Ditching job

[Hay Dude]

I’ve seen mats used and they do work. When I’ve seen the used though it was for very heavy equipment, like cranes used to install wind turbines, or to get something like a bull dozer across a highway.

I used them a few weeks ago to tow a heavy chipper across a lawn. Work great.

 

[Hay Dude]

This is what I’ve been saying. A big track hoe LOOKS like it will do more damage but it won’t. It will straddle the ditch and not be turning a lot. The hoe won’t tear things up near as much as moving the dirt away with your tractor.

I am using a mini ex to clean out ditches. Tractor will only be used to shuttle dirt, no dirt scooping in the plans.
I have done some investigating into a crawler carrier. Has a bed about the size of a full size pickup.
$3,000 for a week rental. Looks like it’ll carry about 5 tons of dirt at about 6MPH. Much slower than farm tractor with high cap 1.5yd bucket, but probably carries 3-4 tractor scoops at a time.

 

[ptsg]

I am using a mini ex to clean out ditches. Tractor will only be used to shuttle dirt, no dirt scooping in the plans.
I have done some investigating into a crawler carrier. Has a bed about the size of a full size pickup.
$3,000 for a week rental. Looks like it’ll carry about 5 tons of dirt at about 6MPH. Much slower than farm tractor with high cap 1.5yd bucket, but probably carries 3-4 tractor scoops at a time.

I didn't read the entire thread and it's probably been suggested. Can't you source an Ag dump trailer for the tractor? Would make things a lot easier.

 

[Hay Dude]

I didn't read the entire thread and it's probably been suggested. Can't you source an Ag dump trailer for the tractor? Would make things a lot easier.

Can’t find one anywhere. None of us use them in our farm operations.

 

[ptsg]

Can’t find one anywhere. None of us use them in our farm operations.

Oh I see. It's one of those things that doesn't get used everyday, but sure it's nice to have around for the ocasional use.

 

[Hay Dude]

Oh I see. It's one of those things that doesn't get used everyday, but sure it's nice to have around for the ocasional use.

Seen them before, but now that I have looked at them more closely, they look like a great tool for my business.
Im trying to save money for inflation-especially now that fuel prices have doubled-and going higher.

 

[ptsg]

Seen them before, but now that I have looked at them more closely, they look like a great tool for my business.
Im trying to save money for inflation-especially now that fuel prices have doubled-and going higher.

Even something with low sides and preferably removable sides would be handy for moving bales in a pinch and also move dirt around.

This one has an extra extension on the sides but you get the idea.

 

[dodge man]

You don’t have a scraper pan do you? It’s not common but I have seen scrapers loaded with a backhoe before. Our local soil conservation office even has one that they rent out, at what I assume is a cheap rate.

 

[ovrszd]

You don’t have a scraper pan do you? It’s not common but I have seen scrapers loaded with a backhoe before. Our local soil conservation office even has one that they rent out, at what I assume is a cheap rate.

Great investment for any farming operation. I paid $4,700 for a 5 yard clamshell scraper. If the ditches to be cleaned are dry enough it could do the entire job. If not, it can be loaded with the excavator.

 

[dodge man]

One problem with something larger is going to be getting the side slope of the ditches. Say you go in with a scraper that is 6 feet wide. You end up with a ditch bottom that is 6‘ wide where maybe you only want it 2’ wide. This is one reason a smaller excavator would be better.

 

[ovrszd]

One problem with something larger is going to be getting the side slope of the ditches. Say you go in with a scraper that is 6 feet wide. You end up with a ditch bottom that is 6‘ wide where maybe you only want it 2’ wide. This is one reason a smaller excavator would be better.

Takes a little practice to create a bowled or Veed ditch but it's very doable. My scraper is 7ft wide. I'd start with my right tires in the ditch. This puts the scraper cutting edge on the ditch slope. I'd probably clean both sides as I go. So 2nd pass would put my left tires in the ditch.

 

[dodge man]

Yes, if you can get the tilt going, it will work,

 

[ovrszd]

Yes, if you can get the tilt going, it will work,

To steepen the slope you put the downhill tires in the last cut each time. Friend of mine pulls a 15yd scraper with various large AG tractors. He's a master and can create or flatten almost any slope. My old scraper has a slight advantage since the cutting edge is bent and the left side cuts about half an inch below the right side.

 

[bowenskye]

I'd be looking at a 20+ ton machine for a job like that.

 

[crbearden]

Old contrctor friend ( who is no longer with us) had some Cat Challenger rubber track tractors that pulled 14yd elevating scrapers. Very little compaction and could work in soft fields...

 

[Fixastuff]

Even though my main work isn't "Pipe excavating" this book really helped me with pricing jobs. Know your buckets capacity, your machines cycle time to scoop dump and reset, then calculate the amount the amount of dirt that needs to be moved and divide it by your bucket capacity then multiple that with your cycle time. Gives you an idea of work time that isn't just a guess. It even has different percentages to factor in since you can never dig at 100% speed all the time, something is going to slow you down from time to time.

 

[OzarkChris]

I know this isn't really what you were looking for, and I'm not aware of a 15' version - I have seen doubles though, but thinking about what you are doing, wouldn't something like this work? The rice farmers 'round here use them all the time to ditch the water where it needs to be.

Maybe I'm thinking too far outside the box.

 

[workinonit]

I have 2 of those. They are trenchers, not ditchers. Used around here to get water off of crops. The Sidewinder version is really nice because the blade runs in the right tire track.

 

[daveinlittlerock]

I hope, for your sake, by ‘ you mean inches, not feet. That’s a big job, for a full-sized excavator, with a 2 cubic yard bucket. Roughly 1/4 million cubic yards, just on the main ditch.

 

[BigJack601]

Whatever price you estimate, double it.