FEL for leveling and digging

Anonymous Poster · Jun 19, 2003

I tried to use my FEL to level out a high spot in the lawn. I ended up digging in and making a lot of ruts with the tires. I had a hard time breaking the sod and getting down to soil. I have seen great examples on how to brush hog, does any one know the tricks for using a FEL for this job. Is there a better tool. I wanted to flatten out a small (12 x 8) hill that was being scalped by my MMM and spread the soil around.

equipman · Jun 19, 2003

LouG
Really the best tool for leveling is a good old fashioned box blade. The ripper teeth loosen hard packed soil, the cutting edges cut and fill the box with material and the box carries that material from the high spots to the low spots. The loader bucket can be used to carry additional fill.
Lewis

rancar · Jun 19, 2003

"...I ended up digging in and making a lot of ruts with the tires. I had a hard time breaking the sod and getting down to soil...does any one know the tricks for using a FEL for this job..." 

What you need Lou is a toothbar. See pic attached. Placing one of these on your FEL bucket and then back dragging, you'll then be able to dig well into that mound you're referring to. Talk to Mark at KC Canary. He'll price one out for you.

...Bob

kensfarm · Jun 19, 2003

One trick I use w/ the FEL could work for you.. I curl the bucket back towards the tractor.. (like you would if dumping a load) so that the cutting edge is pointing towards the tractor.. sorta like a make shift boxblade edge.. by lowering the bucket and going in reverse.. you can scrape and cut into the high area. Adjust the angle for different results.. w/ the blade being more verticle it will scrap more.. increase the angle(towards the tractor) and it will cut in more.. raise & lower the FEL for changes in the terrain. Hope this will work for you..

CTyler · Jun 19, 2003

Sounds like maybe the ground was a little soft(wet) or you took to big a bite and spun the tires or both.

From your profile it appears you don't have a box blade. A BB would work well. If you just have a little to knock off you might try back draging with the FEL. Curl the bucket all the way up, like you have a bucket full of dirt. Then lower the bucket, add some down force and drive backwards. The heel of the bucket will act like a scraper.

The other option is to use your tiller to break it up nice and soft. Then use the FEL to carry it off or spread it out.

The last option is use this as an excuse, I mean Opportunity, to buy a box blade.

DKinWA · Jun 19, 2003

I've been doing the same thing and I've found the box blade to be the best tool for the job. The first thing I do is take a heavy enough cut to peel the sod off and then take heavier cuts after the sod is gone and out of the way. I've also found there's kind of a "sweet spot" when the soil moisture is just right for doing this. Too dry and it's tough digging and too wet and I make a rather large mess. I'm with whoever said your project sounds like a good excuse to add a new toy uh... I mean tool. Too me, I find the box blade is just as useful as the fel. When I bought mine, I was a little skeptical on it's usefullness, but not anymore!

DKinWA · Jun 19, 2003

Oops. I got so excited about the idea of buying things for tractors I forgot to add to finish my thought about soil moisture in my earlier post. If it seems your soil is very dry you might try watering it a bit. You don't want to get it soggy wet, but just kind of damp. If your soil is already really wet, you might want to let it dry out a little. I know when I've talk to the farmers around here, they've told me that soil moisture is very important when working the soil. Too dry = hard work, too wet = stuck tractor /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

frank_f15 · Jun 19, 2003

use a toothbar for , getting the dirt loose and then the fel to backdrag it level, also helps if the ground is not to wet, mud don't level very well. just takes a little practice.

Anonymous Poster · Jun 19, 2003

Thanks for all the replies I will have to try all of the methods. The soil was a bit wet, a tooth bar is in the future.

Anonymous Poster · Jun 19, 2003

( I tried to use my FEL to level out a high spot in the lawn. I ended up digging in and making a lot of ruts with the tires. I had a hard time breaking the sod and getting down to soil. )

The other posters are right, it would probably be easier to do with a box blade. I found when dealing with sod and the FEL I put the edge of the bucket right on the spot I want to start at, give it about 20 to 25 degrees dump and some down pressure, then creep slowly forward until I get just below the sod depth. Then I roll the bucket back to almost level and move forward slowly until the bucket is full. Once the sod is exposed it's easy to get back underneath. This has worked well for me on several occassions when doing small areas. Also, back dragging with the bucket in full dump can smooth out the bumps etc. It all takes some practice and patience and there are definately easier ways.

jinman · Jun 19, 2003

Lou, you have had some excellent replies and advice from the folks here, but you have to accept one thing: You are going to make a mess of your yard if you try to smooth out sod with a tractor. Anything other than a wheelbarrow and shovel will leave tracks and the dirt will be a mess to work if it's full of sod. The best approach I have found is: 1) remove sod, 2) level soil, 3) replace sod. A tractor isn't "magic" and there are just some things we can't get them to do...at least without making a little mess. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Anonymous Poster · Jun 19, 2003

so that the cutting edge is pointing towards the tractor.. sorta like a make shift boxblade edge.. by lowering the bucket and going in reverse.. 

Don't know if this is true with other FELs, but my manual specifically warns against using the bucket in this manner as it may damage the bucket hydraulic cylinder. Not that I haven't done it too /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Jeff

RobertN · Jun 19, 2003

As others have mentioned, get a tooth bar for digging. Without the toothbar, your loader is more suited to, well, loading not digging.

Look at the digging a Bobcat can do with just a bucket. Most of the time, you'll see those guys with a toothbar. Some, like a friend of mine, have two buckets. One has a toothbar, just for digging. The othere is a plain bucket which is just for smoothing or loading/scooping material.

Without a toothbar, use a scraper with rippers. The rippers can break up, or scarcify, enough so you can scoop with your loader.

AndyMA · Jun 23, 2003

( so that the cutting edge is pointing towards the tractor.. sorta like a make shift boxblade edge.. by lowering the bucket and going in reverse.. 

Don't know if this is true with other FELs, but my manual specifically warns against using the bucket in this manner as it may damage the bucket hydraulic cylinder. Not that I haven't done it too /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Jeff )

It is basically true for all small front end loaders, but there much more of a chance of bending cylinders if the bucket cylinders are extended. I'v smoothed many areas over the years by loosing it with the bucket and pushing some extra material to one edge and then backdragging it with the bucket about level to the ground. With a little practice you can do a very good job this way. If I only have a small area to do, this is the way I'll do it even though I have a 7' box blade and york rake. Just drag with the bucket parallel to the ground.

Andy

herbenus · Jun 30, 2003

I've done all my leveling with fel. Not as good as bb, but it's what I have. The post about dragging back is correct, you'll get smoother results. You can do this forward too, but it takes a good touch. Your sod is really the problem. I have a spot on my place that I'm moving. The sod is so tough that when I try to move a load, I wind up just tearing sod a little and getting no dirt. I've learned to first loosen sod by gouging as required, then picking up load. You'll probably have to remove sod (with fel or toothbar) before you'll be real successful at leveling with fel.

Anonymous Poster · Jul 1, 2003

I was using my 7308 fel, tc30 with the bucket curled back toward the tractor scraping in reverse and popped the fel off it's front mounting pins. That bucket came 2' up in the air, scared the &%$%#@ out of me. The down preasure plus the pulling caused those two 3/4" thick hook plates with 2 grade 8 3/4" bolts each to shift on there slotted holes. So those hook plates were on top of the pins instead of under them. I loosened the front hook plates and got them back under the fel mounting pins check everything out and it does not appear that I bent anything but there was major concern as the tractor is barly 6 weeks old. This happened Sunday evenig, I fixed it last night , had to stop at Sears after work to get 1 1/8" scocket and wrench, I will be at TCS tonight for that $300 5' box blade. well there is my first bad experience with my new toy/machine. and will not try to cut hard ground that way again.

TC18guy · Jul 1, 2003

If I understand your post right, the FEL came off the subframe? It doesn't sound like the bolts were tightened to begin with. Your FEL should have easilly handled the use you described. If those bolts were loose, you're lucky you weren't carry a load with the FEL!

Anonymous Poster · Jul 1, 2003

Sounds like the hooks were not torqued properly, (but that might not have been a bad thing) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif You could have bent the curl cylinder rods. You might want to check to make sure you didn't damage them.

rmonio · Jul 1, 2003

I don't have a toothbar for my bucket (although I am getting a HD bucket going forward) and I, too, was having problems leveling material well with the FEL. I recently purchased a BB and that made all the difference. I've used it for everything - leveling ground prior to spreading black dirt, ripping/tilling/leveling my garden, etc. As we say in the dog world, this brace pair (FEL and BB) really rocks!

Go with the BB - I think you'll find it to be perfect match.

-Bob