Excavating with a compact tractor?

[frank29]

Could a tractor in the 35 h.p. range remove a large quantity of dirt? My house is 30'x 40' with full basement...along one of the 40' walls, there is 8' of earth at one end, tapering to 2' on the other end. There is also a fast taper going away from the house (from the corner with 8' of earth: the grade slopes down both along the 40' length of house and away from the house). The excavation needs to extend down to the basement slab level. The excavated dirt would be used to fill a low spot directly behind the home.

I have always been a do-it-yourselfer that has completed many projects in the face of doomsayers. When I couple this experience with the apparent capabilities of these compact tractors, I tend to think such a project would be doable. However, I have no experiece with tractors.

I know a business of excavating such an area would go bust quickly with such equipment; however, I think I would have fun doing it.....cost effectivenss is not a great concern (BUT, neither do I want to watch my grandkids complete all their schooling while I'm wearing out a tractor!)

Has anyone attemped such a project?

 

[OrangeTractor]

Yes, a tractor of that size could do the work, if it had a backhoe to loosen the dirt and a front end loader for hauling the dirt. its possible without a backhoe but it would take alot longer to do so. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif But I have yet to tackle a project in which the soil was compacted.
Steve

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Frank, there are things you can do, and things you should do with a small tractor. A properly equipped 35hp tractor will do what you want done, but it will be far more time consuming than doing it the right way. You might want to consider renting a track-hoe/mini-excavator that has about a 16' reach. It is small enough not to scare the heck out of your wife, but big enough to dig a hole quickly and accurately. Far faster than you'd be able to do with a tractor mounted backhoe.

By the way, they are a load of fun to operate.

 

[RonR]

The lay of the property would influence me.

I've never run a track hoe, but I'd consider renting a good sized bobcat to do it.

You can move a lot more dirt, faster, that way, than with a tractor alone. Also, getting a good slope is TONS easier with a skid steer over a tractor/FEL.

Have fun,
ron

 

[Birdhunter1]

Sounds like a bobcat wouldl be the way to go, but me being liek you I would consider doing it myself too.
So I'd go ahead and fill my rear tires, make sure you have a toothbar and "dig in" (no pun intended).

 

[3RRL]

Sounds to me you'd like to do it yourself, and you can. Also sounds like you have a sort of "ramp" to get to the basement level. With that in mind you could use a boxblade with rippers down to loosen the soil and the pull it out along with a bucket full in the FEL. That is assuming you have the room to do it. You'll get plenty of seat time. Pick out the corners witha backhoe if needed.

 

[roermo]

Hi and good luck you lucky dog, I would love to have a project like that.

A good friend of mine has to remind me weekly it seems that my 4110 is not a bulldozer. He works for CAT. There is words of wisdom there. I was going to buy a B/H for my small 4110, then I thougt how often would I use it compaired to renting a full size BH. So the money I save can go to a 3520 J/D,
I would rent what I need to that large job, you would find other better suited jobs for a tractor, which I find to be numoris.

Good luck and have fun. Once you get started post some photos.

By the way I am starting a brick job on my porch that I am trying to figure out a way to use the bucket on my tractor. Most likly will use it to haull the bricks from the street.

Roger.

 

[MossRoad]

Just remember that bobcats have low ground clearance, get stuck easily in mud or soft soil and are kind of tippy forward and backwards on slopes. They are also extremely powerful and if you are not experienced with operating them, it would be very easy to accidentally whack in to something... that being said, if you know what you are doing, they can get a job done very fast.

As Bob said, a small excavator would be an excellent choice. I've rented one in the past. They are easy to use, very stable and have a good reach so you don't have to keep re-positioning them all the time. Use it to get the stuff away from the foundation and stock pile it off to the side. If the soil is soft, ask the rental yard if they can put a large bucket on it so the job will go faster.

You can then rent a tractor or bobcat with an FEL to haul it away and spread it. Renting a tractor also gives you seat time, so see if you can rent one that would be of the size you are interested in.

I think I paid about $265.00 for a days rental on the excavator, but only needed it for 4 hours and got lots of money back on a 1/2 day rental. See if you can get one for a weekend rate.

 

[EddieWalker]

Given the size of your excavation and the amount of material your talking about, I'd question what a small trackhoe would be capable of. The same thing with a skid steer. They have small buckets and would take allot of trips to move anything.

Transporting the material is going to be the major part of this. Digging is the easy part.

The more material you can move at a time, the more effective you will be. A small CUT and skid steer will handle around a third of a yard. Three trips to move one yard of dirt. A full sized Loader/backhoe will haul a yard in it's bucket.

The skid steer is also pretty rough for hauling dirt back and forth. You will be pretty beat up hauling hundreds of yards of material back and forth with such a small load at a time.

You can do it, but I hope you have a pillow for your seat and have plenty of time!!!!!!!!!!!

Eddie

 

[frank29]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies, guys.

I am very pleased with the direction of the comments: even those recommending other equipment kept the door open for doing the job with a compact tractor. (I thought you guys were going to laugh at me!)

I think I will tackle it....all I need now is the tractor, ROFL. I have a million projects in mind. Besides the excavation, immediate plans include installing a septic tank and drain field, fabricate a segemented retaining wall and reroute my driveway, to name the big ones. I've got 5 acres to recreate.

Right now I am leaning toward a Kioti DK35 with FEL, back hoe, bush hog and a box blade....thanks mainly to this forum. I'm going to wait a couple of months to make the purchase (forget sleeping on it overnight, I want to be sure that what I know is right is in fact right).