Years ago, I used to work for a ready mix concrete co.When it rained, The mixers were required to carry a couple of sacks of lime with them in case they got stuck on a muddy jobsite.Usually, the site was all dirt. If the mixer couldn't move (due to wet mud), the driver would bust open a sack of lime. Apply a shovel full or two on the top of the tire areas. Then sprinkle a trail of lime in the direction to get where they were trying to go.The mixer usually, got out as the lime would dry out the mud quickly.So, does lime hurt the grass?Is using lime a big no no?I would want to try that before calling a wrecker if major damage to the grass/ground is avoided.Any thoughts?Pat

===So, does lime hurt the grass?Yes it would kill the grass (I'm a retired chemist)===Is using lime a big no no?The grass will grow back, probably less damage than a couple of deep ruts would be.===I would want to try that before calling a wrecker if major damage to the grass/ground is avoided.Just carry some lengths of cast off carpet. Get some left over end pieces from a carpet store, shag is recommended. Cut strips about a foot wide, roll them up and secure with some duct tape and throw them into the back of the truck.

When I was a kid, my parents had a camper at a private campground (actually, it's now White River Campground, between Cicero and Strawtown, Indiana.The campground was very primitive. It had a hand pump for water for the entire campground and it had 2 sets of out houses, one at each end of the park. The owner of the campground tended to the outhouses. I remember (oh so clear), he used power lime inside those wooden buildings, just sprinkled all over the sitting and standing area. After a few hours, he'd go back and brush it down the hole. You bet, our bare butts had to sit on those wooden holes. And often it still had lime power on them. Well, that was back around 1965 - 1970 ish and it's now 2016. I suppose it didn't kill anyone, especially me, as I'm sill here! (by the way in 1965, I was 10 years old). So, I don't think lime will hurt the environment to, t, tooo, oo, o, ot, ottt, much!

Kitty litter is the best if stuck

In general lime doesn't kill grass and in fact is beneficial to it in the proper dose...enough to get unstuck Would likely be too high of a dose.

2003silverado wrote:In general lime doesn't kill grass and in fact is beneficial to it in the proper dose...enough to get unstuck Would likely be too high of a dose.Not to mention, the farmers all around where I live still use lime on their fields! ?? felds? flds? felds? .. um.... oh that darn lime!

Use Lime on Wet Grass/Mud to get unstuck? | Good Sam Community

stetwood
Explorer
Jan 12, 2016
I never used lime to get anything unstuck on the farm in soil, but sprinkling some sacked 60-69 barn lime on the tires and snow or ice will give enough traction to get a milk truck moving. On grass or mud it will just become slimey, but it drys the wet tire in winter.
Jay_Pat
Explorer
Jan 12, 2016
Thanks for all the responses!!
Pat
Dave_H_M
Explorer II
Jan 12, 2016
i am surprised that you did not have a bunch of 4X4 guys lined up to yank you out of there. :W

Last time I was stuck on slick ground trying to get back on the road with a load of firewood on the flat bed with two WD, a couple of guys stopped immediately and asked if I wanted a pull. Kinda disappointed me that they stood there and let me drag the tow strap and hook it up.
Rollnhome
Explorer
Jan 11, 2016
hotpepperkid wrote:
Yea I always carry a bag of lime and a shovel just incase I have to bury someone

That's lye on bodies lime on soil.
hotpepperkid
Explorer
Jan 11, 2016
Yea I always carry a bag of lime and a shovel just incase I have to bury someone
fly-boy
Explorer
Jan 11, 2016
I didn't even know you could buy a 2x truck anymore. (J/K)
It would be interesting to know the true cost of the 4x4 option. My guess is that you get 90% plus of the 4x option back on resale. (thats just a guess) Sure it cost a little in mileage but the convenience of it is worth something.
I say the above about resale because every time I go to sell a truck and buy a new one they get purchased very quickly. Not sure that would be the case with a 2x truck.

Can't peak for the lime- I have never gotten my trucks stuck to an extent that I could get my self out. Amazing where you can go in 4x and a drop in air pressure. Having said that, I don't do a lot of off roading in a 9k pound truck. That's what the toys are for! :)
Rollnhome
Explorer
Jan 11, 2016
Just throwing lime on the ground won't do much. Lime can be used as a soil stabilizer but there is a process. Carrying lime around and throwing it on the ground is fruitless. It needs to be blended in proper proportion and allowed time for the chemical reaction to allow for mechanical compaction to stabilize the soil. Thrown on grass is is absolute waste of time.
Get some carpet or plywood to displace the load and get you rolling or chain up.
mkirsch
Nomad II
Jan 11, 2016
I call shenanigans on this lime myth.

Dad drove ready mix trucks for several years before I was born. He never heard of this lime trick.

After I was born he bought a small dairy farm. We had lime trucks on the farm almost every year to balance the pH levels in fields as they needed it. The trucks would inevitably go somewhere they shouldn't and get stuck. Not once did they ever get themselves out by throwing lime in the hole. We always had to pull them out with a tractor, sometimes two.

Every day we would sprinkle lime along the backs of the stalls to neutralize the residue from the cow's "leavings." When that got a little moisture in it, it made a paste that was slick as snot.

As for carrying a bag of lime with you... It's dusty, gets everywhere. Burns when you get it in your nose and eyes. There are a LOT of much less obtrusive things you could carry along with you to get yourself out of a jam that take up less space.
C_Schomer
Explorer
Jan 10, 2016
Dad made a good living with his Ag lime business in Iowa. He would test the soil to see how much lime it would take to bring it from acidic to neutral but it never took a heavy layer. Craig
B_O__Plenty
Explorer II
Jan 10, 2016
I like to use the button that says "4WD" when I get stuck. That's why I paid extra for it.

B.O.