Best Implement or Equipment to Rent to clean up road side ditches

[ustmd]

Assuming it ever stops raining here long enough to dry up (which feels like a big assumption over the last month), the need to get out to clean up (and create in some cases) the ditches next to our road. Most the ditches were 18" across and maybe 12'" deep.

Over the last ten years, I have been neglectful of the ditches and they have silted up and the black clay gumbo soil has eased back into them eliminating them almost altogether in some areas. It was not much of an issue with the last 5 years of drought, but the frog stranglers we have had over the last month have made me painfully aware of my laziness :ashamed:.

In some areas, the ground and the road are close to an even plane, so the tractor or other equipment could straddle the ditch or work from either side. In some areas, there is a bank (2-3. ft high) running up next to the road. The bank is just high enough and steep enough that it gets the pucker factor going when I mow, so I am not sure I want to do any significant earth moving when navigating the slope.

I've got the FEL, a box blade and a potato plow, but I am thinking none of those would be the best implement. Scooping out the ditches with the FEL seems like a recipe for damaging it. I have seen some posts about using the BB and adjusting it with an acute angle so only one corner is engaging, but have not tried that yet.

I am was wondering about a mini excavator, but I am not sure if it would be the best equipment or would take forever-between our place and the in laws (we share the same road), I am thinking I have 1/2 - 1 mile of ditch cleaning to do.


Any suggestions/feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[sixdogs]

I've seen great ditch jobs using a small track hoe with a wide bucket and no teeth on it.

 

[mjcountrybumpkin]

I second the mini excavator with smooth bucket.
I run equipment for a living and I have done 3-4 miles a day ditching, I wouldn't expect those results, been at it a while. But you will get a lot done.

 

[Mendonsy]

You could probably drop off a couple cases of beer at the local highway department garage and the problem would magically be solved.

 

[smstonypoint]

I am was wondering about a mini excavator, but I am not sure if it would be the best equipment or would take forever-between our place and the in laws (we share the same road), I am thinking I have 1/2 - 1 mile of ditch cleaning to do.

I second the mini excavator with smooth bucket.
I run equipment for a living and I have done 3-4 miles a day ditching, I wouldn't expect those results, been at it a while. But you will get a lot done.

Before renting, I would check to see what it would cost to hire the job out. As noted, a pro would be able to knock out the job in short order. Depending on rental rates and your learning curve, DIY might not be cost effective.

Steve

 

[breadtrk]

Sounds like a job for a rear blade. Not a box blade but a real rear blade that is adjustable both in angle and tilt.


The couple cases idea worked for me on my frontage road ditch though, that same concept also got a 1200ft fence that was way over grown and nasty attacked with a pair of those bush hogs mounted on arms. Those guys did it clean to 4" of the fence on both side and top in less than 4 hours.

 

[/pine]

Sounds like a job for a rear blade. Not a box blade but a real rear blade that is adjustable both in angle and tilt...

Granted, a mini-track hoe is ideal with an experienced operator for clearing ditches...but since I don't have one I use my back blade with extremely good results...

A hydraulic top link is mandatory for most applications and a tilt cyl. is just as useful...the trick is being able to get the tractor perpendicular to the ditch so the rear blade is parallel (with the ditch)...with the top link retracted...drop the blade at the back side of the ditch...then (here the tricky part, doing three things at the same time)...slowly move forward while both curling (extending the top link) the blade to a more aggressive position and raising the 3PH as the blade reaches the near side of the ditch...you can clean and lift the debris up out of the ditch to be moved off or scooped up with a loader etc..it takes a few attempts to get the technique down but it works amazingly well (for me anyway)...

I can clear/clean 6' of ditch in one swoop...on grades (hills) with the tilt cyl. set to neutral the ditch maintains the pitch of the road...

 

[sixdogs]

If there' a lot of grass in the ditch won't the rear blade just slip over it and fail to dig in?

 

[RedNeckRacin]

Sounds like a great excuse to rent a mini hoe for a weekend and have a blast!

 

[DJ54]

If you do rent the mini, see if they have a regular ditching bucket. They have a single radius round bottom, and make the job so much easier.

And depending on how much, and what you're going to do with the material, a couple of smaller dump trucks would be handy too. That sounds like it's going to be a good bit of material.

Like mjcountrybumpkin, I've done miles of ditching along highways and Interstates. Most of ours is/was done with a Gradall straight stick boom that rotated sideways too. Lots easier to keep a smooth bottom ditch when the road doesn't quite match the grade you're trying to keep in the ditch.