Cutting side hill trails

[Gordon Gould]

Good picture Bruce, sure makes that BX look powerful.:laughing:

That is very good. I missed it the first look. Thanks for point it out Steve. Or maybe that is just a rubber tree.

 

[dragoneggs]

BX and box blade made this sidehill road, about 200 feet long.

Bruce

And now its gonna push this tree over :laughing:

 

[Msamt]

My backblade saga of this summer was a similar need, and it took me 20+ hours to learn how to use it. Once I got the hang of it though, it was a very awesome tool to cut with, I'll have to get pics of the road I built thru my land. Point is take some time, go slow in the beginning, and if you cut too shallow, go over it again till it looks right. Flip the blade around to smooth it to a close finish when you think your done, and like said above, compact it in two directions if possible. Good luck!

 

[/pine]

IMO...
I've said this many times...with a capable tractor and implements...any job that can be done utilizing hydraulic T&T...can be done without it...but, to get the same (professional looking results without a lot of hand raking or excessive passes)...the operator will spend almost as much time off the tractor making manual adjustments than they will in the seat...

methinks that most operators that disregard or prefer something other than a box blade either do not have t&t or just don't take the time to make the needed adjustments when doing cut and fill etc. type jobs...

 

[Billrog]

Bill I'd just tackle it the way you have in mind but rather than flat a slight incline towards the bank side 3 or 4 ". It would be much easier to work from the top side if you can get there and dig out a starting point. I've done a few miles of mt. side trails using nothing but the bucket. Easier than using the back blade to flatten once done is fill the loader bucket for some weight put it in float and back blade the rd. It's nice to have a ton of implements but not necessarily necessary.

 

[airbiscuit]

I'm not sure what kind of grass, roots, etc are on your trails, but I would disc the heck out them first (and a little wider than what you want the finished trail to be). Then use the back blade adjusted to tilt with your 3 point arm. It is easier to move loose soil, and you are talking about moving a fair amount. It will take several passes, and maybe even discing again in between.

 

[dragoneggs]

My problem is the side hill is too steep to begin with... I need to use my backhoe just to get a flat area for my wheels to make the back blade or FEL flat enough to proceed.

 

[pat32rf]

I,m with Dragoneggs here. most of the backblade/boxblade threads assume that the trail is level enough to drive now and you just want to "improve",
I have a hoe, backblade and FEL. If the terrain will let you dig with the FEL, then just start at the bottom and remove soil from the high side, dumping it on the low side, carefully! You may have to lay some logs along to hold the soil in place and if you unearth a few rocks, even better.
Around here in Central Ontario there are places where there are too many rocks (or bedrock) to do this without using my hoe. On level ground I can pull myself along with the hoe bucket, but often I am climbing or descending hills as well. In this case I try to put a driver in the tractor seat who can pull ahead and back for me while i stay in the hoe seat.
If there is vegetation I always include it in my filled side to slow down erosion.....
You might have noticed that I didnt even suggest that I use my backblade.....any humps get leveled with the bucket next month....

 

[pwright]

My problem is the side hill is too steep to begin with... I need to use my backhoe just to get a flat area for my wheels to make the back blade or FEL flat enough to proceed.

You'll want to get an actual slope measurement so that you can properly plan how much of your "bench" needs to be cut into the hill. The forest service (and pretty much everyone else) uses these guidelines for cutting side hill trails.

 

[jenkinsph]

You'll want to get an actual slope measurement so that you can properly plan how much of your "bench" needs to be cut into the hill. The forest service (and pretty much everyone else) uses these guidelines for cutting side hill trails.

View attachment 444215

Good advice above.
I was concerned about this while reading the thread since we had no pictures to see. We want everyone to be safe.