A man has survived spending five hours trapped nose-deep in a muddy dam after his digger tipped into it.

Australian Daniel Miller had been on the machine near his home, about 180 miles north of Sydney.

The 45-year-old was eventually spotted by a neighbour who heard him shouting for help, and the emergency services were alerted.

The farmer later described his mental and physical struggle to keep his nose above the murky water as he was pinned down in the mud by a bar on the digger.

He told 9NEWS there was no way he was going to have his family find him "face down in the dam dead".


Image: Daniel Miller with his wife Saimaa

"That wasn't going to happen, not without a fight," he told the Australian broadcaster.

"Then I went into a very robotic state ... just count to 60, don't think about six hours, think about 60 seconds, move my arms, readjust, count to 60 again, another 60 seconds, move my arms, readjust and just wait, try and be calm and logical.

"I watched a cricket climb up a piece of grass for two hours. I was stuck, there was nothing I could do.

"I laughed, I swore - 'This is ridiculous, I could die here.'"

Firefighters freed Mr Miller from the mud and he was taken to hospital for treatment, according to The Sydney Telegraph.

"He is a very lucky person ... he was pretty stressed and had taken in a lot of water," Foster NSW Fire and Rescue Captain Paul Langley told the newspaper.

His wife Saimaa wrote on Facebook: "Dan is ok!

"It was literally sheer mental strength and determination to survive that got him through.

"As well as being fit, strong and healthy. Nothing to do with luck. Legendary effort from a legendary man."