I bet I have spent 300 hours moving a berm (dugout clay) over the past couple years. It's a lot of work and tough on a little machine and it's operator. I would hire it out. My 30 hp B3030 is definitely not as strong as it once was as a result of all that digging. I do have a sense of pride I guess at what I accomplished but still other sure it was worth it. A bull dozer can do more in one hour then a BX can in 15.
Using a BX to build shooting range berm.
- Thread starter manosteel00
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radioman
Super Member
how about this -- hire a dump truck guy to deliver material you can cover with dirt. sometimes contractors or towns need a place to dump bad(clay, yucky, weeds etc ) dirt, culvert dirt, concrete rubbles, etc. then you can use your BX to play with to your heart content to put a foot of dirt layer from your land to cover it up. sure it will take a long time, but you get to build something with the BX, and you get your berm size you want.
Thats what i`m talkin about...!!! I think some people here are overthinking it...lol. I`m guilty of that too though...lol, but i wouldn`t hesitate building another berm again with a sub-compact tractor. Back in the 80`s, i built my first berm with a tiny kabota front loader. I pushed dirt 10 feet high, so i know it can be done. I spent 2 weekends doin it, it CAN be done. If you`re slower than dirt, well heck yeah, it`ll take you 2yrs instead of 2 weekends...lol. This is just my opinion, but i think some people underestimate the power of these little tractors. Work smarter, not harder.
rustyshakelford
Veteran Member
How do you eat an elephant? One bit at a time
If I was in your shoes, I'd rent a bigger track hoe (30-40k lbs) for about 2500 a week and hire some dump trucks to haul dirt. Dig out a pond with the hoe and have them move the dirt where you want it. Then hire a dozer man for a day to shape the berm while your on the hoe.
Don't know if that's an option but what I would consider doing
Brett
If I was in your shoes, I'd rent a bigger track hoe (30-40k lbs) for about 2500 a week and hire some dump trucks to haul dirt. Dig out a pond with the hoe and have them move the dirt where you want it. Then hire a dozer man for a day to shape the berm while your on the hoe.
Don't know if that's an option but what I would consider doing
Brett
osu cowboy
New member
You will need a tractor with at least 87 horsepower. An MS Paint diagram of your layout would be helpful as well. What is your Arfcom screen name?
MossRoad
Super Moderator
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And that's only the backstop and doesn't include ANY of the side walls he mentioned.... so probably double that at least....
10,000 bucket loads @ 2 minutes per load (highly, highly unlikely) would be 20,000 minutes/60 minutes in an hour = 333 hours of continuous operation / 8 hour shifts = 41.7 days. At 1 gallon per hour of diesel (again highly unlikely) @ $2.25 per gallon, its going to cost $750 just in fuel.
crazyal
Super Member
For a shooting range I would be careful in getting clean fill from unknown sources. The last thing you want is to find a large rock or something else a bullet could ricochet off of. If you want to do it yourself I would spend some time removing the topsoil with your BX and then rent something large like a dozer for a week to do the bulk of the work.
mopardude318
Platinum Member
Rome wasn't built in a day....
I'd do as much as you possibly could do with the machine you have...then when or if ya get burnt out, hire the rest....
10,000 buckets of dirt in your little BX...LOL. I'd try it just to try it, and go like h*ll. I sure would be impressed to see a big'ol berm built by a little 'ol tractor. I'm lucky to have a huge mountainside on my property as my backstop.
I'd do as much as you possibly could do with the machine you have...then when or if ya get burnt out, hire the rest....
10,000 buckets of dirt in your little BX...LOL. I'd try it just to try it, and go like h*ll. I sure would be impressed to see a big'ol berm built by a little 'ol tractor. I'm lucky to have a huge mountainside on my property as my backstop.
I agree... i built my "big`ol berm" with a tiny 1983 kabota 7100 loader w/stick shift back in 1984. I have no doubt it can be done. I only spent 2 weekends building it.
Its not rocket science, and all the equations and number`s ya`ll posting, your spending to much time thinking about it... GIT`R DONE, GIT SHOOTIN...! (lol)
