pushing after rain

[77 Ford]

Besides making a mess and packing the u/c what are the draw backs from pushing after a rain with some mud. There is no chance of getting stuck. I assume it would be harder to level things?

I'm desperate to get this project done and it won't stop raining. I think we had maybe an inch last night.

[Paul Buhler]

Depends on what you are trying to accomplish. If you are doing a cut and fill, the fill side will be soft and if you get too close to an edge your machine may get sucked in particularly if parallel to that edge. The fill may also tend to ooze and flow so that you can't build up to the desired grade.
Working wet soils has advantages too. Rocks that can be annoying to chase and handle on dry soils, when wet sometimes can be driven over and punched into the soft fill and made to disappear - a 450 is heavy enough to do this; my 420, not so well.
Best way to get the job done is to do it, and figure out what strategy will get the job done quickest, safely as you go. I was running a Komatsu D39EX-23 early summer, which was very wet here in VT, so when building some ski/bike trails, we roughed in, established ways to get the water off the area being worked (water bars, culverts and pitching), let things dry out and went from there. It was interesting working on soil that moved like Jello when you stepped on it and left track marks a few inches deeper than the desired grade every pass. I've come to respect excavators a lot. They seem to manage well under a broader range of challenges since they don't necessarily need to drive on the soils being placed.
Good luck getting your project completed. Paul

[77 Ford]

Yep, your experience is about like mine. It was really squishy and is some areas I just piled the material and I will hopefully do a fininal grade push tonight. I was able to get a fair amount of work roughed in but there was no hope of cleaning it up that wet.

I probably have 500 pounds of mud packed in my U/C...that's going to take some cleaning.....

[Tigerhaze]

It goes without saying that you would likely be on the "wet" side of the moisture curve for compaction so you may have soft spots that won't be properly compacted when it does dry out.

[Paul Buhler]

Having things roughed in usually means that it will dry out faster once it stops raining. Some times it's just best to wait things out. A foundation or slab built on wet soils will move. Good luck. Get your friend to help you dig out the tracks