Digging with FEL on Massey Ferguson 35?

[Chris Wilson]

Not had my old Massey Ferguson 35 very long, and have used it so far mainly for pulling a water ballast roller and moving full size round bales with a rear spike and spikes on the FEL with the Ferguson concrete weight block on the back, to put bales in the feeder.

I am wondering if I can use the FEL bucket I also got with this rig to dig a foundation for a kennel run? The run is about 30 foot long and 8 foot wide. I intend to remove top soil to a depth of about 12 inches, put crushed limestone down, and then pour a 4 inch concrete raft for the base. there will be some smallish tree roots in this soil. Can I use the bucket to physically DIG this spoil out, or should I spade it into the bucket and just use it to remove the spoil away from the site using the tractor?

Sorry if it's a very basic question, but I haven't tried moving compacted soil to below ground level with it yet. Any links to tips on how to do this, assuming it's not a flagrant abuse of the machine?

Thanks.

 

[allen in texas]

Dig it.
It will give you a chance to learn how to efficiently operate the FEL

 

[studor]

I have a tired MF 135 with a front pump loader that would dig that reasonably quickly. Hope you have a down pressure FEL or it will be a lot tougher to do!
Regards

 

[Chris Wilson]

Ah, I should have mentioned this, the rams for the arms are single acting, they only RAISE the bucket. The bucket tilt is hydraulic with a single dual acting ram. I was considering converting it to dual action rams on the arms, but was unsure how the system, in particular the mechanics of the arms and frame,would cope with down pressure, it's an original MF loader off a 135, by the way. Thanks for the replies so far

 

[alchemysa]

You'll find it much easier if you can rip the ground first. If you dont already have something suitable you can make something simple that will attach to the bucket or hitch. With just one or two teeth it doesn't have to be particularly heavy duty and it wont put much stress on the tractor. This thing I made for mine is just made from quite lightweight fence post metal.
You can also buy toothbars if you think the expense is justified.

 

[studor]

I agree you will find it much easier if you rip up the ground with something first. I think that the single cylinder should give you enough pressure with the bucket tilted down a bit to dig. I was worried that you had the old trip style bucket often seen on 35's (no cylinder on the bucket). If there is any kind of edge or teeth on the bucket it should be able to dig at least a couple of inches on a single pass. The biggest problem you will have is digging some ruts when the back tires lose traction (and they will) and spin. When that happens stop, reposition and try again! Beats digging by hand unless someone else is doing the digging!

 

[Farmwithjunk]

You'll save time and stress on your tractor in the long run if you tear up the ground with a plow, tiller, box blade rippers, subsoiler, ect, first, then move the dirt with the loader. You'll finally get it dug out without doing all of that first, but.....