Toughest Material To Move With FEL

[JDGreenGrass]

I have ordered 12yds. of Loam to fill in some holes and low spots in my yard, get some new grass growing. I am wondering how the 770 will perform getting into the pile.?? I'll have my ballast box on for sure as the Loam will be quite heavy, I assume. I find that the BB improves production greatly.

So, what material is the toughest to get a bucket load of.?? Rock.?? 3" Gravel.?? Loam.?? You tell me.......

 

[JD4320]

Try a pile of good old Maine marine clay, dry or wet.....

 

[Wheatland KB]

Water!:laughing:

 

[Gizmo2]

Water!:laughing:

Fresh concrete is pretty tough. When I set my Hot Tub pad I had to shuttle the concrete to the location using the FEL. Found out the hard way that I did not want to fill the FEL bucket with 5,000lb concrete. All turned out well though.

 

[RoyJackson]

I have ordered 12yds. of Loam to fill in some holes and low spots in my yard, get some new grass growing. I am wondering how the 770 will perform getting into the pile.?? I'll have my ballast box on for sure as the Loam will be quite heavy, I assume. I find that the BB improves production greatly........

Your 770 will do fine as long as the loam is fresh. After a while (few weeks), it'll dry out and get lumpy.
If you have a toothbar, you'll do OK even when it's dried out (might have to break it up a bit). No toothbar, you may need to break into it with a pick and shovel first. You will want ballast on the 3ph (does "BB" mean ballast box or back blade? Ballast box provides more traction).
Toughest stuff I've worked with was a pile of pea gravel that had been setting for quite a while. Once I broke through the crust, it wasn't too bad though. I imagine clay would be tougher.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Your 770 will do fine as long as the loam is fresh. After a while (few weeks), it'll dry out and get lumpy.
If you have a toothbar, you'll do OK even when it's dried out (might have to break it up a bit). No toothbar, you may need to break into it with a pick and shovel first. You will want ballast on the 3ph (does "BB" mean ballast box or back blade? Ballast box provides more traction).
Toughest stuff I've worked with was a pile of pea gravel that had been setting for quite a while. Once I broke through the crust, it wasn't too bad though. I imagine clay would be tougher.

Ya Roy, the BB is for Ballast Box. It really helps with traction (I've got Ag tires) and it relieves the stress on the front axel and wheels. Love the JD ballast box.:thumbsup:

 

[dodge man]

Anything brought in a truck and left in a pile is easy digging. Whats tough is undisturbed dirt.

 

[Diamondback]

I always keep a couple small piles of gravel (1-2 tons) at the top of our road for general road repair and winter use to get better traction when icy. Unfortunately, during our last snow, I had used all the washed stone and decided to use material out of the road bond pile (stone & crushed material). Was I in for a surprise...

The freeze/thaw/freeze conditions had transformed that gravel pile into nothing short of a cement dome that I could't penetrate with a toothbar on my loader. Literally stopped my machine dead in it's tracks! Had to turn the unit around and chip away with the backhoe, then break up with shovel. Took about 2 hrs to do a 30 minute job.

 

[Egon]

Water!:laughing:

You tried watering all those newly planted trees?

 

[RoyJackson]

Anything brought in a truck and left in a pile is easy digging. Whats tough is undisturbed dirt.

As far as the material delivered by truck..yep, as long as you don't let it set for a few months.
As far as digging dirt...well, they call 'em loaders, not diggers. FELs can dig to a limited degree, but if you want a digger, you need a backhoe or excavator.