How to recover a grader
Posted: 30 Jan 2011 23:09
Ok, so it all started about two weeks ago when a quick drive around the farm ended up in an exciting recovery. We first attempted to recover the stucked Patrol with the 4x4 Landini tractor, but the tractor also got trapped. The day ended with me admiring the great benefit of a winch as this was the only means of recovering the Patrol. The Landini was recovered by two other tractors in tandem.
This exciting event initiated a call to get a grader to repair the farm roads on the eastern side of the farm as the exit roads on the western side were becoming too wet and muddy for daily travel. So this Saturday the grader arrived to come and cut our farm roads. The problem was that the driver decided to work on the farm roads on the western side of the farm, and this is where the trouble started. I was in town when I received a call that the grader was stuck. When I arrived at the spot I attempted to recover the grader with my winch. I admit that this was a farfetched idea, but I had to try. The next option was the Landini, but the tractor could not even move the grader. It was here that we realised it was time for the big guns. We had to get the excavator of the nearby mine. The heavy excavator had difficulties reaching the grader and had to at times recovery itself. The grader also had to dig a road towards the grader. The excavator started south from the grader and crawled/digged north towards the grader for about 60 to 80m. This resulted in the transformation of a small “twee spoor” farm road into a muddy road pit looking like a dam.
The photos below describe the event the best.
This exciting event initiated a call to get a grader to repair the farm roads on the eastern side of the farm as the exit roads on the western side were becoming too wet and muddy for daily travel. So this Saturday the grader arrived to come and cut our farm roads. The problem was that the driver decided to work on the farm roads on the western side of the farm, and this is where the trouble started. I was in town when I received a call that the grader was stuck. When I arrived at the spot I attempted to recover the grader with my winch. I admit that this was a farfetched idea, but I had to try. The next option was the Landini, but the tractor could not even move the grader. It was here that we realised it was time for the big guns. We had to get the excavator of the nearby mine. The heavy excavator had difficulties reaching the grader and had to at times recovery itself. The grader also had to dig a road towards the grader. The excavator started south from the grader and crawled/digged north towards the grader for about 60 to 80m. This resulted in the transformation of a small “twee spoor” farm road into a muddy road pit looking like a dam.
The photos below describe the event the best.