digging and moving dirt with boxblade and loader

[ducks13]

When I am digging dirt with a box blade that I want to move to another location I have a problem that I was hoping someone has a good solution to. When I have a box blade full of dirt and am at the end of the area where I want to remove dirt I'll raise the box and allow it to fall out. On the next pass of course the front tire get to the pile before the blade does so the front end goes up and the blade digs more that I want it to. Then the back tires roll over the previous pile and compacts it (and it also starts dumping some dirt out of the box as the back of the tractor rises) before I get to where I want to dump the next load. Even if I constantly adjust the box blade as the tires run over the previous pile it it still so compressed that it is hard to use the loader (no teeth on the bucket) to dig it up and easily. Anyone have a great technique to dig with the box blade and then get the dirt in the loader to move it somewhere else?

Thanks

 

[DJ54]

Try just raising the box blade a few inches, to release the load, and spread as you go along, not just pick it up to dump it. On the next pass, you can just nudge up on the hyd. control a bit to keep from cutting into what you dumped before. Let it taper off at the end. Next pass, there won't be so much up and down to try and compensate for.

If you are making a fill, that needs compacted, you're better off making thinner lifts anyway, to compact.

 

[Brad_Blazer]

It's hard for me to envision just what you are doing. Ideally you would get a big enough load in the BB to turn around and scoop it up with the loader before you drive over it. Are you having to make multiple passes to accumulate enough in the BB to get a good scoop with the loader? If you have space It might be possible to lift the BB just enough to stop digging and drag it to where you can drive around the pile on the return trip. Next time around drop the dirt alongside the first pile so it's all in a straight line, then attack it from the end with the loader. If you don't have space for that at least you can drag the pile beyond where it impacts the dig.

In normal box blade work I raise the BB just enough that it empties gradually instead leaving a distinct pile. Between ground speed and blade height you can adjust the shape of your pile if you need to drive over it.

 

[JimRB]

When I built my barn I spent a day with a Massey and a box blade scrapping dirt and depositing dirt in a pile like DJ mentioned. I would raise the box blade while moving and made a pile that might have been a few feet tall but was run over many times by the Massey. The Massey was a small tractor like a 240 which is listed as a 4,000-5,000 pound tractor. Later when I got my JD870 with a loader I moved dirt around without issue that I can recall. No teeth on the loader. Moving dirt with a loader requires weight in the back if you have 2wd (box blade may not be much weight) plus technique. I cannot just drive into a pile and get a full bucket of dirt. I have to lift the bucket, roll it to get a full load. Even digging the manure pile or compost pile requires some bucket raising and lifting to get a full bucket. These little tractors are not like the big rubber tired loaders they have at the quarry, or even like a 10,000 pound backhoe. You need a little finesse with the loader.

 

[ducks13]

Yes, I am usually working where I don't have a full box blade and in tight quarters too. Perhaps I need to work with my loader technique some. I have done it where I'd drop the box blade load and then go back around in a circle to get the box blade back where I'm digging and then try to pick up the previous load with the loader as I am getting the next load with the box blade. I have a hard time getting it all in the bucket though. Thanks for the suggestions, maybe I'll try letting the load out slowely and see if the bucket will pick it up easier.

 

[TripleR]

If you want to move the dirt out of the area rather than redistribute, I often use the method you describe of dropping the dirt out of your BB then picking it up with the FEL on the next pass and depositing it elsewhere.

Picking loose dirt up without digging deeper takes a lot of practice; I'll let you know just how much when I get it perfected.:laughing:

The good thing about dirtwork is if you mess it up, no big deal just do it again.

 

[JimRB]

When I was doing my barn I had 9 acres to move the dirt to so it got piled up on the high side. I am sure doing tight quarters work is more tricky. My bucket has a level spot on the top about 4 inches wide. This level spot is parallel to the bottom of the bucket. I can read this top section and get a clue if I am going to be digging in or scraping off the top. I do have the option of building a bucket level indicator like the factory bucket level indicator but eyeball has worked for me. I might try scraping and dumping it, backup up over it, scooping it with the bucket and carrying it out. Or some variation of it. Trying to do two tasks at once is beyond my skill level sometimes.

 

[miramadar]

I don't think there's a way around running over the pile you've already created. None that I've found anyway.

 

[EagleTDL]

I know you said you were "space limited", but just how limited is limited?? Reason I ask is that I was recently in kinda the same situation... I'd dig with the box and not always get a box full by the time I had to turn.

What I ended up doing is stopping the drag a bit short, empty the box, and then spinning around and pushing the pile with the back of the box to where I wanted my final refuse pile to be. Once that got big enough, I'd scoop that up in the bucket and move it across the property to my "extra dirt" pile. That seemed to work pretty well for me...

 

[deepNdirt]

The way I pile dirt with only use of a box scrape is, to pull it to the area of which you are piling and just before I drive into the mound sharply turn the tractor to where the front wheels do not drive up the mound, and then dump the box of dirt, after this then I simply drop the box and push it up onto the pile back wards, Believe me I did it this way for 10 years with my CUT kubota having no FEL I had to figure out the best method, Now I have another tractor with a FEL so I just dig it up Lift, carry and dump it