PHD technique in rocky soil?

[Marks481]

Well the good news is that I don't have to dig the hole any deeper... it is 3' deep now.

 

[Marks481]

The bad news is that it will take about 30 bags of concrete to fill the hole.

I am obviously operating atthe limits of the PT422, as picking up the rock with the forks picks up the back wheels off the ground. I can basically drag it across the ground on the forks, at least I can pick up enough of the weight to avoid digging a furrow in the grass.

 

[KentT]

Wow! That's a big one... how did you get it up out of the hole?

I guess perseverence pays off, at least this time! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[FOURTEEN]

<font color="red"> Quite a project!!


PS: When you post an image, please size it to be less than 800 wide. Smaller pictures are clearer, and do not force viewers to scroll left to right to see it all or read the print!

Thanks!!
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[Marks481]

I picked up a corner with the minihoe, rolled some rocks under it, got a better grip with the minihoe and pulled some more, and propped it up with some more rocks, etc. Basically ended up rolling it out of the hole. I am actually quite surprised I was able to roll it out, now that I "weighed" it with my fork attachment and found it was as heavy as it was.

I ended up scraping up the yard pretty good when moving it, since I had to turn the PT422 180 degrees around. Every time I turned the steering wheel, the change of COG lifted the back wheels off the ground, so it was pretty tough to turn around. Driving in a straight line, my backwheels lifted off the ground about half the time (of course, I was only trying to lift the rock about 1/2" off the ground).

Back OT, has anybody seen any other tips for the augers? If you go to the Groundhog website , they show a numer of different tips, which all look like they would do a better jump then the blunt rounded tip that comes standard on the PT auger.

I have seen some other manufacturers that sell carbide tipped augers, so you can cut through rock (wouldn't that be a fun 10-15 hours that would make all your neighbors love you?)

 

[Marks481]

</font><font color="blueclass=small">( PS: When you post an image, please size it to be less than 800 wide. )</font>

Sorry, both my laptop and desktop are 1280 pixels wide, so the 1024 width seems natural to me. I notcie that the forum software doesn't handle wide pictures well.

 

[FOURTEEN]

<font color="red"> I use 1024 on a 21" monitor, but still have to scroll!! Many folks with small monitors use 800!

PS: Of all the money that I have spent over the years on computer stuff, by far, the best money I ever spent was for this 21" monitor!! (Less than $200 on ebay!!)

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[cqaigy]

Wow 21 inch monitor. Those are BIG! I spent 4bucks on two 17" from a county auction.

 

[Marks481]

Well I finished my last hole (at least for now). Of course, another big rock square in the middle of. Sandwiched by two other big rocks, so I couldn't pry it out with my minihoe, no matter how I tried.

The good news is that I broke it loose enough with the minihoe to get a strap around it, and was able to lift it straight out using my patented crane conversion:

The REAL bad news is that when prying it loose, I got the minihoe bucket caught between the two rocks, and using it to pry at the rocks turned out to be a really bad idea.

So the question is, do I get somone to weld the two teeth and portion of the tooth bar back on, or do I see if I can buy a new toothbar from Power Track, and get somebody to weld it on (or secret option #3: I buy a MIG welder, spend a couple months playing around with it...)?

 

[KentT]

Ouch! I'm not a welder and can't give an intelligent opinion, but perhaps because of that, I like the sound of option 3... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Marks481]

An attachment that I would like is one that just has a 2' prybar in place of the bucket. So you could just push it down underneath rocks and work them loose.

Or maybe a claw with one upper finger and two lower fingers... you could work rocks loose, and then pick them up. Of course this would require another hydraulic circuit; the existing latch/unlatch circuit to tilt the claws (like it tilts the minihoe), and another to open and close the claws.

Yet another great reason to buy a MIG welder (somethign i have intended to do for years). Unfortunately, my toy budget has been completely expended for this year and part of next year by buying this tractor.

 

[KentT]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Or maybe a claw with one upper finger and two lower fingers... you could work rocks loose, and then pick them up. Of course this would require another hydraulic circuit; the existing latch/unlatch circuit to tilt the claws (like it tilts the minihoe), and another to open and close the claws.

)</font>
How about something like this log grapple, that wasn't hinged to swing freely?

Any of these what you have in mind?

Stanley Hydraulic Tools

 

[Marks481]

The stanley hydraulic mini-grapple looks great, althought at 185#, it is probably a little bit overbuilt for my application. Plus, I think a little bit longer jaw length would be more useful.

What I was really thinking of is like the grapple that JJ has for his PT1445, only mounted on a minihoe boom with only two upper teeth that swivel, and one lower (very sturdy) fixed tooth for prying with:

He has something that looks similar mounted on has backhoe:

I called Scott at Power Trac to see if I could get a new toothbar with teeth (since I think just welding on the chunk that broke off would not give me enough strength). He said that if I shipped them the bucket, they would fix it and ship it back for free. Gotta like that kind of service.

 

[J_J]

How about a grapple like this one. It was in a laser cut kit, all you have to do is weld it together.

 

[J_J]

How about one of these. I believe it is from Metkit.

 

[Marks481]

yep, that is exactly what I was talking about. Mount that in place of the backhoe bucket, and I would have a serious digging tool.

Of course, lacking welding equipment and experience, I am thinking that ths might not be the solution for today or tomorrow.