Getting stuff level with tlb

[tshep]

Hi all, I have a BX23 tlb, and in my short experience I have a very hard time getting stuff level.
I seem to be able to replicate whatever angle the tractor is canted at, but feel I am lacking a one-sided 'tilt' for the loader bucket so I can cut in at an angle other than the one the tractor wheels are currently at.
At times I've wasted a lot of fuel building a flat runway (from the perpendicular or with the backhoe) so could go back and cut flat.
I ask becaue I'm getting ready to make a gravel road at the new farm (rather than just small projects at the house), round 1000 ft in fresh, rolling hills.
What am I missing here?
I'm thinking a rear blade would give me angles fairly independent of the tractor angle, and then be useful later for snow. Once I cut a track 'flat' I could turn around and move the excess/lack back and forth with the bucket, and work the final height from a wheels flat stance.
Do I have an equipment problem or an operator problem?
Thanks all.

 

[yooper1]

if you get this figured out, you can sell the process and become a millionaire.

I do not think there is a way to get things really level with a fixed loader bucket....I have tried and tried.

But the practice / seat time make it worth it

 

[beenthere]

Experience will help you a lot. Eventually (sometimes sooner than later) you will become more proficient at making slopes and grades.
Not sure if you are asking for help using the tlb, or help selecting another attachment. Maybe both.

There are levels to help with grades and slopes of finished work, that range from hand-held to laser levels on tripods. I use just a hand held level that I can site through to a stick or measuring tape.

If leveling the tlb is of interest, a level bubble can be mounted to get the backhoe level fore and aft, and side to side.

 

[RPW]

I'd use a box blade. On your lift links one of them should be adjustable. You would lower it and as you work the hill the box blade would cut into the hill. On the next pass adjust for less of a cut until you have the width and levelness you desire. At the final phase readjust your links to cut a small ditch into the hill so when it rains it runs down the ditch rather than running over your road. This will keep your road intact longer. you also want to create a crown on the road and not make it flat. It will last longer. Keep in mind the total slope angle so as you won't become a statistic from a rollover.

Good luck.

 

[Reg]

I'd use a box blade. On your lift links one of them should be adjustable. You would lower it and as you work the hill the box blade would cut into the hill. On the next pass adjust for less of a cut until you have the width and levelness you desire. At the final phase readjust your links to cut a small ditch into the hill so when it rains it runs down the ditch rather than running over your road. This will keep your road intact longer. you also want to create a crown on the road and not make it flat. It will last longer. Keep in mind the total slope angle so as you won't become a statistic from a rollover.

Good luck.

Isn't the O/P's tractor kinda small and light to try cutting into side slopes with ?
Because side tipping a box blade changes the inclination of the surface that the tractor runs on (affecting the next pass) you pretty much have to get this right and I think you have to make full clear passes every pass.

It works with HEAVY tractors (& dozers) but I think he would almost need soil all fluffed up with a tiller to move much of it sideways with a BX 23.

Worth a try, I'm not trying to talk him out of it, but the tilt needs to be very small and each run needs to be very shallow.

EDIT;
Ooops, I wrote box blade, but was thinking rear blade.
Now I can't figure how to move dirt sideways with a box blade as you cut with it on a tilt.
Duhh; I think I would use an angled rear blade and tip it SLIGHTLY with the top link.
If I remember this the right way around...
Tipping the vertical axis of the rear blade FORWARDS of true vertical will LOWER the FRONT corner of the blade.
That is the one you want digging in just SLIGHTLY more than the rear.
As you cut the dirt should move across the blade - both high to low and front to rear.

If you have any chance of adding gauge wheels those would help.
I have them on a rake and a rake would be a lot easier to pull with a light tractor.
END EDIT

 

[MarkV]

I would cut from the high side and dump on the low side with your backhoe until you had a level platform to start working with the loader from. Little bites with the loader so you stay on a level grade.

I also agree with Reg that a 1000' foot drive through undeveloped hills will take some time with a BX tractor. Do able, but very timely.

MarkV

 

[Johnbro]

This is why dozers have 6-way blades.

Seriously, on a BX23 cutting out a 1000' road may be a lifetime challenge. I'd hire it out or rent a serious machine and grade it later.

 

[JoeL4330]

There is a good book on TLB operation ("Operating Techniques for the Tractor Loader Backhoe, Gary Ober) that discusses two ways to get a level with a fixed loader...each involves initially making a level pad/stance for the wheels ...a little hard to picture in words:

(a) take a cut across the slop (across the "fall line" for you skiers) ...this cut will be aslant, but now back up and just put the uphill two wheels in the cut you just made and (if you made it deep enough) you will find the tractor level ! Now do your normal cutting and moving the spoil.

(b) attack the slope at an angle to the fall line so that the tractor bucket is level side to side (yes, there is such an angle) and take a cut, removing material and depositing it downslope from your cut ...widening the "bench".

attached is a crummy pic that may help ...but I urge you to buy the book HEAVY EQUIPMENT TRAINING MATERIALS: Equipment Training Resources - Backhoes, Loaders, Excavators, Trenchers, Hydraulics Training Books & Videos

 

[RPW]

OOPs didn't realize that the BX23 was that light. Anyway I also didn't realize that the OP wanted to use the backhoe. I was thinking of using the boxblade and tilting it into the hill. On each succesive pass the boxblade would dig more into the hill and move the material out to the lower side. At some point the operator would have to readjust the boxblade tilt to a lesser extent to even things out. Depending on soil conditions this might be faster than using the backhoe. However if the slope is too steep then you could get yourself into major trouble fast and the backhoe would be a better choice.

 

[Verticaltrx]

I made a thread on here about road/trail building a while ago that might have some useful info or pics. Cutting a hillside road with a loader (whether it be a track loader, skid steer or tractor) is an acquired technique and will take some practice to get good at it.

Take a look at the pics in this thread:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/197254-road-building-compact-utility-tractor.html

I can give some better description if needed, but that shows the basics. With that said I think your tractor is probably a little to small to be effective at this. My little B3200 is barely big enough for this type of work and I try to do it when the ground isn't too hard. I've run a lot of different machines and IMO you need over 1000lbs of machine weight per foot of bucket width to be effective at digging, and the more the better (an average track loader has about 4000-5000lbs of weight per foot of bucket.)