Backhoe Anyone ever use a CUT mounted backhoe to dig a foundation?
- Thread starter Lt CHEG
- Start date
Very nice job Car Doc. I would certainly feel confident using my backhoe to complete a job similar to yours, and the outcome of your project verifies that the work was well within the capabilities of a CUT backhoe. Nice job.
As for my house, I'm thinking that my CUT backhoe will come in handy more as an auxiliary piece of equipment as opposed to the primary digger. Since we're going to be moving a good chunk of earth out of the hillside to build up the foundation where the house will sit anyway, we'll have a dozer there for a while. I think the dozer will end up doing the lion's share of the work on the foundation with the backhoe filling in as needed around corners, for backfilling in certain areas, etc.
As far as stormwater management, and silt management, I think we will be okay. The bottom of the hillside is a good 1,000 feet away from the stream and it is level land between the bottom of the hillside and the stream. Plus the stream is very small and in a very dry year like we had this year it almost dries up. I've conferred with the Department of Environmental Conservation and confirmed that nowhere on our property is considered "wetlands" so that helps too. When we get a little closer to beginning the project I'll post some pictures of the land and the area where construction will take place. It is easier to show than to describe but the hillside along one edge of the property is fairly straight except for an area a little over twice the size of the proposed home site which is kind of like a peninsula of sorts where the hill juts out. The plan is to make the hillside uniform all across that edge of the property and use the fill from the "peninsula" to elevate the building site. I'll definitely defer to my uncle for the nuts and bolts of this part of the project as he has done construction for a primary source of income for about half of his life. He still does contracting part time in conjunction with his full time maintenance job although the last couple of years has seen demand for his services decrease dramatically with the downturn in the economy.
As for my house, I'm thinking that my CUT backhoe will come in handy more as an auxiliary piece of equipment as opposed to the primary digger. Since we're going to be moving a good chunk of earth out of the hillside to build up the foundation where the house will sit anyway, we'll have a dozer there for a while. I think the dozer will end up doing the lion's share of the work on the foundation with the backhoe filling in as needed around corners, for backfilling in certain areas, etc.
As far as stormwater management, and silt management, I think we will be okay. The bottom of the hillside is a good 1,000 feet away from the stream and it is level land between the bottom of the hillside and the stream. Plus the stream is very small and in a very dry year like we had this year it almost dries up. I've conferred with the Department of Environmental Conservation and confirmed that nowhere on our property is considered "wetlands" so that helps too. When we get a little closer to beginning the project I'll post some pictures of the land and the area where construction will take place. It is easier to show than to describe but the hillside along one edge of the property is fairly straight except for an area a little over twice the size of the proposed home site which is kind of like a peninsula of sorts where the hill juts out. The plan is to make the hillside uniform all across that edge of the property and use the fill from the "peninsula" to elevate the building site. I'll definitely defer to my uncle for the nuts and bolts of this part of the project as he has done construction for a primary source of income for about half of his life. He still does contracting part time in conjunction with his full time maintenance job although the last couple of years has seen demand for his services decrease dramatically with the downturn in the economy.
pat32rf
Veteran Member
A few years back we put a 16x30 addition on our house. The house is on a hillside so I just started digging from the low side with the FEL. Took some time as there were a few large tree stumps to "handle" but I got the job done in a few weeks of spare time work. At one point I had to work around our underground hydro feed and wound up renting a small excavator for a day. Then a week later I rented it again, and again. After the job was done I found a used backhoe and snapped it up. Best thing I ever did.
I still borrow a friends old 680 Case 2wd on occasion and if I needed the 360 deg swing of the excavator I would rent again, but in five years the hoe has done everything I've asked.
I still borrow a friends old 680 Case 2wd on occasion and if I needed the 360 deg swing of the excavator I would rent again, but in five years the hoe has done everything I've asked.