How deep will a Middle Buster Dig?..Ask Mr. Owl

[RobJ]

Mr. Owl of Tootsie Pop fame??? :d

Ok so I fiddled around with this mondo MB this weekend. I played in some sandy loan because I knew my L would not be able to pull it in anything else. This so called MB is off an old Farmall, sort of stuck on my multi tool bar thingy. It's 12" tall sitting in the ground and about 21" wide at the widest point.

Conclusion, it'll only dig as deep as the MB is tall. After that dirt will pile over the top and fill the hole. Looking at the pics it seems to make a nice deep trench, not really with the dirt piles up on the ground. I had my top link pulled in all the way so It wouldn't go much deeper on a second pass. On the second pass I only got a little deeper (then the hole fill problem). Added to the second pass troubles my narrow tractor and driving over the furrows it was hard to control and I fell in once.

For grins I tried it in hard clay, it dug a little but I didn't push it, I didn;t want to break anything. It would pop little brush clusters out of the ground. IF you line up just right. Probably easier to just mow over them.

So if I need a 12" trench...this'll work fine!

Rob

 

[RobJ]

Popping the bush and some clay action..

Rob

 

[kvmapr]

RobJ.

That's pretty cool. Where can I find a multi-toolbar thingy like that? I have a bunch of ideas I'd like to try out, and that toolbar would be just the ticket.

Thanks,
KVMAPR

 

[RobJ]

Well it's a 100% homemade piece. Everything welded up from stuff I got at the scrap yard. The 3pt part is version 2.0. I made the first one to light and ripped it off! I hard to add more pieces to support the top link. The tubing is 4" square tubing. 1/4" thick. The parts with the plows attached on them came from my Uncles scrap pile. I didn't make those. They slip through the square holes I cut there. A bolt keeps them for coming out.

A couple more pics..BTW, the last picture was version 1.0. I think it lasted 20' in that clay before the welds broke. The angle on top of the tube wasn't going to work. Version 2.0 has solid 1"x1.5" bar going through the tube and welded in place. Holding much better now.

Rob

 

[wushaw]

Now that's a ditch digger

 

[kossetx]

Rob, 12" should be fine for most aplications in your area, no?

 

[RobJ]

Oh yeah. Freeze depth around here is a couple inches. With some spare time I was just doing a little controlled testing. It is interesting how "deep" it "looks" with the spoils on the sides. I'll probably never use it again but I have it!!

Rob

 

[Barneyhunts]

I don't think I see a rock in any of those photos. I often wondered where the tractor trailer loads of rock I see being hauled out of here (N.E. Pa.) are being sold. Maybe now I know.
Nice set up, by the way!