Backhoe BX23 backhoe ripping power

[Tom_H]

I'm thinking of trading in my BX2200-TL for a BX23-TLB. I have hard clay underlain by hardpan. This isn't the stuff manmade by heavy eqpt. It's hundreds of thousands of years old and 4-16 ft. thick. The top is silica cemented, water impervious durapan, underlain by claypan so compacted that it's 99% as hard and impervious as the durapan. My post hole digger won't dent it. I can chisel it with sledgehammer & masonry chisel. Larger backhoes and downpressured carbide tipped augers CAN cut it. Any ideas on whether the BX23 backhoe could rip this? What if I chiseled out a pilot hole? I have the time, so slowness isn't a problem. I just wonder whether the unit could dig the stuff at all. For other reasons, I don't want a larger tractor. Could the 23 do the job at all, even slowly?

 

[JimR]

Dynamite would work wonders on it. The bucket has 1936lbs. The dipper has 1137lbs of force.

You can check out the specs on all Kubotas at www.kubota.com

 

[Tom_H]

KaBoom!! Oh how I wish... My area is zoned AR5-the neighbors are close. Also the adjacent property has federally protected vernal pools (the pools form because the durapan acts like the bottom of a swimming pool). The feds don't want the pan cracked below the pools. I could hand dig this stuff faster than I could get permits to blast!! Kinda like fishin' with dynamite: works well, just gets lot'sa folks ticked off. Thanks though...

 

[Jibber]

Wow,

I thought I had problems with rocks.

Where are you located? Sounds like interesting geology in your area.

 

[boustany]

If its anything like the stuff I have, you'd need better than a BX23. I had fun digging with a Case 580C, though its partly technique. I would dig down very slowly then dig sideways, using curl to break it. Even a small excavator did ok, though.

Have you tried putting some water down? I found that my stuff softened up pretty good once it got wet.

You could try rent a BX, or something like it, and find out for sure. Its not so much time as wear and tear. Some things are worth paying somebody else to do.

 

[Jimbrown]

If it really is as hard as you describe and that thick you will have a hard go with the bx. I have some areas of very hard cliche and I can dig it but it is very slow. sometimes I only get a hadfull of stuff at a time. The problem is not power but weight. if the ground is that hard the BX will simply lift of of the ground or drag rearward when you try to curl the bucket. I can dig it fairily fast if I soak it with water. But, it sounds like your stuff might be impervous to water.

 

[Tom_H]

Yeah, it is impervious. I have a test hole I've chiseled down to 5 ft. then filled with H2O two weeks ago. 11" has slowly evaporated out and barely wicks up the sides of the hole. I can scrape about 1 millimeter of damp stuff off the side and it's bone dry beyond that. I'm in the Central Valley of CA about 30 mi. ESE of Sacramento. The bad thing is that the topsoil is clay (brick hard in hot summer) which turns to muck during the rainy winter; there is no drainage due to the hardpan & flat ground. Holes can be augured & plants planted above them for drainage, but you have to make sure you bust through the bottom or you simply get a deep water hole to drown the roots. The topsoil is 1-4' (clay), then the pan is 4-16' so you might have to auger up to 20'. A large backhoe can rip up enough area that there's drainage & if you jet above the hole, you can have some aerated soil. Vintners here use Cat D11-R's with 8' rippers. We get 17" rain/yr. & that's perfect for water to perc. down, leave air at the surface, & water trapped at a reasonable depth. Just permits & move time for the Cat's about 5 grand though. Maybe I should just build mounds & berms with the clay topsoil to get drainage. My BX2200 with tiller & loader could handle that.