Using And Abusing Your Front End Loader. What is the difference?

[rScotty]

I backdrag a lot. Always have. It's the best way I know to put a nice surface finish on a project. The trick is to keep the bucket just angled down enough to slide and spread the top material. Draggng with the bucket vertical or anywhere near vertical would defeat the purpose - it would gouge the surface and also risk bending things.

Just pay attention and use your head when backdragging - same as any tractor work. If you can spread jelly on a piece of toast you can backdrag successfully. Otherwise maybe not.....

rScotty

 

[Xfaxman]

The 42" wide bucket curled all the way down:

I backdrag with the bucket curled down, but in float:

It won't move with to much down pressure on the bucket:

 

[tacticalturnip]

It won't move with to much down pressure on the bucket:

You and your weird backwards tractor.

 

[scaredychicken]

it's a fine dirt line

 

[/pine]

IMO...The only thing an operator needs to know ( as far as use design principles)...is that it's a LOADER...meant to scoop, move, load, dump materials...that's it...
...sure it will do a lot more than that but I wouldn't take any chances with a tractor that was still under warranty...
...especially on smaller compact tractors I'm curious what warranty providers have to say about bucket hooks...on small tractors it would not take much to wrack a loader frame...

 

[Xfaxman]

You and your weird backwards tractor.

Yep, sometimes it pushes the 4' box blade going forward:

Sometimes it pulls the 4' box blade going backwards:

 

[metalbender]

Watched a Tube vid of a guy digging a pond with a little Kubota. It's not a dozer.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Watched a Tube vid of a guy digging a pond with a little Kubota. It's not a dozer.

If you take it easy and go slow you can get a whole lot done with a subcompact, though the way you emphasize them not being dozers leads me to believe he wasn't.

 

[Mud2Money]

I think most people don’t know the fine line of abuse and not. I have used my loader to move 120+ yards of grey clay ditch tailings that sat for 40 years in a pile. Gotta take it slow and easy. I only try to strip a few inches deep at a time to not stress the loader. Just because you can does not mean you should.

Now my business partners 333e skidder. I’m convinced jd just shrank a d8 dozer and came up with that piece of machinery. He decided to go for the remaining tailing piles. He hit a 25 yard pile in a line and had it loose in about 5 minutes. Still not a indestructible piece though. Jd only uses 3/4 bolts at the curl pins and they will break if forces hard enough.
If anything rent some heavy equipment for the few hundred $$ a day and save the possible thousands in damage to vulnerable equipment.

 

[PILOON]

I lift heavy, back drag, dig--you name it.
Often my weighted rear is in the air.
BUT NEVER do I bash into the load or object.
I inch up close and let hydraulics do the work.
A hose can always be replaced plus pressure relief valves are there to CYA.
My CUT is close to 2000 hrs and I never had to even replace a hose and my bucket is still nice and straight.
And with my tooth bar I work it like a skid steer.
Coming to rocks that won't fit my bucket I resort to flipping and or rolling them.