Ditching job

[Snobdds]

I think a 6k mini is way under powered. I have a 12k and sometimes I wish I had more.

Your going to be at it for a while with that machine.

 

[Snobdds]

You need a bigger mini. A 3 ton with suffer with that size bucket.

Beat me to it by a matter of seconds.

 

[jyoutz]

I’m just cleaning them out and they are not really all that bad. There’s a stone road most of the way to the earthen berm. Last 400’ is over soft area, so dump truck won’t work.
Looked into the possibility of renting an off road, front load dump vehicle, too.

A 950 loader sounds about right.

 

[sea2summit]

Good grief.

HayDude, you're also using the wrong coffee cup. Get one with the self heater, but only if it's 6V. And is that generic creamer? Better get the delux chocoholic almond mocha fudge stuff or you're never gonna survive.

 

[Snobdds]

Some people can do sarcasm and some can't....

 

[Hay Dude]

Hahaha
Good stuff fellers
I am open to a somewhat larger machine, but the ground is soft and damage to the area from heavy machines must be considered.
Although I bet the farm tractor will beat the mini in that category

 

[4570Man]

I saw this little off-road dumper on market place for 9 grand. It would be perfect for what you need

 

[ovrszd]

I don't see cleaning the ditches as the big hurdle, I see transporting the dirt as the tough one.

I agree with others in regards to Excavator size.

If we are talking about hundreds of yards of dirt, I'd never consider hauling it 1/2 mile one way with the FEL.

But then we don't have a visual so hard to be that specific.

 

[4570Man]

I don't see cleaning the ditches as the big hurdle, I see transporting the dirt as the tough one.

I agree with others in regards to Excavator size.

If we are talking about hundreds of yards of dirt, I'd never consider hauling it 1/2 mile one way with the FEL.

But then we don't have a visual so hard to be that specific.

Agreed. A full size excavator would be a lot better than a mini about being able to get dump trucks close enough to load. But besides that a 5-6 ton would be plenty good enough to dig it out. But transporting the dirt in a loader will take forever. If you could load the truck directly with the excavator you’d be way better off. Even having to pick the dirt up again with a loader and put it in the truck would still be faster.

 

[sea2summit]

I saw this little off-road dumper on market place for 9 grand. It would be perfect for what you need View attachment 734752

Way off topic but I watched a guy build a mini articulating dump truck and man could I use one of those!

 

[ovrszd]

Agreed. A full size excavator would be a lot better than a mini about being able to get dump trucks close enough to load. But besides that a 5-6 ton would be plenty good enough to dig it out. But transporting the dirt in a loader will take forever. If you could load the truck directly with the excavator you’d be way better off. Even having to pick the dirt up again with a loader and put it in the truck would still be faster.

Yep. Only way I'd want to excavate and pile it on the ground in a windrow would be if it is so sloppy that it needs to dry before building the berm.

Again, not knowing the design of the berm to be built. A scraper could possibly unload on the berm as it's built. Dump trucks would probably have to dump on flat ground then move the dirt into position?

 

[ovrszd]

Way off topic but I watched a guy build a mini articulating dump truck and man could I use one of those!

More off topic. Going to Des Moines several years ago. Long stretches of I-35 were being torn up and rebuilt. The debris was being hauled away with large articulating dump trucks. Some of it being hauled several miles. We're Northbound. Coming at us in the Southbound lanes which were being torn out was a huge articulating dump with a full load. Running top speed, guessing 35-40 mph. Blew a left front tire when he was 1/4 mile in front of us. Alert driver. He saved it but was dicey for a few seconds.... I'm guessing he needed to take a break after that....

 

[Hay Dude]

You guys already got me buying pull pans, 955’s and all kinds of stuff. LOL I like it!

So just to reel this thread back in a little, here’s some of the ditch pictures. Like I said, they are only about 15’ wide.
The mile estimate is both sides. So 1/2 mile of ditch, but having to work from both sides is about a mile.
I figured small machine would run along one side, tracks parallel to ditch and scoop turned 90* to tracks, and spoon feed spoil into farm tractor right behind me. I could also do piles of spoil every so many feet (according to mini ex reach) and clean them up later, too.

Heres a portion on the ditch. Max width is 15’. Max depth about 3’
Average width is more like 12’ .

Loader bucket is pretty big. Kubota 96” high capacity bucket. Should be able to hold 4-5 scoops?

I think what will slow the job down is the wait for the tractor to drive to spoil pile and back.
Maybe its time to think about a dump trailer? Ground is kinda soft for that, tho.

 

[Hay Dude]

Highly unlikely to get a dump truck in there without making a big mess. Too soft. Now I wish I still had my 4800.
Even that might get stuck.

 

[jyoutz]

Why would you have to haul the dirt away? Most of the time I see ditch cleaning, the dirt is bermed along the ditch.

 

[Hay Dude]

Why would you have to haul the dirt away? Most of the time I see ditch cleaning, the dirt is bermed along the ditch.

Its what the customer wants.
The ditching portion of the job is just as important as the berm building part.

Berm area

 

[npalen]

You guys already got me buying pull pans, 955’s and all kinds of stuff. LOL I like it!

So just to reel this thread back in a little, here’s some of the ditch pictures. Like I said, they are only about 15’ wide.
The mile estimate is both sides. So 1/2 mile of ditch, but having to work from both sides is about a mile.
I figured small machine would run along one side, tracks parallel to ditch and scoop turned 90* to tracks, and spoon feed spoil into farm tractor right behind me. I could also do piles of spoil every so many feet (according to mini ex reach) and clean them up later, too.

Heres a portion on the ditch. Max width is 15’. Max depth about 3’
Average width is more like 12’ .

View attachment 734773


Loader bucket is pretty big. Kubota 96” high capacity bucket. Should be able to hold 4-5 scoops?

View attachment 734774
I think what will slow the job down is the wait for the tractor to drive to spoil pile and back.
Maybe its time to think about a dump trailer? Ground is kinda soft for that, tho.

Is the large amount of vegetation going to be an issue?

 

[Rustyiron]

Hahaha
Good stuff fellers
I am open to a somewhat larger machine, but the ground is soft and damage to the area from heavy machines must be considered.
Although I bet the farm tractor will beat the mini in that category

It's about the reach!
The little phone booth ex can do it, but you'll be really close to the ditch and may even have to reposition the tractor before you have a bucket full.
This will also do less damage not constantly repositioning the excavator.
Now I haven't seen the job and I know you know machinery, but decent reach is often overlooked and it's going to save you time and restoration.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

The property owners is going to have us build an earthen berm behind their stone grist mill to help redirect future flood waters. My plan is to use tractor with high cap loader bucket to shuttle dirt about 1/2 mile to earthen berm

I would consider renting a dump truck to do the half mile run. Contact a local dump truck/gravel company and see how much to rent a solo truck and driver by the hour. It would save a lot of wear and tear on your machine. When I retired, I think a solo was $125 and a truck and pup was $150 but you could load the crap out of them with no scales or road travel to worry about.

 

[sree251]

Its what the customer wants.
The ditching portion of the job is just as important as the berm building part.

Has the customer spelled out what he wants in a contract with all the conditions clearly stated? Show us the contract and let us check it out. We don't want you to lose your shirt on this job. You probably are focused on the payout and the profit. Things can get pretty ugly very fast when expectations for both parties turn south.

I am curious. How much money are you looking at? The overall cost of the project and the profit you think you can make? I am a bottom line guy. I don't work for the love of it.