dirt/soil scoop

[Adam33]

Need to purchase a dirt scoop. I want to cut a swale near my road. It won't have to be very wide but will be long. Sandy loam with harder packed dirt a few inches down.

Local tractor dealers have them in a range of $350.-425. TSC and Northern sell King Kutter for around $320. One local New Holland dealer tells me they are not worth the investment and that the only decent one was sold or made for Ford my a company named Swartz (I think that is the name) He also tells me they are no longer available.

Looking for an alternative. can anybody be of any help

 

[Pooh_Bear]

I got a 24 inch J-Bar brand off of ebay for $66.
And I had to go pick it up 3 hours away.

This thing is probably the most used implement I have.
Wish I had a 30 incher but don't know that my 8N could handle it.

Make sure you get one that is reversable. Mine is.

I have moved a massive amount of dirt with this thing.

Pooh Bear

 

[N80]

How about a box blade? I think it would be very effective and would have a wider variety of uses than a scoop. Of course the box blade will only work if the dirt you want to move is right next to where you want it to be.

I see a wide range of opinions on dirt scoops, some folks use them a lot, some folks find them useless. I sure seem to see a lot of them lying around rusting though. However, that might have more to do with the current popularity of front end loader attachments.

 

[Slamfire]

Mine's a Linebaugh, I like it. It did take a couple days to learn how to use it, though, and I still manage to overload the lifting capacity of the 3 point from time to time.

 

[jinman]

Adam, I looked at your profile and see that you have a Ford 4600 with a loader. That's a pretty big tractor and I'm assuming the loader has at least a 6' bucket. From that, I'd suggest a boxblade rather than a dirt scoop. With the box, you can tilt the 3PH and create your swale. Use the FEL to remove any loose material or spread material on each side of the swale. That's the way I'd do it.

BTW: How long is this swale going to be? You just said very long...200 ft is what comes to mind. Is that about right?

I have a dirt scoop I have not used in years (since I bought a tractor with a FEL). The dirt scoop is good for cutting shallow ditches, but when it goes down so far, you end up with the tractor's wheels straddling the swale and the scoop bottomed out on the 3PH. You can put two wheels inside the swale and two out, but you'll end up struggling to get the swale shaped like you want it. Of course, that's when you can use the FEL to help. By reversing the dirt scoop when needed and being patient, you can create the swale. If you only want to go down about 6-8", the scoop will work fine.

So, I'd prefer the boxblade or even a straight blade you could angle to move material, but the dirt scoop will work. After you finish this job, will you have a use for the scoop that you would not normally just use the FEL to do? $300 or more for a one-time job just seems excessive. I wish you were closer to me, I'd sell you my scoop for a bargain.

One additional thing...Dirt scoop trip mechanisms are very low-tech. They also are "low-function" in my opinion. I added a 1' extension to the release lever so I could operate the release to dump the scoop. Sometimes with a load, you may need to set the scoop on the ground, release the trip lever, and then raise the scoop. Years ago, my dad had a scoop that had a great release mechanism, but the new genre of scoops don't impress me.

 

[Soundguy]

I have a KK 30" reversible dirt scoop. Aside from chaniging the trip dump rope, and smearing a bit of grease on the trip lever when i use it.. I've had -0- problems with it.

I've moved yards of dirt with that scoop between my 8n and yanmar tractor.

My backyard used to slope sharply down from my back porch going to the pasture. I use dthat scoop and my yanmar.. it took me weeks.. but I built up the back yard the entire lenght of the back of my house. I raised it a foot on the low side, that tapered off tho notheing at the porch / high side.

Many many afternoons were spent ramming into the back of a dirt pile left at the entrance to my property by the builders dump trucks and distribuiting that dirt with the scoop, then box blading it out.

Whatever dealer said they were not good units either didn't own one, got a very bad one.. or sells a different brand.

Soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

They aren't perfect for every occasion, but they're as handy as a shirt pocket for many chores. I've got an old one that was my fathers. It's at least 50 years old. I've bent a few parts over the years. But it keeps right on diggin'. I used it to dig out for several hundred feet of sidewalks at our old house. Looks like it'll get some more of the same coming soon at the new place. It won't do the job of a loader or a box blade, but they won't do some of the things a "slip scrape" (as my father called it) will do.

 

[sandman2234]

I have a small one, and wish for a bigger one. No FEL on my tractor yet, so it has to suffice. It will move dirt a lot faster than a wheel barrell, and easier.
I have a pile of dirt up the street that needs moving, but my scoop isn't big enough to justify the number of 1/2 mile trips it would take. Looking at a pan or a dump trailer, or doing what I did last time, just paying a dump truck owner and a front end loader owner to move it. I got 65 dump truck loads moved for 1200 dollars.
David from jax