How steep of a hill have you gotten your crawler on?

[Ray III]

Well, the other day I found out that a 420c will stick to chopped hay like Velcro! We were chopping the last of the hay and using a blower to pile it against the face in a bunker silo. Needed to be pushed back and packed and the skidsteer proved useless in a hurry since there was no slope to get up on it. I fetched the crawler and at first it didn't seem like it was going to go, but once some hay was knocked on the floor so the tracks could get up and bite into the pile it went up there like nobody's business. It was like playing on a cloud, when you stop moving in the middle of loose hay you start sinking into it. Makes for some scary stuff too, like when I ran one track up on a high spot to pack it and the OTHER side was the one to settle, all the sudden I was hanging off the side of my seat and shifting the reverser in a hurry.

When the hay got some compaction in it then you really have some traction. The hay tends to pull up in chunks when you push it so a couple times I ended up crawling into a wall and then heading just about straight up! If there wasn't a load on the blade it would make it. When I got done with the pile and got off it, I tried going up the steepest part from the floor just for the hell of it. Had to lift the blade ALL the way to get enough angle of attack. It went right up although I almost lost my nerve. I backed off the pile and studied the tracks in the hay. Way more than 100% grade, at least a 60 degree angle from the ground! I would not have thought it was physically possible, wish I had pics.

Also was playing with it where we are filling in, I won't call it wetlands, but an Area of Excessive Moisture. I managed to drop the crawler off the bank when some of the fill collapsed. It got out of there with a struggle though I was practically standing on the dashboard. That one was a bit more hairy than the hay pile because I went over sideways and had to get the thing turned 90 degrees before it rolled over.

On another note, my drawbar pin is now under about 60 tons of hay.

[Steven Walters]

I like that exsesive moisture u r starting to become policly correct. lol

[Steven Walters]

That is politacly correct. see what happens when my wife is'ant here to proof read.

[digitup2]

Years ago one farmer that always gets me to pile his corn decided to try the old 550 dozer himself so that would be around 82-83 and when I went home for an hour or so he got to the top front edge of the pit wall and took his foot off the decelerator when I got back I had a white as a ghost farmer and a dozer stuck between the ground with the blade dug in and the wall with the winch.It was hard not to laugh but he never has touched the dozer since and I have been pushin corn for him for 30 plus years at this point . That ten foot ride nose first must of shook him bad. We get close to the end now we bring in a second dozer and really push corn to the top of the pile.Two 550Js side by side can push a pile of corn in one swipe .Yes one of the first things I do is line the pit floor with six inches of corn just to smooth things out and get the extra traction .Watch when you side hill on a silage pile if it is steep you can be flipped in a looser edge very quickly A dozer operator lost his life up here when he flipped doing corn silage and his seat belt wasn't used he fell under the roll bar so be safe and use your seat belt on the pile - .Digitup.

[Ray III]

Yeah it doesn't like the concrete at all but get a couple inches of something soft over it and it's pretty happy.

No roll bar on a 420 so I don't intend to try any side hill stunts in unstable stuff. I got one surprise and now I will try to keep it level side to side as much as possible so I'm safe when something does shift.

[pop pop]

back in the 60's my dad had a 420 wheeled tractor with the trencher on the back,,, it had the widest of wide tires, fluid filled,,
,it would climb almost straight up,,,
as a kid this always scared the shit out me when the guys were doing this,
,of course nobody would be on it ,,,
the only problem was the carb would run outa gas in that position,
,sometimes they used ropes or a cable tied to the pickup to hang onto the nose, there was a scurry sometimes,,
bent and busted things at least twice that i remember,
but the crew got good at it and after that i was able to enjoy the moments of accomplishment.
you see, when the equipment did break, i was also the greasemonkey until late hours of the night,, one of my uncle's was the local deere mechanic, between my dad and him,, those parts were given names that i never knew exsisted, names like ~!@!#$% and #$^(&(&* ER."+)_()*

[digitup2]

I know what you mean about traction on chopped haylage.I loaded some for a relative last winter the old 544D articulated loader didn't like tearing the stuff out of the pile .She lifted the back wheels off the ground and complained more than digging gravel face in the gravel pit I think that haylage binds together ten times better than corn and it wants to stay together after it sets .Digitup.