Grading with a loader

[ddbackhoe]

Unless you rolled the bucket slightly forward so it’s rubbing the front edge.

Again, feel free to do whatever you wish. I prefer to not get a stiff neck from driving backwards. I’m sure your next will be, “but I have mirrors”. Good luck.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Sounds like someone needs to do YOGA. lol

 

[4570Man]

Again, feel free to do whatever you wish. I prefer to not get a stiff neck from driving backwards. I’m sure your next will be, “but I have mirrors”. Good luck.

Got a picture of your work? Back dragging is by far the best way to finish grade using anything with a bucket.

 

[dodge man]

People work with what they have. This guy has a large wheel loader to work with. Is it the best machine for smooth perfect grading? No but it is a construction grade machine and can move a lot of material. The ideal tool would be a GPS controlled dozer or CTL.

 

[rScotty]

I have a large loader being dropped off on my property Wednesday, I have alot of material to move around.

After thats done I'll need to get things as smooth as possible without all the whoopdeedoos.
Any tips to do this would be appreciated

I'd say it's easy to do by back dragging with the lower lip of the front bucket almost flat on the ground. The motion you use is just like spreading mayonaisse on a piece of sandwich bread. I've done it with a square back bucket having a stepped cutting edge, but it works better with a round back bucket and a tapered cutting edge. Some buckets are easier than others to learn on, but once you get the basics if you can do it at all, you can do it with any bucket that has a smooth edge in front.

It's a technique that seems easier to learn for some operators than others. I don't know why this is, but I've observed it's so. Regardless of how well it comes out at first, the technique of backdragging to smooth is worth learning. It leaves a nice finish and it is easy on the tractor and loader components. It's my favorite way to finish off a dirtwork project.

And once you learn to do this kind of "backdrag smoothing" it works in any material.. sand, dirt, gravel, whatever. Even dirt with rocks. The result is a compacted flat area. Not all tractors do it equally well. Our Kubota M59 does it nicely as did our smaller compact tractors. For whatever reason, the big JD310 TLB doesn't do it nicely at all.

You start by standing still with the bucket maybe 5 feet in front of where you want to start leveling, and the bucket almost level & flat on the ground. Then tilt the bucket so that the the front edge down just a little bit and that makes the back of the bucket a little higher - maybe 3 to 4" higher than the front lip in good dirt. That varies a few inches in different material. As you do this first bucket tilt, don't touch the loader arms at first until you see if tilting the bucket that much will lift the front wheels off the ground. You want the front wheels to be maybe 4 to 6" up in the air. You can puh down with the loader arms if necessary to raise the front wheels that much, but then just leave the loader arms where they are while you are backing and smoothing. All the adjustments while backdragging are done by very slightly changing the angle of the bucket to the ground. The arms stay where they were to start unless you flattened the bucket so much that the front wheels begin to touch. Then maybe add a little more downpressure on the arms.

So again.....When you tilt the bucket to force the front lip down, that tilt and maybe a little loader arm down will raise the front wheels of the tractor just high enough so that they are free of the ground. You will be going backwards slowly, so all the steering is easily done with the wheel brakes. Now begin to go backwards slowly and watch to see how smooth that the ground is being leveled by the bucket edge. You may need to slightly change the angle of the front of the bucket to get the best smoothing. If you change the angle too much flatter, the front wheels will touch the ground and that will make a large ripple. So if you needed to flatten the bucket angle you may want to use the loader arms just enough to raise the front wheels another inch or so.

It's all about doing slight adjustments when going backwards. But it can work beautifully. When you get good at doing this type of backdragging you will automatically learn to make very slight adjustments in the angle of the bucket to keep it producing a flat smooth surface. Then at the end of the run I will kind of "feather" the bucket tilt while simultaneously raising the loader arms a few inches in order to blend the end of the run. Sometimes if the material is just right you can even swing the bucket back and forth with the wheel brakes to make an slightly wider flat area.

OK. That's how I do it. It's probably not the only way....but it sure works good for me. Anybody else who likes to do backdragging to finish smoothing up a project is welcome to add their comments.
rScotty

 

[63buglover]

I do a lot of gravel grading with a small skid loader - dragging with the bucket angled a bit works much, much better. You can vary the angle of the bucket to change how "hard" you attack the surface, also.

 

[finn1]

Unless you rolled the bucket slightly forward so it痴 rubbing the front edge.

Exactly: you backdrag with the cutting edge at a slight angle to the surface, so the heel of the bucket is not contacting the dirt. The cutting edge does the work.

Also, to the other poster, back dragging is a finishing operation, not a roughing operation. It won稚 work on untouched hardpan, but works well in sand, organic materials, or loose gravel....

 

[1930]

Just getting home after 5 days out there, Ill try to make this as short as possible, Ill upload a video when my wife downloads it. I have a few pics but not many. The video will be much better.

I learned alot, first and foremost I understand that no one here can understand the size of the job I am working on. Its not a small job such as a 1/4 acre lot.

It was completely ludacris to assume that I could have learned what needed to be known in the 40 hrs allotted me with the machine. Maybe there are guys born with this skill but I am not one of them.

With that said I learned a TON and I thank God that I was given the chance in my life to have experienced it.

I learned wheel rolling ( thats the technique of packing down material with a full bucket )

I learned almost VERY successfully how to move the fluff ( thats the pile of cut dirt that an experienced loader operator has made for you to move ) Its easier to move the fluff cause for the most part its just that, fluffy material thats already been cut. By the end of the day last night Id say Im pretty darn good at moving fluff.

I learned to go into the material with just a little momentum, dont ease into it too slowly, once into it dont curl the bucket immediately but instead lift the bucket a little at level and then gently ease into a curl, doing it like this makes less trips cause more material in the bucket.

I learned to cut it and make the pile nearby, dont cut and drive 400 feet with a half bucket, make the fluff and then move it, it will save literally hours and hours of work never mind the fuel savings.

One VERY important thing I learned was when cutting the hard stuff absolutely keep the ground smooth beneath you by back dragging with just a little downward angle on the bucket, you might think that machine has enormous ground clearance...... it does not! If you get bogged down in your old tracks your belly will drag and you are just spinning digging yourself into a hole.

I learned DO NOT let the wheels spin, once the wheels are spinning your done, lift up what you have, dump it on top of the pile, lower the bucket into the top of the pile and pull some material backward. Back up, clean up your mess and start over.

I learned how to be a pretty good transit operator, so simple and foolproof. What a great tool to have

I learned how pretty it is to backdrag a 200 foot swipe, that material looks so good, smooth as glass.

I learned articulating loader is the way to go, Ive driven a few conventional steering loaders, articulating is sorta like a zero turn mower.

I learned that a front end loader like I had really isnt a multi purpose tool, for moving material in great amounts like Ive done its the machine to have, grading a large area...not so much, I have a bulldozer being dropped of on Thurs supposedly to do the final grading.

I found a guy that has many years of experience in heavy equipment operation. I paid him 2 hundred dollar a day and I couldnt be any more pleased with the work he did, he and I completely changed the landscape of my property, it is unrecognizable at this point to what it was.

We took a blah, so so piece of property and transformed it into something fairly unique and usable.

I also learned that a wheel loader this size running 13 hrs a day ( he worked 7 and I worked the 6 ) consumes hundreds of dollars in diesel especially when its being used as a bulldozer in which there were some instances.

I prob learned alot more but these are the highlights. Enjoy the pictures and dont let anyone tell you cant do something, with enough seat time Id be an expert but for me it would be more than 40hrs.

 

[ovrszd]

Glad it was a good experience for you!!!

I reread this entire thread, 68 posts, and was surprised we still have no idea what you are doing. We ran amuck with all sorts of expert advice. All the while not having the slightest idea of what you are doing. Gotta love TBN.

 

[1930]

292 dune - YouTube