FEL Digging

[boggen]

depends on soil. and time vs money.

when i am able to break up rock hard dirt with another tool. then come back with a front loader. and get it done in say 3/4 the time. or 1/2 the time. and adding up multi hours. it adds up.

that and doing prep work, to actual work, to final touch up work. there be a difference in how each thing performs.

there be a reason of "always needing another tool" do to it can make a night and day difference on various tasks.

 

[TripleR]

depends on soil. and time vs money.

when i am able to break up rock hard dirt with another tool. then come back with a front loader. and get it done in say 3/4 the time. or 1/2 the time. and adding up multi hours. it adds up.

that and doing prep work, to actual work, to final touch up work. there be a difference in how each thing performs.

there be a reason of "always needing another tool" do to it can make a night and day difference on various tasks.

Agreed, we have some places with hard packed clay and I don't even try to dig in it; waste of time and money. Also as mentioned, our "do it yourself" project cost us more money than hiring it done; just depends on the project.

 

[skipmarcy]

Good work! Hows your loader pins doing? And if they are good, what grease do you use?
I've got a good size pile of muck/top soil/clay to spread out with my tractor, 400-500 yards maybe, and common sense would say get a guy in to do it. But after my first 10 hrs of using a loader ever, I've made a significant dent in it, and its relatively cheap entertainment. I think I'm using a gallon of diesel every 2 hours or so, and I'm getting better with the loader. Picking out the big rocks from the pile is getting faster and I try not to resort to rolling them into the bucket myself anymore...
Its good to see what other guys are doing so I know what's possible with some seat time.

You know, I haven't had a loader pin out in about 6 years, since I got the quick attach unit and new matching bucket and installed them. I know after a good 6 hour workout it's all a little sloppy/rattles for sure !! I've been using an inexpensive grease from my Co-op called LithPro for just about it's whole life. I grease it every day that I use it and I don't pressure wash but maybe once or twice a year - the excess grease buildup helps keep the dirt out I always believed. Sure, it attracts dirt to it's surface but the dirt stays there and doesn't penetrate into the critical areas. The newer grease just keeps pushing it outward and it makes that nice, nasty looking glob around each pin area. Of course I always wipe the grease nipple off well before sticking the gun to it so as not to inject dirt straight into it. And yes, I totally agree with those that say that more money or bigger/different equipment (more money again) would do these projects alot quicker but this boy isn't in a big hurry and I enjoy the seat time and self satisfaction of work accomplished myself. I built my whole house by myself except for a little help standing some of the long walls up while getting them braced and the self satisfaction was well worth the extra effort to me.

 

[skipmarcy]

Agreed, we have some places with hard packed clay and I don't even try to dig in it; waste of time and money. Also as mentioned, our "do it yourself" project cost us more money than hiring it done; just depends on the project.

Yea, my dirt is extremely hard packed clay with chert rocks all thru it, some bigger than my front tires. I had to manually dig around a few of them with a pick axe to get them loosened up enough to get the bucket corner under them to break them loose and out of there. As stated in my above post, I was in no hurry and money is tight being unemployed and a little diesel goes a long way in my tractor and it got the job done plus I got some good exercise. Would have been no fun to watch a guy dig all day long with a backhoe and have to pay him to boot !!

 

[Fixemall]

I think the mahindra tractors are excellent diggers, my ml114 on my 4510 dug out 155 4' tall arbor vitae today alone, of course before I load the 7-10 loads of mulch I plan on moving tomorrow I will pump an entire tube of green grease into it but, it has never given me a problem, even with the limiters turned up and digging in wet clay.

 

[k0ua]

I agree with the OP wholeheartedly, I dug the top of a pretty good size hill off once with a 2wd Utility sized tractor and loader, 4wd would have been a lot better but I got it done in about a month. My point is when someone says you cannot dig undisturbed earth with a Loader, they just dont understand what it is capable of.

James K0UA

 

[pat32rf]

I figure that my machinery is paid for and its stuff that I would need to have around in order to live in this spot. I don't need to rush to compete with anyone or to make a loan payment or payrole.
Even if I had read that I couldn't do certain things with my FEL etc, I would have probably slowly and carefully given it a try anyway..and succeeded. A good background in high school physics has been a great help...

 

[PILOON]

LOL
Shucks my little 20 hp Mitsubishi with FEL and tooth bar thinks that it is an excavator.
Tooth bar pries stones real easy, back grading it becomes a root rake and angling the bucket just right and it is a bulldozer.
Just recently I received 16 loads of blasted rock fill.
Some rocks were so big that they jammed in the dumper tail gate.
2 trucks were carting the stuff from a relatively short distance and my CUT was able to keep up with the flow.
I always figure to let the hydraulics do the work and never bang or ram into a hard object, that way the worst you can do is rupture a hose. It is the slam bang that breaks things. Hydraulics ar like a shock absorber on a car suspension.

 

[slofr8]

Just this week I had to dig out the front and back of my septic tank to access the inspection covers. Two and a half to three feet straight down. That's all I could get tho. It was just about enough.
Dan.

 

[Army grunt]

I agree with the people that say "Just do it"go slowly an whats the worst that can happen, the tr. spins.
I dont have a tooth bar, but my tc30 diggs. Its slow an I really try to keep the rpms low an pay attention to the depth I am digging every pass.
All an All go slow an do it.
Army Grunt