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.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

This machine really sinks in my sandy yard. If I move it to a location with the blade in front of me, and then I spin it to put the blade behind me, it makes it more likely I will get stuck when I try to leave.

 

[Alan W.]

I was raised up that you never dug against the drive motors.
Always dug with the idlers towards the bucket.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

Seems pretty clear by now that the issue has never been resolved, and maybe it depends on the application.

 

[M59]

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.

I don't know anything about the qualifications of the "experts on the internet" so you should take 4570Man's guidance to heart as he is your only response to date who I know has extensive excavator experience and moves earth for a living.

Bottom line. Start digging and you will find out, real fast, what works for you and your projects.

 

[dfkrug]

Seems pretty clear by now that the issue has never been resolved, and maybe it depends on the application.

As a famous economist once said, "there are no 'solutions', only trade-offs".

This is your thread, and those of us with small Chinese mini-X experience know that almost everything under 2T has poorly protected direct-drive wheel motors. Conversely, branded minis use proper planetary gearboxes for wheel drives. Better-protected, but still way more vulnerable than the blade-side of the machine.

With super-light machines, branded or not, digging uphill is extremely difficult with the blade in front. And digging downhill is nearly impossible with the blade in back.

 

[Fixastuff]

If I move it to a location with the blade in front of me, and then I spin it to put the blade behind me, it makes it more likely I will get stuck when I try to leave.

This is a confusing statement.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

When I spin the excavator too much, it tears up the ground, and the excavator sinks to where it gets stuck.

 

[Fixastuff]

When I spin the excavator too much, it tears up the ground, and the excavator sinks to where it gets stuck.

Drive it with blade in back to dig spot?
I guess you don’t have drive pedals to lift/slee/track to make turning easier and less damage.

My opinion is the blade is a tool, use it in the best way to get the job done.

I don’t think there is any “truth” to digging on drive unit end damages them on mini or midi sized machines.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I've only been around the ones too big to have a blade. The guy I learned from was a lifetime heavy equipment operator and just started digging however he got to the spot. If it was more efficient to "back" to the spot then the back was now the front. I followed his lead, unless I was going to be in a rocky area long enough that it didn't waste too much time, then I would make sure I was digging on the idler side.

Also, don't dig the dirt out from under you, you might just fall over. I was also told that if you are digging at the side of a drop off to dig at least at a 45 so the counterweight does not go past the tracks on the drop off side. Goal being not to have the tracks parallel with the drop off, from perpendicular to a 45 is ok.

 

[Engineer42]

Depends on what's you're doing. Habit would be to dig over the idlers. If no thumb ya may need the blade to trap things you are picking up and dont want dirt mixed in. Just don't be banging the bucket into the blade. Seals won't like that.

 

[veedub]

When I spin the excavator too much, it tears up the ground, and the excavator sinks to where it gets stuck.

Part of the beauty of an excavator is aside from quicksand mud you almost never get stuck. You can nearly always stick the boom way out dig the teeth in and pull as you walk the tracks and get back to better ground.

That being said best to not tear the ground up and make a mess and have to fix it. If you need to do a full turn around curl you bucked under so that the back of the bucket faces the ground curl the boom so the bucket front of the tracks far enough away to clear as they spin. Push down and lift the front of the tracks in the air like a wheel. Up just enough to get it off the ground you don’t have to go crazy. Then you turn the tracks as you swing the boom. Go about 90 degrees and reset and do it again. If this doesn’t make any sense YouTube “how to do an excavator jump turn”

Learn this trick you will save a lot of turf and it’s easier on the machine.

As for your digging, like others said. It depends but most of the time if you are doing real digging, rocks, roots, stumps you will want the blade in front and set on the ground. Now you’d have to pull the blade through the ground to tip this gives you more force. Ditching without major rocks and roots as others say you have a bit more room on the non blade side. But also it’s on tracks so it’s really not that hard to walk as you go…