FEL Digging

[skipmarcy]

Getting a break today from my latest digging project with my tractor, raining but we need it here. Almost done with it anyway, I'm digging out to build a fair-sized storm room/root cellar in the hillside. Over the years I've read here from some that say a FEL is not for digging, I have to heartily disagree. My Mahindra has done much digging in the 9 years I've had it, with no toothbar or anything else other than occasionally using a subsoiler first to get the initial ground broke to get started. I've read the various posts over the years about people bending or cracking their FELs and/or parts thereof - I guess my KMW built loader is the exception to the rule. I work the heck out of it, I backdrag all the time with it with the front of the tractor off the ground quite often with no ill effects. I make sure bolts are tight and grease the loader every day I use it. If I use one corner of the bucket alot for chipping or pulling up on a rock etc. I make sure I work the other corner to match it and my bucket is still level after hundreds of hours of this use (my tractor now has 2135 hours on it). And no, I haven't done this all of my life either. Before I bought my tractor 9 years ago I had never operated a FEL of any kind. I just take my time and get some quality seat time in and get my projects done. 5 years ago I cut that whole hillside down to make the spot to build my house - that took awhile but was more quality seat time, wasn't many rocks in that area like there was on this current dig !! At that rear corner of the house I brought the grade down 5 1/2' and shuttled the fill over to the opposite end of the area. Took me about 3 weeks with a few days off for rain. The digging on my shooting lane is a long-term project that I work on when I get in the mood, I'm cutting the grade down at the 100 yard trap so I'm not shooting uphill so much. I've had to dig out some rather large stumps and rocks along that way, and am cutting down in stages too - originally the 100 yard spot was 18' above the grade at my tables.

That's about it for my bragging on my tractor/work. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do something with a tool until you try it yourself. Just take your time and teach yourself. If you go slow enough you'll be able to feel/hear/see what's going on and you can make it thru alot more than you think. Happy Tractoring to all !!!

 

[jbrumberg]

"Don't let anyone tell you you can't do something with a tool until you try it yourself. Just take your time and teach yourself. If you go slow enough you'll be able to feel/hear/see what's going on and you can make it thru alot more than you think. Happy Tractoring to all !!!"

I heartily agree. Good job, especially without the use of a toothbar.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Thats quiet an accomplishment with that small of a tractor without a toothbar. I have a Yanmar 4220 (45HP) and it wouldnt dig at all without the tooth bar. The first time I tried to backfill the perk test holes, it just skidded along and wouldnt pick up anything. Put on a tooth bar and now it digs TOO agressively so I have to watch closely how I have the curl.
My new LS P7010 will bite into more than I can push without a toothbar and I havent had any problems digging in even the hardest soil but it weighs roughly twice as much as the Yanmar at over #7500. Rocks give it a problem and without the toothbar, it is hard to get a bite on them to roust them out, so it takes a lot of deep digging to get under them. I use a box blade to loosen up the dirt to scoop it up most of the time because I can controll the depth of dig better in loose soil. Rocks give the scarifer teeth a hard time though. I guess I have broken or bent just about every tooth on it. Thankfully they can be sledge hammered back straight most of the time. I actually broke 3 of them (one tooth at a time) a couple days ago on big rocks trying to loosen them up a bit to get the FEL under them.
Your place looks great. I suppose your root cellar is going to double as a storm shelter. If so, make sure your door is not facing west. Best if facing east as all tornadoes come from the west so you dont want your door facing the brunt of the wind.

 

[DAY]

There are those who will tell you to rent an excavator- or hire someone with bigger equipment. But then some folks like to go "fishing" at the seafood store. . .
The Erie Canal was dug with shovels and wheelbarrows.

 

[TripleR]

We have always used our FEL tractors for digging and never used a tooth bar though we have used them on a skid loader. On our shooting range, we made the job easier by putting the ripper teeth down on our box blade and breaking it up or using another tractor with a mold board plow. Our shooting range took a LONG time and it would have been cheaper to have a dozer come in; also it got washed away in the floods this spring.

 

[Gary Fowler]

One other thing that I found the toothbar useful for is piling brush. I can scoop it or skid it and not pick up a lot of dirt. I usually use the Yanmar with the toothbar for this as small chunks get under the smooth blade on the LS and just raise it up off the ground so I do a lot of backing up to retrieve them. I do like the smooth blade for grading as it leave a smooth surface. The toothbar always leave the trenches where the teeth are attached. Different set up on the FEL on the LS means that the cutting bar wont touch the ground if the bucket is level, it has to tilt slightly into dig mode to hit the dirt, whereas the Yanmar will go way below grade in the flat mode. I dont know how many folks tractors are like that, but would be interesting to get some feedback.

 

[jinman]

I've used my loader and boxblade for many projects and done lots of excavating both with and without a toothbar. You can do some amazing things if you have enough time. On the other hand, if you are paying someone or need a job done quickly, there is is no substitute for using larger equipment. My rough excavation for my house (photo attached) was done in less than 4 hours by a man with a TLB. I helped by hauling off the loose spoils with my tractor as he excavated with the backhoe. There's no way I'd have been done in less than a week if I'd only had my tractor and boxblade.

 

[skipmarcy]

One other thing that I found the toothbar useful for is piling brush. I can scoop it or skid it and not pick up a lot of dirt. I usually use the Yanmar with the toothbar for this as small chunks get under the smooth blade on the LS and just raise it up off the ground so I do a lot of backing up to retrieve them. I do like the smooth blade for grading as it leave a smooth surface. The toothbar always leave the trenches where the teeth are attached. Different set up on the FEL on the LS means that the cutting bar wont touch the ground if the bucket is level, it has to tilt slightly into dig mode to hit the dirt, whereas the Yanmar will go way below grade in the flat mode. I dont know how many folks tractors are like that, but would be interesting to get some feedback.

Gary - Just looked my specs up in the service book and my ML112D loader can dig 7.9" below grade with a level bucket. I've always thought my loader was extremely well matched to my tractor in versatility and power and after all these hundreds of hours of heavy work, durability too.

 

[deepNdirt]

That is quit an accomplishment:thumbsup: I've dug a little over 3 ft deep and that was a challenge for my CUT, I been wanting to dig our family a storm shelter and by you digging that depth has inspired me to go ahead and start digging after all It's time for me to live up to my username

 

[IndyIan]

Good work! Hows your loader pins doing? And if they are good, what grease do you use?
I've got a good size pile of muck/top soil/clay to spread out with my tractor, 400-500 yards maybe, and common sense would say get a guy in to do it. But after my first 10 hrs of using a loader ever, I've made a significant dent in it, and its relatively cheap entertainment. I think I'm using a gallon of diesel every 2 hours or so, and I'm getting better with the loader. Picking out the big rocks from the pile is getting faster and I try not to resort to rolling them into the bucket myself anymore...
Its good to see what other guys are doing so I know what's possible with some seat time.