Skid steer grading advice?

[Garrett2006]

Looking for some good advice for grading with just a skid steer bucket. Just picked up a 95-2s for rough grading and leveling. Also will be doing some finish grading & spreading top soil with it. Anyone have some good tips and tricks to share? Played on it the weekend and it way different than using the tractor. Tried keeping the blade level and not using the whole bucket but only half to try and get things level but didn稚 work out so great. End up back on the tractor to finish. Thanks

 

[4570Man]

Once you get good with the 95 you’ll never want to use the tractor for dirt moving again. You want to cut out humps going forward. And you don’t want the bucket angle too aggressive. The bucket bottom needs to be flat with what you want the finish grade to be.

 

[Sonny580]

It's not as easy as it looks, skidloaders are not roadgraders,---they are diggers. I think you will find that backdraggin loose gravel will give best results. That way you can see what grade you have in progress and go from there. It's all guesswork with them. I have always been a lucky one to have motorgraders to do roads/drives with. I did downsize to an Allis model D and it does o.k. for its size.

 

[Garrett2006]

For some reason I was thinking if I start level like stated above and go into the cut. Once cut and bucket full the loose in bucket would fall out into the lower areas. Also, found it hard to know if you were still on grade once the buckets cutting edge was covered with dirt. So I wouldn稚 know it I needed to adjust the angle of the bucket to keep from cutting more or less

 

[4570Man]

For some reason I was thinking if I start level like stated above and go into the cut. Once cut and bucket full the loose in bucket would fall out into the lower areas. Also, found it hard to know if you were still on grade once the buckets cutting edge was covered with dirt. So I wouldn稚 know it I needed to adjust the angle of the bucket to keep from cutting more or less

You can kinda judge by the rate the bucket is filling up. It’s best to make a few light passes. Another method I used was to use the teeth back dragging to break up the dirt to the depth I wanted and then scoop the loose dirt off the top.

 

[Garrett2006]

Good idea about using the teeth. I値l have to purchase a tooth bar to attach to my bucket or get another one that has them built into it already.

 

[kwbretired]

I’m going to be experiencing the same problem in a few weeks doing the same task as you. I just bought a John Deere 333D about a month age so l could spread top soil in my front yard which is all field drains. I have to get rid of a “LOT” of rocks before l start any dirt work though. So I’ll be watching/ reading this discussion closely hopefully picking up some valuable tips myself.

 

[4570Man]

Good idea about using the teeth. I値l have to purchase a tooth bar to attach to my bucket or get another one that has them built into it already.

A tooth bar isn’t half as good as a welded tooth bucket. It’ll cost a little more but id recommend buying another bucket.

 

[laurencen]

my first skidsteer came with the smooth bucket with cutting edge and bolt on tooth bar, I figured it was a cheaper way than 2 buckets, that tooth bar twisted and bent when digging, ended uo throwing it away and welding teeth on the bucket.

 

[Sonny580]

I use a toothbar on my loader and have NEVER come close to bending it! ---Make sure you have the bar under the cutting edge and the end bolts tight. Mine has a slot along the bottom that must be driven onto the old cutting edge, ---then while having it tight, put in the 2 end bolts to hold it in place.

 

[Tomtint]

I have a Cat 246 that started life as a tire machine. Now has a full set of tracks on it.. Tracks are by far better for grading. Also a tooth bucket to rough grade at first. Im not a fan of back dragging to set a level grade. I get much better and faster results with a 1/2 full bucket and going forward like a dozer. Doing it this was I can get ground flat as a pool table

 

[laurencen]

I use a toothbar on my loader and have NEVER come close to bending it! ---Make sure you have the bar under the cutting edge and the end bolts tight. Mine has a slot along the bottom that must be driven onto the old cutting edge, ---then while having it tight, put in the 2 end bolts to hold it in place.

the bar was fully back and tight, the problem was using the teeth to pry out roots and concrete, once it bent a couple teeth would be lower than the rest, the fix was use the press but after several times I purchased a tooth bucket, never bent one again

 

[wcampbell47]

I owned and operated three kubota tractors with FEL before purchasing a compact track loader. If you can grade a level drive with an FEL out front of a tractor you should find using a CTL much easier and faster. At least I did. I found that once the bucket starts digging it tends to dig deeper and deeper. You have to use fine motor skills to keep that bucket from digging deeper. On the kubota CTL I found that I could not see the outer tips of the bucket unless you lean forward. I resorted to an auction to pickup a bucket with welded teeth. There are many operators that develop the skill to do excellent work with just a bucket. I found that a grader or land leveler was faster and does a better job. I purchased a skid pro max to build driveways and repair private roads. You can find videos on Youtube.

 

[GeeVee]

I do a fair bit of grading with my RC-30. It has four torsion axles and the suspension talks to my Butt. You have to feel what you are doing, not see.... Some people come by it naturally, I may be better than the next guy, blindfolded. One tip I CAN share with you, is the time of day. I prefer early or late evenings, the low angle of the sun will cast shadows. On my own land in the country where noise isn't an issue, I wait until evening, and finish under the lights of the machine....

If you have time, you will get better, there isn't much you can glean from talking with others. You may need severe angle to scrape backwards, you might need to dig in forward, just depends on how much is out of whack. Sometimes it does make a bit of difference to keep a half bucket full when working it down to "flatness"

Avoid "Just one more Pass" and don't be in a hurry, If it can sit overnight, and you can enjoy a cold one while you meditate on the work already done, walking and staring at it, you get a better result. Being in a hurry will frustrate you and you will tear up good work.