I was told it is a bad idea...hold my beer!

[hawkeye08]

My daughter and son in law who bought property have been working it with a backhoe, on a budget. Neighbor working on his property brought in several big excavators and did in a couple weekends what my daughter/SIL have been working on part time for a couple months...

 

[joecoin]

I think it might be easier if you just leveled the mountain.

 

[Tiptoo]

Finally back at it....after a very wet winter. Cleared the leaves from the old trail.....it has a slight rut down the middle.

 

[Tiptoo]

Made a 90 off the path to travel along a slope. Lots of shale.....I will have to chisel some out along the up hill side of the new path to keep my tractor from leaning toward the down hill side.

 

[Tiptoo]

I'm a bit too close to the edge and would like to be another 2 ft in. The top shale crumbs easily but may need some air tools to chisel into the heavy stuff. A toothed bucket would probably really help too.

 

[deezler]

A toothed bucket would probably really help too.

So get a freakin' tooth bar already!! Can't believe you've dug yourself this far without one. It will completely transform your digging capability.

59.5" Toothbar,Toothbars:Skidsteers,Loaders:LIFETIME TOOTHBAR W/REPLACEABLE TIPS | eBay

 

[radios1]

how could you possibly get out of your house in the winter with snow and ice on the ground?. you can't go up or down that road. do you use a helicopter?..

 

[Tiptoo]

how could you possibly get out of your house in the winter with snow and ice on the ground?. you can't go up or down that road. do you use a helicopter?..

If snow or ice is in the forecast.....our neighbors and us park our cars on the road. Here in Kentucky that is only a couple times each year. Fortunately my wife and I can do our jobs from the house if needed and have never been affected by bad weather.

 

[radios1]

So get a freakin' tooth bar already!! Can't believe you've dug yourself this far without one. It will completely transform your digging capability.

59.5" Toothbar,Toothbars:Skidsteers,Loaders:LIFETIME TOOTHBAR W/REPLACEABLE TIPS | eBay

from the seller, "•This Toothbar Is Intended To Be Used For Dirt, Soft & Loamy To Dry, Hard Conditions, Even With "Some" Rock & Gravel Content. It Is Not Intended To Be Used In Frozen Ground Conditions, Or In Packed, HI-Content Rocky Or Graveled Conditions!". so I think he'll need something more heavy duty..

 

[LouNY]

It sounds like you are in some fairly soft shale.
One way to rip it loose would be to get a 3 pt tool bar and a couple of ripper teeth to mount on it and a weight bracket.
With a single ripper shank mounted to the uphill side as you back in drop the ripper and pull away.
Shale always has one direction that it will rip easier then any others, if the layers have the edges facing your ripper
it can and will dig it an tear it up, if the seams (edges) are going in your direction many times a ripper will ride up the smooth
face and not penetrate to be able to rip. In that case turn a ripper shank around and back into it, carefully.