I had to use the Green Monster the other day to recover a stuck bobcat, Not having enough mass or traction alone, I daisy chained it with an F350 to pull the Bobcat out. In 4 Low, under heavy torque it sounded like the front axle was popping. We got it out once I convinced my helper to quit spinning the tires on the F350.....(he's a newbie), and was able to use the extra pulling power it supplied. Had to go back out again this morning, they got the Bobcat stuck again........he had it stuck in a deep mud hole, unfortunately he was running the brush cutter, so no bucket to assist in digging it out. This time I was able to use 4 Hi because I had a much firmer piece of ground to hook up on. No popping, but more power was put to the wheels.

Any idea what it could be? I'm assuming the hub was slipping at the wheel from wear, but want some input before I tear it down and start throwing parts at it.

Subnote: Before we could pull it out the first time I had to use the winch to put it back on its tracks, steep slope angle plus high boom angle= tipped over onto side. This effort required running 65ft of cable across two railroad tracks. Of course, as soon as I got it hooked up, the nearby crossing gates started signalling and came down, resulting in a hasty disconnect. This happened 3 times during the recover, yet never saw a train. You can't be too careful around those tracks. The 12000 lb winch got a workout. The winch is set up with a low threshhold breaker to protect the motor.(Normally used for other things, much lighter, so tripping isn't generally an issue) I must have tripped it 6 times. Inch by Inch is my motto when recovering. I wish I'd taken pictures, but I refuse to incriminate myself........

 

If you have a steel cable on your winch, and it was laying across the tracks, that would trigger the crossing gates.

Think I would check and see how much slop you have in the t-case chain...... in 4 low, you can apply a LOT more torque to the drivetrain....... (due to gearing) so, if the chain is marginal, it could potentially slip in 4 low, and high load.

 

Yes, I do have a steel cable, didn't know that. I learned something today. Thanks.

I will look into checking the chain, thanks again.

 

I can't comment on the axle popping sound, but the R R crossing signal being activated was your winch
cable laying across the two rails, causing a short between the rails, activating the crossing signal.

Treed: HeyYou beat me to it