Just bought a Ford 1600

[Adirondaquer]

Nice looking tractor. In one of your pics it looks like the tractor rear wheels are off the ground and the stabilizer cylinders are fully extended. The recommended way to set up is to lower the stabilizers only far enough to transfer the weight of the rig from the rear wheels to the stabilizers. That will afford you the maximum digging depth while maintaining maximum stability. Similarly place the loader bucket flat on the ground and apply enough down pressure to transfer the weight of the rig to the bucket. Now you have the longest and widest (and safest) operating platform. Enjoy the rig!

Opti, Thanks for the tips. I appreciate it.

I have a question for you. When I was digging, my stabilizer feet (which are flat steel) was allowing my entire rig slide forward sometimes when trying to dig and scoop into that heavy clay soil. Sort of like it was pulling me to the ditch.

Because of this I tried turning my FEL bucket all the way down so that the edge of the bucket would angle in and dig into the ground a little to prevent me from moving as easily.

What I am wondering is if there is a better method or if the one you described would possibly work better in this instance.

Or should I weld (or buy) something to attach to the stabilizer feet to help stop me from sliding forward as I dig with the BH.

The tires are loaded with fluid but perhaps I may need to attach the rear wheel weights as well. (I thought my large gut would have been enough ballast...)


Are the feet on your stabilizers flat and smooth or do they have some sort of ridges/angle iron or something to help stop it from skidding on the wet grass/dirt?

Thanks.

 

[Adirondaquer]

Adirondaquer,
Yeaaaaaaah Baaaaaaby ! That's what I'm talking about. Love the pics. Dig, dig and dig. And when you think you can't dig anymore, reach down into your heart and dig a little more !!! I swear when these stupid Missouri rainstorms stop, I'll post some pics of my baby kubota diggin !!! Take care.

ps- Ridgewalker, I know you're loving this Missouri weather.

MissouriThunder

MT,

Thanks.

With all that rain you guys are getting, you should dig yourself a pond and stock it with fish.


Looking forward to the pics. I like your lettering. Where did you get that done?

 

[Bedlam]

I can add my opinion and that is I used the front FEL bucket to control some pull movement.Like you describe.I feel it takes away some of the forces on the stabilizers.
I also will lock the park brake if possible..This might not work as well with two wheel drive but if the wheels have some pressure on teh ground it will help.
Its a pain though if you used the hoe to move yourself around .

 

[missourithunder]

Adirondaquer wrote - "With all that rain you guys are getting, you should dig yourself a pond and stock it with fish."

Funny you should mention that. I wasn't going to let the cat out of the bag just yet but since you brought it up; My first "big" project I'm going to do with my baby bota is make a huge fish pond in the backyard. We're talikng around the size of half a football field (except round). And no more than four or four and a half feet deep cause my wife doesn't know how to swim (safety feature for short people). Unlike everyone else in Missouri that stocks their ponds with catfish, I'm looking into sockeye salmon if the they can survive here in the summer. Don't know anything about fish, just like the taste of sockeye.

On top of all the pics I've promised to post, I will record this event with my camera and post them as well. Now that I got my tractor back from the dealership with a tooth bar installed, I can get into the final planning stages. Oh wait, I still have to wait for the stupid rain to stop.

MissouriThunder

 

[Opti-Mist]

The basic stabilizer pad for use on dirt/sod can look like a piece of upside down channel iron so that it will "grab" the ground for a good bite. The flat, pancake, type of pad will do what you are experiencing - it's like a sled. It could be improved by welding on bar stock or angle iron to act as a clete. The other common type of pad is a street pad which has a cushion of tire carcass material to protect the pavement. Look at the pad design of some bigger hoes and you'll get some good ideas.

As for tilting the loader bucket full foreward to help hold position, you risk bending the bucket cylinder rods. I'm not a fan of positioning the loader bucket in that way.

Are your rear tires loaded? The additional weight helps stabilizer performance.

 

[Ivan49]

On my John Deere backhoe the feet looks like they took a large flat plate and bent all four corners down and then welded them on. The wedge shaped corner stick down about 3 inches. I also use my bucket sometimes flat and sometimes with the cutting edge digging in. I needed fill dirt so I have a hole that is about 1/2 to 3/4 of an acre in size and 4 to 5 foot deep. The bottom is on the hard pan and when I break thru it I hit water so this summer I am going to try and go 7 or eight foot deeper and make a pond that will hold water year around.