Excavator Blade: Behind or in Front?

[Suburban Plowboy]

1. Experts on the Internet say to keep a mini-excavator's blade behind you when digging.

2. Experts on the Internet say to keep a mini-excavator's blade in front of you when digging.

Help.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Behind: 5 Critical Mistakes To Avoid in a Mini Excavator

In front:

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

One of those sources says to park with the cab at 45 degrees to the tracks to provide a step to dismount on. The other says this is a critical safety error.

 

[dodge man]

I suppose in theory if you leave it running you could run yourself over using the track as a step. Most have a safety interlock or if you just shut it down it should be safe. I’ve only run one a couple of times and ended up going at an angle and using the track as a step. I’ve always seen the blade out front.

 

[dfkrug]

1. Experts on the Internet say to keep a mini-excavator's blade behind you when digging.

2. Experts on the Internet say to keep a mini-excavator's blade in front of you when digging.

Well, both are correct in certain circumstances.

Super-light machines are very different than minis that way tons: you can easily drag a 1-ton-ish excavator around with the dipper, so anchoring with the blade is more important than ever. Sometimes in front is best, which also keeps rocks off your sensitive bits (wheel motors).

Starting a hole is tough when you can push down with much more force than the weight of the machine. Blade-behind maximizes the downward pressure of your teeth on the ground.

But blade-front allows you to lift more without tipping.

Slopey ground (all I have) means blade positioning is everything.

 

[Drstrangeglove]

One of those sources says to park with the cab at 45 degrees to the tracks to provide a step to dismount on. The other says this is a critical safety error.

I always try to use the track as a step. Ever slipped off that muddy metal step? It hurts.

Digging over the blade for stumps, you have more power. Ditching either way works, but with the angle blade you have little room.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

I'm trying to get up to speed with my cheapo Chinese gas job. So much bad information out there.

For example, people complain that the seat gets hot, so some are saying to insulate the underside of the sheet metal under the seat. But that cooks the engine, which people say is already too hot.

My plan is to remove the door, since it seems to serve no purpose anyway.

 

[MattB4]

I found when digging to use the boom in and try to avoid over downward pressure. Scrap towards you while curling the bucket and you will avoid lifting your unit off the ground as much.

 

[4570Man]

I keep the blade behind me for general ditch digging. The blade cost a couple ft of ditch before I have to move again. If I’m doing something hard like pulling a stump or digging down a hill I’ll put the blade foward for stability. And parking it 45 degrees over the track is my preferred method for getting out of the machine.