor might be in your future.

Ok, back on track.

Here's what the tank looks like installed. It blends into the redwoods and scrub oaks along the fence line as well as I had hoped.

Mark777 said:

Hey CA.,

As 20-20 solutions are mostly hindsight...The damage to the soft ground might have been far less if you could have snatched the Tank (if it is Poly or some other light material) off his truck...maybe?

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That turnaround disaster was after we had unloaded the tank. Or rather, after he tugged the tank off the side of his truck unexpectedly and I saw he was going to let it bounce, so I ran over and helped ease it down.

That tank is incredibly light - maybe 200 lbs? I tipped it upright with a little help from my wife, mostly just to prevent it rolling crooked. Then after I had it in position I lifted each edge, working alone, to pull out the planks I had used under it while I slid it into position.

Doc said:

Maybe not a bigger tractor but 4 wheel drive would sure make a difference. Like Jim said, another tractor might be in your future.

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Look at the grade I pulled that monster up! It was down in the area you see in the first of my sig pix, referenced below. Except it wasn't on top of that grass, it was well imbedded in winter mud.

I think I would have destroyed the front axle of a 4x4 tractor, at least one this size, if I had tried to lift and pull that trailer backward. The first picture above shows the oversize rear tires squished, and the front tires (despite the heavy loader) off the ground. I think stress like that going backward would strip the teeth off the front axle's gears.

I made one miscalculation that made pulling the trailer up out of the orchard more difficult: Pushing it down in there, I had turned it sharply which scrubbed the tires into their own pockets in the mud. Then in my first attempts to pull it out, I was pulling at a side angle which meant dragging those sunk trailer tires up the *edge* of the cavities they had gouged. No wonder I couldn't move it. That was where a front axle might have grenaded if it couldn't slip (due to lifting the trailer tongue) and couldn't move, with full horsepower applied in creeper gear.

Anyhow, I didn't break anything. I did feel like I put several components, including the backhoe, clear to their limits. Hey, I got that trailer out! I think this tractor is a keeper.

sounds to me you looking for an excuse

tinkertoys said:

sounds to me you looking for an excuse

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It's sure a temptation to look at larger, or newer, tractors!

But then I look at my actual use. This is the hardest project I've put it up against in four years and it was sufficient, barely. I just can't support a decision to spend a lot more money for capability I'll never use.

But the new tractors sure are pretty. I drive past a Mahindra dealer on every trip between home and that orchard. I've only stopped in once .... they sure are tempting!

Wait till you have to look at a Mahandra banner at at the top of every 4th page. Maybe then you'll buy!