Digging holes with a Front End Loader

[Harv]

Danny -

I've run into the same dilemma several times up at my property. No backhoe, too much distance and time involoved to rent one (I'm a weekend warrior), so I just do the best I can with my loader.

I have a 60-inch bucket, no toothbar, on my 27hp 'Bota. The ground is tough stuff, mostly due to the sheer number of stupid rocks lurking under the surface. I certainly can't dig a steep-sided small diameter hole like a backhoe could do, but allowing for an entry slope, I can scrape my way into a 5-foot trench with just a little persistence. I haven't had occasion to go more than a couple of feet deep, but I think I could, rocks permitting.

Last year I photo-documented one such episode in the thread. The part that may be of most interest to you might be <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/33-130116-RockBattle.jpg>this picture. I've used the same technique several times, and the good news is that it's a simple matter to fill the hole back in if necessary. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[hazmat]

It took me an afternoon to move 10 yards (270 cubic feet) of loose dirt (as in just dumped there by a truck) for my lawn renovation project.

If you've got easy soil, It might take all day. If It's hard clay full of rocks, might take all week. I've tried to dig a couple holes with my little tractor & haven't had much luck (mostly due to roots not rocks).

From what I've read here, a toothbar will certantly help.

 

[ebeacham]

Hazmat,
I know what you mean. It took me 7 hours to move 45 yards of soil 40 yards. I sure did wish that I had electronic range shifting that day!!

 

[Mosey]

ebeacham - "If you can talk the wife into it, It is a great excuse ( reason ) to buy a backhoe"

I'm having a hard enough time justifying the FEL! I was hoping digging this hole would help convince both her and I that a FEL would be worth the money.

Another project is to (someday) dig out the crawl space for a room addition. For that, I'll only be going 2' deep. It sounds like that depth won't be a problem with a FEL, am I right?

 

[Von]

Danny, around here you can rent just the backhoe part to fit on the back of your tractor. That might solve your problems on digging the holes. You get the desired hole without the cash outlay for your own hoe!

 

[ebeacham]

2 feet is doable but allow yourself the time to move the material. The FEL is still the most versatile attachment for your tractor. I use mine all the time for things I would have never thought.

 

[MossRoad]

Digging a deep hole with steep sides with an FEL sounds scary as cave ins happen. And even though your hole will be only 300 cubic feet, your entrance ramp and side slopes will easily tripple that.

I rented a mini excavator to do a foundation for a garage. It was a total of 112' long x 3' wide x 4' deep. It took about two hours to dig in sandy soil. The rental company delivered and picked up the machine. I think it was about $265.00 for a full day, delivered and I returned it early for a half day rental.

I'd line up several things to do with the mini excavator and use the heck out of it on rental day.

Good luck /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

What do you mean by rear scoop? Not sure what that is. How big of an area do you have. If you have a fairly large area, just rent a 580K extendahoe or something. X-hoe will get things done real quick. If you have a ways to travel, and the ground isn't too bumpy, pop it in second gear and you'll get there. Sometimes you just have to do whatever to get that whatever done.


Blake Iverson
WA

 

[ScottAR]

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/5-180296-rocks.jpg>Here</A> is a pic of a rear scoop on a dandy looking Yanmar.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

No wonder why people have such problems with digging. That looks like a waste of money to purchase and an inefficient attachment. Get a backhoe to do the work. It's over in a short amount of time.

Blake
WA