That was my grandpa's dozer he used to own the land, it got washed away in a flood. It would be awesome if I could get a hold of you guys so he can tell you about it.
Edit: my grandpa said the dozer is a 1H it's a hand clutch cable dozer. The flood happened in 2010. The dozer was in the field and the flood washed out the field, the dozer, and the cabin that was there.

"I'm just going to sit back and watch." Immediately cuts to the next frame of him helping out. Classic country lad.

There was an old military tank found in a nearby forest (actually it was a self propelled howitzer - that looked like a tank but wasn't actually). It was completely buried underground, except for a metal spike and the hole the people who found it had dug to try to figure out what it was.

Anyway, when they "pulled" it out they didn't want to damage the potentially historic machine, so what they did was completely dig around it. After a couple of hours, (with a similar excavator to in the video), it was basically teetering on a pile of dirt. They even dug a smooth earthen ramp for the machine to slide up, out of the hole on.

When they hooked up the cables and pulled, even though the track was completely rusted solid and not rotating at all, there were no broken parts, no snapped cables, no broken chains, etc. It just slowly came out all the way.

With a bit more digging I expect that dozer could have been extracted without being pulled apart.

Also you really shouldn't pull with that much force on an axle housing. These might look beefy but axle housings can be bent and can also be ripped out if the force is high enough. It is much safer to park the truck on level ground and pull using the frame. If you spread the load equally between the two frame rails you can pull with incredible amounts of force without damaging the vehicle.

On the other hand, maybe they wanted the dozer to split and axle housing to bend. It probably improves the number of YouTube views...

When it comes to cable clamps, think of the saying "never saddle a dead horse". The U bolt always goes on the dead (short) end and the saddle on the live (long) end.   For 1/2 to 9/16 three clamps should be used. 3/4 and up four clamps should be used. obtain torque specs from manufacturer. Install (do not over tight) apply light pull and re-check torque.  A good job for someone when everything is back at the shop. I hope you next truck has a 30 ton knuckle boom!   Great video!

For future reference, most if not all dozers have some kind of final drive that the rear sprocket mounts too. If you take the cap and planetary gears out of that final drive the dozer or excavator should move as if in neutral. The final drive and seals on most really stuck pieces of equipment would probably need to be cleaned and resealed anyway.

Dave as the son of an old school heavy equipment operator, you should have hooked to the rear of the dozer like you finally did. It is the strongest spot on it that's where they tow from, like scrapers and other equipment.

Calling Heavy D and his men for an off road recovery is the equivalent to calling in the military. I love what you guys are doing. Work safe, be your brothers keeper!

I just love how the Children are still being happy and playing, but are disciplined enough to keep out of the way and stay safe.
Well done to ALL the Adults that shows them proper guidance.

BTW Diesel Dave is the funniest.

Heavy D, just some recommendations from a guy that has done some heavy recovery, did some off road recovery and worked in the crane and hoist industry. Use you kinetic rope between the winch line and stuck equipment, to use kinetic force to break it free. Load the winch lines and let the rope do its job. Instead of beating the crap out of your equipment. As per your winch line you may want to think hard on a wedge socket instead of wire rope clips.  As per using the excavator as an anchor, I would be hooking around the turn table as that is the strongest points and a large radius for your kinetic rope or a wire rope sling around. Have you guys thought about adding a set of hydraulic stiff legs of the back of the military wrecker to help make the recoveries more easier? Love the channel and the content you share, keep up the great job everyone is doing on the channel. As I said these are just so ideas that may help, too speed up a recovery. “Work smart not hard” 🍻

A buddy had one looking like that on a logging haul here in WV. I used my Jeep to winch his rear winch cable out. We hooked to a tree, and we almost got cut in half with the cable breaking. It couldn't winch itself out, eventually he got a hoe to dig it out. I have underground mine foreman papers back east , and ran DC locomotives underground as an equipment mover for a while, (CDL-A here too), and men have been killed by cables. I've seen you break a few lately, and I implore you to clear a larger safe area before pulling. The line of fire for those pulls can launch a hook or snatch block in many random directions, and could strike someone in the head. When possible use the synthetics. When pulling steel, run and hide before pulling. I cringe when guys in the videos are only 30 feet away from the pull, and somewhat inline. They're in the death zone. Like being on the set of a Baldwin production. But I'm sure you know all that.

Heavy D I built a great truck that is now well known in my area of Alaska. It was a 8 wheel drive Oskosk, with a 1946 Mack cab with a 1963 sleeper, outfitted with 4 rear 100,000 lbs winches and a moose guard up front.  Powered with the most bad ass Detroit Desiel engine with several gear boxes and a 16 speed tranny. It is known as Meat and Potatoes.  It has all the bells and whistles that I need for my operations. It took 4 years to built and many hours of work , but now it's done and all of the bugs out. I don't plan to go on line with my own channel however it deserves bragging rights.  Your equipment and crew are great at your efforts and I have following you and Matt's Towing. So thanks to all of you showing what the younger generation can achieve and I hope that all of you are fine. Best wishes from Gramps in the deep south of the far north.

The old man was right “y’all are a bunch of crazy SOB’s.”  Lol

What I got a kick out of was the kid's playing in the dirt while they're getting ready to go. That was just awesome 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Diesel Dave, nothing pisses him off and his energy is amazing, such a nice genuine dude.

Heavy  D you better be glad you got some of the best workers I’ve ever seen 👏🏻👏🏻

Puts on a giant auction to get rid of his stuff, then goes and gets more.
Love your stuff guys, keep up the good work!

I’ve never shook my head more while watching something. Talk about doing something the hardest way possible

This my cup of tea! I use to pull half buried John Deere combines out of 3 foot deep mud holes after heavy fall rains.

One of the best jobs in my Construction career started out with my future boss asking me one question. He asked me if I could dig a ditch in a straight line. I said yeah and he hired me on the spot. He ended up teaching me everything about the business and operation of all equipment necessary. I'm retired and miss playing in the dirt. I did my time and it's a younger mans game now. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Love what you and the Team do ... much respect. Just a suggestion from an old "Railroad Derailment Guy" ... given your usual locations, the one piece of equipment you're missing is what we had ... a simple "Auger". You'd be surprised just how much pull you get from a telephone pole slant drilled into the Earth. Enough snatch blocks  and pole buried 12 ft is an amazing anchor point ... you're welcome.