One of those days I wished I had stayed in bed...

We had a couple days of -10C weather and I thought it might be enough to harden the ground so I could get out to work on my drainage ditch. Too much frost and I can't dig it. It's also hard on the backhoe on the 931B. I tried to go in from one end but ran into a swampy section and pulled myself out with the backhoe. Then I tried to clear a short path through some tree's and hit another swampy section I had to pull myself out. OK, looks like I have to try go the long way parallel to the existing trench. Made it almost a 1/4 mile and noticed it was getting soft again so I stopped. Backed up maybe a foot and that's all she would go. Tried to pull it out with the hoe but the right side was just sinking in the mud. The ground where I just drove held the machine fine but when I tried to put the hoe bucket in and pull, the ground was just too soft and mushy. Pulling with the hoe also puts a lot more weight on the front of the tracks. I lifted the right side up and threw a few logs under the track but it was pretty much planted. If there would have been a big tree to anchor to, I think the hoe would have pulled it out without having to do any digging but I couldn't be so lucky. I only needed to go back about 5 ft. to get on firmer ground. So close yet so far. The only good thing is that a guy from the gravel pit will get a trailer and bring one of their Cats to pull me out on Tuesday. I think I'll need to thaw all the mud in the right side track. It's a good thing the guys at the gravel pit ride dirt bikes and I've known them for several years. Otherwise, I don't know how the heck I'd get it unstuck without spending a fortune. It's all loamy soil which I think makes it worse. If it was clay, I think the hoe bucket would have grabbed a little instead of just digging it all out.

One of those days I wished I had stayed in bed...