On this blog we have the privilege of hosting some of The Great Stuck in the Muck Photo Contest entries from Flaman.
This successful website is fueled by farmers sharing their muddy experiences from 2010 and now 2011.
Earlier this spring a producer from the American Great Plains found his Bud stuck in the mud.
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Why do producers enjoy seeing other farmers’ machinery stuck in the mud, run off the road or wedged into spaces too small to exit? It is because they could be us and sometimes are.
Most producers know that sliding feeling, when the rumble, vibrate and bounce of a tractor or other driven machine is swapped for a smoother ride and when the engine’s sound shifts from lugging to freedom. It’s the sensation of a machine loosing traction and it sparks innate fight or flight responses in all of us, to shift up or clutch.
Depending on the size and depth of the soil anomaly there is no right answer. Lunge forward at increased speed with the hydraulics control nearly yanked from the console and you might find the cab bathed in mud as the tires mine their way through the topsoil until the frame takes up the weight of your now 45,000 pound anchor. However if it goes right you could find yourself smugly rolling along, feeling suddenly taller and more manly (this only applies to men for some reason) and fumbling for the hydraulics control to get back to work.
Hit the clutch and you know there is a good chance you already need to call the yard for that tractor, the one wearing the chains and straps you left in a handy spot for someone to bring out when the time came once again to yank the whole unit backwards as gently as possible. At least with this strategy renting a track hoe might not be necessary.
Heck, either way if you’re stuck it’s worth a picture. We don’t know when the next el Nina will come along and super-saturate the West. The young farmers of the future are never going to believe us when we tell them this semi-arid land was really, really wet once upon a time. In the short term it is fun to share those images with neighbours from across globe on Stuck in the Muck because something good should come of that sinking feeling.
For a story about avoiding getting mired and another about safe connections click these links.
– Mike
