Tree tipping, land clearing and drainage

[mboulais]

Sorry if you already mentioned this, but what are you doing with the dirt from your ditch?

I have a ditch that I've dug to divert water from my field that catches all sorts of water, to my lake. It's still not right, but it's working. I use the dirt from the ditch to fill in the low areas that hold standing water and create small embankments to divert more water to the lake.

On your backhoe, how smooth are the hydraulic lines? Do they make any sudden turns? Kinks? Do the lines thread on really easy and line up nicely?

Eddie

I too am using the dirt for filling low spots, especially where I am trying to straighten out the trail. The new location for the trail had two sizeable areas too low to drain toward the ditch and very wet. I started by laying logs in the mud full width of the trail and I am now trying to gather enough soil to cover them with over a foot of dirt / rocks. Some is being left in piles near the ditch where it isn't practical to get in and pick it up with the loader or back drag it.

The inlet hydraulic line has two tight turns and has a kink. I need to rearrange it's path and replace it. I think QD fittings would be an ideal soultion to the source of the hose damage. When hooking up the backhoe, the pump must go on before the tractor is backed into the frame all the way. The inlet hose is a little short for this and the bends get tighter than when in operation with the backhoe at mounting hieght. The other time hose damage occurs is when storing / moving the backhoe while not mounted. There is no place to secure the pump to the backhoe and if the pump is knocked over or shifts during movement, the hose kinks.