Home Again
OK, folks, the garden tractor has been extracted from the brink of disaster and is safely home again. The only thing damaged was my pride.
There it was so deep in the woods that you could actually see the end of the world. OK, you could see a really big ledge and I could envision my brand spanking new tractor sliding over it and breaking into a heap of useless junk. So, says I, "Stop! Think! What you are doing ain't working."
The tires are spinning on rocks below the surface and the Husky is working its way downhill ever so slowly.
"What you need, boy, is a rope with a mule on the end of it."
I walk back to the house and headed to the Internet. Apparently mules are not a hot seller these days. They have been replaced by electric winches for extracting ATV, garden tractors, cars, boats and the like from deep in the woods. Northern Tool has just what I'm looking for but the nearest store is an hour and a half away in Gastonia. Harbor Freight has one only an hour away in Winston-Salem. I try Tractor Supply in Elkin in hopes of cutting the travel time in half but the ones that have are for extracting BIG tractors from deep in the woods. The folks at the power tool store there in Elkin only laugh at my misfortune. Shortly after noon I'm back from Harbor Freight with my electric mule.
This thing works like a champ ... at 6 feet per minute or 0.07 miles per hour ... about the same pace as a flop-eared government mule. But, it performs beautifully. Made in China.
Both the Husky and wagon were back in the garage by midafternoon without so much as a scratch.
I have a feeling that this may not be the last time I'll get stuck. Accordingly, my next welding job is to build a permanent mounting fixture for the winch on the tractor. That and make a more serious study of the slope chart supplied with the machine. Apparently the Husqvarna engineers did some serious testing to determine the angle of inclination at which you begin to loose traction.
It's a simple physics problem, really, involving the maximum tractional force, force of rolling friction, gravitational force of tractor and driver, and angle of inclination. When the force of rolling friction and the horizontal force required to overcome the vertical component of the gravitational force on the incline exceed the maximum tractional force, you slide off the mountain. Tractor tires with chevron treads increase the tractional force. Wet rocks decrease it. The electric mule merely supplements the maximum tractional force as required.
Sir Isaac, you were a genius!
There it was so deep in the woods that you could actually see the end of the world. OK, you could see a really big ledge and I could envision my brand spanking new tractor sliding over it and breaking into a heap of useless junk. So, says I, "Stop! Think! What you are doing ain't working."
The tires are spinning on rocks below the surface and the Husky is working its way downhill ever so slowly.
"What you need, boy, is a rope with a mule on the end of it."
I walk back to the house and headed to the Internet. Apparently mules are not a hot seller these days. They have been replaced by electric winches for extracting ATV, garden tractors, cars, boats and the like from deep in the woods. Northern Tool has just what I'm looking for but the nearest store is an hour and a half away in Gastonia. Harbor Freight has one only an hour away in Winston-Salem. I try Tractor Supply in Elkin in hopes of cutting the travel time in half but the ones that have are for extracting BIG tractors from deep in the woods. The folks at the power tool store there in Elkin only laugh at my misfortune. Shortly after noon I'm back from Harbor Freight with my electric mule.
This thing works like a champ ... at 6 feet per minute or 0.07 miles per hour ... about the same pace as a flop-eared government mule. But, it performs beautifully. Made in China.
Both the Husky and wagon were back in the garage by midafternoon without so much as a scratch.
I have a feeling that this may not be the last time I'll get stuck. Accordingly, my next welding job is to build a permanent mounting fixture for the winch on the tractor. That and make a more serious study of the slope chart supplied with the machine. Apparently the Husqvarna engineers did some serious testing to determine the angle of inclination at which you begin to loose traction.
It's a simple physics problem, really, involving the maximum tractional force, force of rolling friction, gravitational force of tractor and driver, and angle of inclination. When the force of rolling friction and the horizontal force required to overcome the vertical component of the gravitational force on the incline exceed the maximum tractional force, you slide off the mountain. Tractor tires with chevron treads increase the tractional force. Wet rocks decrease it. The electric mule merely supplements the maximum tractional force as required.
Sir Isaac, you were a genius!
Comments
Post a Comment