Tacomas in Minnesota?

I don't exactly see fun in destroying people's property. Digging massive ruts into the ground causes a lot of damage and is a pain in the ass to fix.

You plan on pulling to the side and behind you with a bumper winch?

 

Good luck

 

It's an unfinished road that they still need to grade, cover in sand, and then pave. Before they even get to that, some enormous earth movers will likely create much bigger ruts in it.

 

You clearly know nothing about road construction if you think they operate in rutting conditions.

 

I don't know much at all about road construction, but I have seen plenty of ruts (maybe rut in the wrong word; giant depressions in the earth?) created by earth movers. They are all over that area.

 

Looking cool AF?

 

Ya I even had a bit of anxiety about winching it because it seemed so stuck in the ground. The hi-lift jack refused to overcome the suction and partial frozen ground. I wanted to jack it up and put it on traction boards. It came right out without making any terrible noises. They used the stock recovery hook and it didn't break.

 

Rutting is deep tire tracks that causes severe compaction and is always a result of soft/wet ground. What you're talking about is seeing tire tracks from large machinery driving over loose soil. Compaction is a pain to fix. That is why you don't see construction/farming/logging happening in really wet and soggy conditions.

 

Oh and actually there was an excavator working that afternoon to dig a basement; granted it looked like they might have put down some gravel for it to sit on.

 

Sitting in a mostly stationary spot digging is not the same thing as driving around.

 

Can you explain to me then why I have seen them out there working on numerous occasions after a rain or snow (driving around in big earth movers)? I was actually surprised the first time I saw it. I figured they would take a day off if it was super wet (I avoided it those days) . The soil itself seems to have a high percentage of clay and not much organic matter. It was easy to tell that it had been moved around when wet and then allowed to dry.

 

Rain or snow doesn't always make the conditions bad enough to warrant halting work. It is dependent on the soil type, the amount of precipitation, how much moisture is already in the soil, the temperature, and a number of other things. Some soils hold on to water for long periods of time while others it goes right through. Also keep in mind most of the large machinery are running with large floatation tires or tracks that are designed to spread the weight out across large areas. A lot of the machinery I work with will drive right over stuff without sinking in at all where a mid or full-size truck would bury itself.

 

Heavy machinery runs tracks or multiple large tires. This distributes the weight over a much much larger surface area and reduces the pressure per inch

that’s why a snowmobile or snowcat can drive over powder and everything else sinks like a rock. Or walking and post holing vs snowshoes.

 

Well yes obviously, but are you saying that those very heavy machines do not compact the soil more than my 4600 lb truck?

 

That’s exactly what I’m saying. Even though it weighs much more, the surface pressure is much less than the 4 tires on your truck exert on the ground below.

 

Ok yes that makes sense. Most of that is quite obvious in fact. However I'm not sure how it is applicable to soil compaction, which I think is your concern. Let me ask you this... Why worry about soil compaction of soil that is going to have pavement on top of it with storm drains? When I hear about the problem soil compaction its usually in the context of a trail through the forest (foot or wheeled). This land has been stripped clean of top soil and completely remolded to make an another section of a city. I assume they will dump a bunch top soil on it eventually to make it easier to grow grass on.

 

Ok, yes a truck might sink in more because of the lower surface area, but does a 4600 pound truck result in more square area of soil compaction than a ??? lb earth mover?

I think we might off in the weeds here a bit. We are talking about the compaction of soil that will be under pavement with storm drains (I think).

 

No we were walking about why your truck gets stuck in the mud and the heavy machinery can drive right over it and not get stuck.

 

I was referring to the storm drain buried (guessing) 6-10' in the ground. You can just see the top 12-24" of it in the photo. I don't think that's going to move easily.

I agree the pipes sitting on top of the ground might not work. Maybe if I used 5 of them; especially the really big ones?

 

Oh that's not what I was talking about. Tigerian raised the issue that driving my truck on the unfinished road when it is wet causes soil compaction and that is why you don't see construction when it is wet. I asked him to explain why I have seen construction on wet ground numerous times. That lead to the discussion of tracks vs wheels and I thought you will implying that large tracked vehicles cause less soli compaction than small wheeled vehicles.