Using a front end loader effectively

[sros990]

I'm a new tractor owner and I'm not very good at using a loader. For example, if I try to scoop soil or rocks from a large pile I'm not always able to get a full scoop. I also can't pick up a large rock out in a field. (I don't have a problem with a pile of fluffy stuff like compost).

Anyway, what is the proper technique for using the FEL--at what angle should I set the loader when I approach the pile; do I scoop from the top or bottom of the pile, etc.

Thanks
Steve

 

[RoyJackson]

Two things you'll probably need, if you don't have them...

A Tooth bar will dig into a clumpy pile of dried out dirt or other materials. Without a tooth bar, your buckets cutting edge just spreads the digging force too much.

A Ballast Box or heavy implement on the 3 point Hitch to help with traction. I'll wager you're spinning at least one of your rear tires when digging into something other then light fluffy stuff (new mulch, for example).

Digging into rocks? Well, I'm not so good at that either...not if they have any size to them. I normally drop the bucket to ground level and roll any rocks into it...again, if they're of any size. Gravel...different story. Gravel or crushed run works pretty good. But before I had a ballast box (with ~600 lbs of sand), I'd set there spinning my tires.

 

[Doc_Bob]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Two things you'll probably need, if you don't have them...

A Tooth bar will dig into a clumpy pile of dried out dirt or other materials. Without a tooth bar, your buckets cutting edge just spreads the digging force too much.

A Ballast Box or heavy implement on the 3 point Hitch to help with traction. I'll wager you're spinning at least one of your rear tires when digging into something other then light fluffy stuff (new mulch, for example).

Digging into rocks? Well, I'm not so good at that either...not if they have any size to them. I normally drop the bucket to ground level and roll any rocks into it...again, if they're of any size. Gravel...different story. Gravel or crushed run works pretty good. But before I had a ballast box (with ~600 lbs of sand), I'd set there spinning my tires. )</font>

What kind of tires? R1? R4?
Bob

 

[BobG_in_VA]

When I was 18, I worked in a limestone rock quarry, supplying the stone to I 64 between Richmond and Charlottesville, VA. I wasn't born on a D8 Cat or a wheeled loader (3 yard bucket on that sucka'). Took a lot of practice and work but about 2 months into working there the Cat Man (the Cat Customer Service Rep), flagged me down in the pit jumped up on that D7's track and handed me the most precious thing an operator could get back then: My own black/yellow Cat Hat!! (back then you couldn't buy them like now, Cat had to give you one...). Point is this: Practice, Practice, PRACTICE. It'll come to you...Good luck! BobG in VA

 

[Farwell]

Bob,
How right you are. Practice, practice, practice. Most of us are looking for the short way to learn. Many times I have had all the information or have books that give me the information but the information is only as good the time I am willing to spend putting the information into practice.
Wish I would take this advice more often than I do.
Farwell

 

[Ford960]

I always started with the bucket level at the bottom of the pile. As I drive into it come up and curl the bucket back to scoop up as much material as possible.
Can't say if this is the proper way but it sure works for me.

 

[MadDog]

I've been excavating a medium sized pond with my FEL since last summer, so I've gotten a lot of practice with numerous different conditions. I have a B7800 (30 engine hp).

If a pile of dirt and/or rocks is loose enough and not too steep, you can start from the bottom. As said by others, a toothbar and some heavy ballast on the 3ph help with digging effectiveness and stability. With tractor in 4WD and bucket level and at grade level I drive slowly into the pile until the bucket is as full as possible; then curl max back and lift slightly. Keep the load as low as your terrain will permit, particularly if you are going to be moving over uneven ground (you want to keep the center of gravity as low as possible for max stability).

If you can't curl the bucket or lift it, it is probably because the matterial is too packed or the pile so steep that there is too much weight above. This is almost certain to be the case if you have been excavating undisturbed earth and are attempting to cut into the vertical side of the excavation. In this case, you will probably have to raise the bucket so that it cuts into the side not more than 1 1/2 bucket depths below the top of the grade; you should be able to curl and lift the bucket fairly easily but lower it as soon as you have backed out enough to be able to do so.

I have been able to remove even fairly large (up to about 8-9 cubic feet) boulders with my FEL. It helps to nudge the boulder into either a slight rise or other obstruction that will offer some resistance while you drive the bucket blade under it as far as you can. Even with a fairly deep boulder, if you can get the blade and bottom of the bucket under well more than 1/2 of the boulder's bottom surface, you should be able to get it all the way in the bucket when you curl it back.

With big boulders, you may want to give some advance thought to the direction you load it from, so that you will be able to get the boulder as deep into the bucket as possible. If it is not in the best position for loading, roll it by nuding it with the FEL into a better position.

Last but not least, I have been able to move even boulders that are so large that my FEL cannot curl or lift them (over about 1000#) by running the FEL in as close to them as possible and then running chains from the hooks on the top of my bucket around the bottom front of the boulder and back to the other hook and then dragging the boulder where I want to put it by backing up. It is also possible to push/roll a boulder forward if you can either curl its bottom up with the FEL as you are pushing it or place the blade in an irregularity near the top of the boulder and then push it. I have used these methods for removing some humongous boulders from my pond excavation that my FEL couldn't curl or lift at all, including a couple that were close to, or perhaps a bit more than, a cubic yard.

I hope that some of this helps; a lot of the fun of using a FEL is experimenting to learn what works to solve particular problems.

 

[KiotiJohn]

Toothbar is a must to me.
I never go in level, but with the bucket slightly below level. As I push into the pile, that sends the bucket down into it some and I'm curling back the whole time I'm moving in. Occasionally then, I'll back just a bit while at the same time dumping the bucket a little again and repeat the forward procedure.
This breaks up the mound somewhat, and gets a full bucket every time. I don't go for the bottom of the pile but from 1/2 to 3/4 up on it as the weight is usually too much for the curl.

I will then put the bucket in full dump, raise it up and over the pile, and pull the top of the pile back and let it come down the front side which will make it easier to load up. This is very effective if you have a packed mound and need to break it up a bit before loading.

As for the rocks, I love the HST simplicity of F/R just for operations such as this. I put the teeth up under an edge, curl and lift the bucket quickly and move the tractor in under it before it can fall back down. It will then fall into the bucket as I move forward. If I have gotten it right, over half the rock inside, the teeth will help to curl it up into the bucket.
Sometimes I have to push it up against something else to get it in enough, but mostly I get it in the first time by flipping it this way.

John

 

[PineRidge]

Don't think anyone has mentioned it but as you go into a pile hit your differential lock to give yourself more traction.

 

[bncsauve]

One good trick for rocks is to hang a chain from the top of one side of your bucket to the top of the other side. Ideally using welded on bucket hooks. The length of the hanging loop takes practice, but the idea is to approach the rock with the bucket dumped with the chain loop hanging out in front. Move in until the loop hangs behind the rock. Lower and curl the bucket at the same time and the chain will grab the back of the rock and pull it into the bucket. (Works good with practice)