FEL Techniques

[lakngulf]

I have some experience using an FEL, and will no doubt learn a lot by trial and error. Among the jobs I anticpate are scooping and moving piles of dirt, scooping and piling rip-rap around my sea wall, filling and turning a huge compost pile, clearing log roads of fallen trees and limbs, clearing debris from open ares in the woods for food plots, clearing and preparing an additional driveway/parking area in the woods behind my house, setting in place some 20' 6x6 posts, rebuilding the ditches on each side of my 1/4 mile driveway through the woods, preparing a couple of sections of the ditch for 20' culverts, etc.

My question is this: What are some good techinques to keep in mind when doing these types of jobs? Better yet, what are some "don't do this"? For instance, as I pushed some debris and limbs from a log road recently I found it difficult to do with the bucket level to the ground. This scooped too much soil. I tried it with the bucket perpindicular to the ground, as though you had just dumped a load of dirt, and this seemed to work pretty good. But I wondered it that would cause damage.

All tips, and avoids, will be appreciated.

 

[bigdad]

I have some experience using an FEL, and will no doubt learn a lot by trial and error. Among the jobs I anticpate are scooping and moving piles of dirt, scooping and piling rip-rap around my sea wall, filling and turning a huge compost pile, clearing log roads of fallen trees and limbs, clearing debris from open ares in the woods for food plots, clearing and preparing an additional driveway/parking area in the woods behind my house, setting in place some 20' 6x6 posts, rebuilding the ditches on each side of my 1/4 mile driveway through the woods, preparing a couple of sections of the ditch for 20' culverts, etc.

My question is this: What are some good techinques to keep in mind when doing these types of jobs? Better yet, what are some "don't do this"? For instance, as I pushed some debris and limbs from a log road recently I found it difficult to do with the bucket level to the ground. This scooped too much soil. I tried it with the bucket perpindicular to the ground, as though you had just dumped a load of dirt, and this seemed to work pretty good. But I wondered it that would cause damage.

All tips, and avoids, will be appreciated.

Milton,

All equipment has different characteristics and it's what you get used to. Try different things and you will get the hang of your particular FEL and what works best for your chores.

Does your FEL have a float feature? If it does, there are some pretty handy things you can do while it's in that mode.

Before you know it, you will moving around like that FEL is another part of your body.

BD

 

[Deano]

ALWAYS keep the load in your FEL as low as you can travel with it. When the tractor starts tipping, you will never be quick enough to lower it to prevent roll over.

Deano

 

[6thgpSF]

read your manual for your fel and practice,practice,practice. go low and slow when moving stuff. russ

 

[MossRoad]

For loose material learn how to "crowd" the bucket with the forward momentum of the tractor. With the bucket parallel to the ground and a couple inches off the ground push into the bottom of the pile. Curl and lift the bucket at the same time you move forward. Those motions combined together will fill the bucket very fast as you lift it, crowding material into the bucket with gravity. As you start to back away, lower your bucket to a few inches above the ground so you do not carry the load higher than necessary.

If you have a truck to load, park the truck at a 45 degree angle to the pile instead of a 90 degree angle. That way you can back out of the pile and only turn a little bit to one side and be perpendicular to the truck. Don't lift the bucket high as you make a turn. Wait until you are perpendicular to the truck before lifting.

Get a quick attach system for your FEL arms and get adapters for your bucket(s).

Get a bucket with teeth or a removable tooth bar. They are indispensable for loading rocks (you mentioned rip rap) as the teeth get between the rocks. A straight edge is he** to get through rocks.

Get some pallet forks that are adjustable side to side. Great for moving stuff AND for fluffing up compost!

Get a grapple. I wish I had one.

Practice slowly and have fun.

 

[carpenter383]

You're not supposed to curl the bucket to the dump position and use it to move material. It could bend the curl cylinders.
If you get a floppy bucket then you can bleed the air by dumping the bucket with the lever in fast dump and hold it at it's stops for a couple seconds. I find that if I keep the rpm's up around 1600-1800 or more I don't get a floppy bucket. If I use the fel at low rpms the bucket gets floppy.

 

[Thomas]

When in doubt back off..watch good operator for tips.

 

[SPYDERLK]

For instance, as I pushed some debris and limbs from a log road recently I found it difficult to do with the bucket level to the ground. This scooped too much soil. I tried it with the bucket perpindicular to the ground, as though you had just dumped a load of dirt, and this seemed to work pretty good. But I wondered it that would cause damage.

All tips, and avoids, will be appreciated.

You're not supposed to curl the bucket to the dump position and use it to move material. It could bend the curl cylinders.

This works especially well with a tooth bar. You cant bend the curl cylinders when pushing, but go slo so you can make appropriate height adjustments.
larry

 

[MarkV]

Although many do it, I agree that pushing or back blading with your bucket in a full dump setting puts the cylinder rods fully extended and in their weakest position. Use caution.

A tooth bar is a wonderful attachment for the jobs you have mentioned.

An other general tip is do not lift or pry from one corner of your bucket. Not only can it cause stability issues it is also possible to bend a loader arm in extreme situations.

Be sure to have enough counter weight on your 3pt hitch. Again stability is a big point and it also transfers weight from the front axle when doing heavy loader work.

MarkV

 

[Scotty370]

I had many of the same chores, and found the bucket itself, just isn't the right tool. With help frrom members on this board I was able to fab up a root rake/ grapple. Works awesome! Especially for brush/branches/compost that you speak of: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/143329-unveiling-willl-da-beast-ii.html

This is a home-built but they're available for purchase. Search "grapple". ~Scotty