How to get clay out of backhoe bucket?

[tallyho8]

I am hoping that the chains work as well as they look like they will. I can't wait to install them but right now I am waiting for a new hydraulic pump to come in as my old one went kaput. I probably damaged it trying to shake the bucket to remove the clay.

I estimate this job will require removal of about 300 buckets of clay. Now if you allow 10 minutes to get off the trencher and manually remove the clay, this means 3000 additional minutes or 50 more hours to do a one day job. If I can't get the clay cleaned out easily I will hire someone who gives me a total bid in advance and let them get stuck with the clay problem.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have 1 foot, two foot and three foot buckets. Any extra time to use the larger 2 foot bucket is time well spent, over using the 1 foot bucket in sticky material.

 

[1010]

Find a stump or a post and rub the inside of the bucket over the solid object. Materials like clay take finesse, don't try and cram it full, let the teeth do the work filling the bucket loosely with material.. You will find out quick how aggressive you can be.

 

[PILOON]

Some time ago I had a tracked digger make 500 ft of trench for a foundation pour in clay soil.
And man was it sticky, Walking the length of the dig would add 2-3 inches of clay to your boots.
It was so bad that my 4 x 4 PP could not drive and had to be towed.

What the operator did was (once found) drag a 10-12 inch large rock that he'd pick up an his bucket and shake it around to loosen the clay.
He did that every 3-4 scoops or so.
Worked fine.