Last you heard, our dream of a mountain cabin was a lone 20 foot camper and a recently purchased Bobcat skid steer stuck in the mud and pinned against a tree.
Yes, we are a long-long way away from feet up and beers. We've got roads to build, wells to drill, septic systems to install, to say nothing of actually building the cabin.
The Bobcat was an important purchase, a necessary tool for just about every step of the way. As the Diplomat put it, "That tonka truck ain't doin' us no good hugging that doggone tree."
The Bobcat wasn't just stuck, it was stuck like gum in a Chinese finger trap. There was the mud, the steep slope and the tree holding the Bobcat from tumbling down the hill. The tree couldn't have been in a worse spot: right between the tires. There was no going forward. No going back. Talk about a challenging days. We tried everything: pulling it with my Dakota, digging out the tires, using a 5-ton chain fall. Nothing worked. I decided I had to cut the tree from between the two tires and there was little margin for error, one slip and I would slice the tire or hit the steel frame of the Bobcat. About the time the Diplomat was dialing a wrecker to pull us out, I threaded that 4 HP Farm Boss between the tires. Clinical. I could have been a surgeon if surgeons used chainsaws. We were on our way.
Not.
Cutting down that tree wasn't enough. Without the tree holding the Bobcat back, it slid downhill, then bottomed out on that fresh cut tree stump.
Back to square one.
So what did I do? More surgery. I shaved off that stump with the chainsaw. Somehow I was surprised that the Bobcat went farther downhill. This went on for a couple of hours and before we knew it, the Bobcat slid nearly 20 feet and a half-dozen perfectly good trees were downed.
This might have gone on for days. But the collective effort of our twenty fingers scratching our two heads and eventually the ground was dry. That, together with the novel idea of pulling with the chain hoist while engaging the four wheel drive of the Bobcat and inch by inch we got it out.
High-fives. Hugs. Bobcat saved.
Weekend wasted.
Next up: Episode 4: Stuck Again.
Glad that you have saved the bobcat. I hope it won't be stuck again .
Posted by: unite tyre changer | 18 December 2011 at 04:21 AM