Dirt Moving Is a FEL truely built to "dig" or

[two_bit_score]

Agreed, not ideal, but I don't have access to a backhoe or excavator, so we do some digging with ours. If it is more thn a few buckets, we run rippers or something then use the bucket to skim it up.

You mean there really is a reason even bigger dozers have those ripper things on back?

 

[Ken45101]

A long time ago, the Kubota salesman told me "they are loaders, not excavators".

Back before I had other equipment, I used either the teeth on a box blade, or a 3pt scoop for digging. Once loose, the dirt could be loaded into the front end loader.

A smooth bucket is about worthless for digging, at least in the soil here. Even on a 65hp skid steer, smooth buckets do a poor job.

Try too hard and you can twist the loader frame.

 

[creekbend]

I agree with the others. I have a toothbar on my FEL. This helps me to pick up debris and rocks.

 

[oosik]

I have a toothbar on my FEL - it helps get things up that are right on the surface. I "dig" with it after the ground has been loosened with my five tooth scarifier. Even with the ground torn up digging is slow and careful. A lot of times I will dig with the backblade.

 

[SDT]

While helping a friend move alot of dirt last weekend it became obvious to me me that a FEL was designed more as a material handler and not a digging tool. He rented a smooth bucket b24 and due to the smooth bucket and tractor size he was unable to be very effective at "digging", my little girl has teeth on her bucket but i seldom use her for just out right digging. When i am in the situation where i need to dig i use the BH to break up the material and then the bucket to move it. I can dig with the FEL but seeing the pressure and twisting forces that are applied i perfer to use the BH.
When you drive by a construction site you seldom if ever see a piece of equipment digging except a dozer or a track hoe, the wheel loaders with buckets shaped like most tractors are just doing "material handling". On TBN there are so many threads posted about trying to get a scut, or cut to dig better when in fact i dont think these were ever truely designed to be effective "diggers" in anything but loose material.

Bingo!

Farm tractor with FELs are not skid steers. They are not designed for excavation.

SDT

 

[LD1]

I agree that it isnt the best tool for digging. But if you take out digging ( and dont forget all the "do not push with" threads), you can take out about 90% of what I have done with mine.

I have dug out stumps from 12" ash trees. Leveled a hillside for my pole barn. Dug trenches 18" deep for some 4" tile, dug a hole to bury the neighbors dog, dug a hole to bury some things, and dug a 4' deep hole about 10' x 15' for my goldfish pond.

All of this before the BH, and alot of it before the teeth. It takes longer, sure. But can be done if you know what you are doing.


This was without the teeth. 3.5-4' deep in the middle.


An early shot of the pole barn construction. All a sloping hill. All the uphill was cut away and used to fill the lower side. This was before the teeth too.


Here is more of the barn excavating, just to show how deep I was digging into the hillside

 

[LD1]

I agree that it isnt the best tool for digging. But if you take out digging ( and dont forget all the "do not push with" threads), you can take out about 90% of what I have done with mine.

I have dug out stumps from 12" ash trees. Leveled a hillside for my pole barn. Dug trenches 18" deep for some 4" tile, dug a hole to bury the neighbors dog, dug a hole to bury some things, and dug a 4' deep hole about 10' x 15' for my goldfish pond.

All of this before the BH, and alot of it before the teeth. It takes longer, sure. But can be done if you know what you are doing.


This was without the teeth. 3.5-4' deep in the middle.
View attachment 335042

An early shot of the pole barn construction. All a sloping hill. All the uphill was cut away and used to fill the lower side. This was before the teeth too.
View attachment 335047

Here is more of the barn excavating, just to show how deep I was digging into the hillside
View attachment 335048

 

[compact]

Compared to a hand shovel, they dig wonderfully. For small jobs they can make do, for larger jobs it's hard on the machine and very slow, esp. below grade on hard soil / uneven ground.

 

[k0ua]

I agree that it isnt the best tool for digging. But if you take out digging ( and dont forget all the "do not push with" threads), you can take out about 90% of what I have done with mine.

I have dug out stumps from 12" ash trees. Leveled a hillside for my pole barn. Dug trenches 18" deep for some 4" tile, dug a hole to bury the neighbors dog, dug a hole to bury some things, and dug a 4' deep hole about 10' x 15' for my goldfish pond.

All of this before the BH, and alot of it before the teeth. It takes longer, sure. But can be done if you know what you are doing.


This was without the teeth. 3.5-4' deep in the middle.
View attachment 335042

An early shot of the pole barn construction. All a sloping hill. All the uphill was cut away and used to fill the lower side. This was before the teeth too.
View attachment 335047

Here is more of the barn excavating, just to show how deep I was digging into the hillside
View attachment 335048

yeah, but you have dirt:laughing: You are not going to do all that in Branson, Mo... I used to be able to dig too when I lived in Willard.. There are some places on earth, you can dig a hole with a FEL big enough to bury the tractor in an hour or two. And some places where you couldn't do it in a century:laughing:

 

[tlm720]

I have excavated countless yards of soil with my 4120. I used to own a 1010 Deere crawler loader and the 4120 will loosen hard ground almost nearly as well and move dirt faster in the long run because it is so much more manuverable and travels faster. I have dug out tree stumps I could barely move once they were loose. The crawler loader had WAY more hydraulic power in terms of lift and roll back so it takes a different technique with the CUT that took me awhile to get used to. If given a choice of the two I would pick the CUT unless I had a big load to move in a straight line over a short distance. Note the 1010 Deere and 4120 Deere have the same horsepower so it is a good comparison.

 

[workinallthetime]

I have excavated countless yards of soil with my 4120. I used to own a 1010 Deere crawler loader and the 4120 will loosen hard ground almost nearly as well and move dirt faster in the long run because it is so much more manuverable and travels faster. I have dug out tree stumps I could barely move once they were loose. The crawler loader had WAY more hydraulic power in terms of lift and roll back so it takes a different technique with the CUT that took me awhile to get used to. If given a choice of the two I would pick the CUT unless I had a big load to move in a straight line over a short distance. Note the 1010 Deere and 4120 Deere have the same horsepower so it is a good comparison.

dude your saying a 1010 crawler loader with tracks digs about the same as a CUT on rubber?

the post is more about the designed purpose of the scut and cut loader, everyone with a FEL has done a bit of digging some more than others including myself. I just find it interesting when barney buys a cut and then gets on here and complains it wont break through hard packed clay in august. blames it on the tractor or who ever made the tractor, stats bashing the brand, then all of us tell him to buy toothbars and add weight to the rear of the unit. Its funny in a pathetic kind of way

 

[two_bit_score]

dude your saying a 1010 crawler loader with tracks digs about the same as a CUT on rubber?

the post is more about the designed purpose of the scut and cut loader, everyone with a FEL has done a bit of digging some more than others including myself. I just find it interesting when barney buys a cut and then gets on here and complains it wont break through hard packed clay in august. blames it on the tractor or who ever made the tractor, stats bashing the brand, then all of us tell him to buy toothbars and add weight to the rear of the unit. Its funny in a pathetic kind of way

Are you , bro?

.

 

[dragoneggs]

I guess I am way too brutal on my little BX because I have been doing some serious digging on my sloped hill with the FEL and a Piranha tooth bar. I'm guessing a hundred yards moved in two terraces so far. Yes slower than a big excavator or dozer for sure but it can be done if you have the time.

 

[Bota4me]

Nice dragon! Im amazed what the mighty bx will do ( laughing) . I dug out a concrete pad w backhoe & moved it w fel about 1000# pieces! Couldnt lift it but would curl it so was good enough to carry to woods. Nice work btw

 

[Turbys_1700]

IMHO the best way to dig with an FEL is to take a box blade with rippers, loosen the soil up, and then load the loosened soil...
I know that is not an option sometimes but it makes it easier on the FEL frame...
I added a tooth bar last year and it works really well using this method...

 

[newbury]

the post is more about the designed purpose of the scut and cut loader, everyone with a FEL has done a bit of digging some more than others including myself. I just find it interesting when barney buys a cut and then gets on here and complains it wont break through hard packed clay in august. blames it on the tractor or who ever made the tractor, stats bashing the brand, then all of us tell him to buy toothbars and add weight to the rear of the unit. Its funny in a pathetic kind of way

Good thread for the teaching the unwary

I guess I am way too brutal on my little BX because I have been doing some serious digging on my sloped hill with the FEL and a Piranha tooth bar. I'm guessing a hundred yards moved in two terraces so far. Yes slower than a big excavator or dozer for sure but it can be done if you have the time.

Good work. You were essentially driving into a pile of material, the hill, WITH a toothbar and picking it up and loading it.

But if Harry Homeowner's main objective for his expensive piece of equipment is to make a large basement and a trench for a new house on flat hard clay, or to dig out stumps, or graves he would be better served with a different piece of equipment then a FEL. My manuals explicitly state not to attempt to dig more than a few inches deep at a time.

 

[LD1]

There are some places on earth, you can dig a hole with a FEL big enough to bury the tractor in an hour or two. And some places where you couldn't do it in a century:laughing:

I guess I would be the first one there:thumbsup: I do have good dirt for digging, and about no rocks at all.

 

[tlm720]

The 1010 crawler weighed twice as much so it would dig better and it would lift 4000 lbs., but the 4120 will get the job done faster and easier in most cases unless there was a big pile of dirt to move straight ahead 20 feet. The horsepower is the same so it becomes all about the efficiency with which you can work. I don't have much rock but I do have lots of hard clay. I wouldn't have believed it myself until I actually bought the tractor and used it. Some of it is the difference between the hydrostatic and the 5 speed with reverser the crawler had. I'm sure a more modern crawler with hydrostatic would be a different story.

 

[workinallthetime]

Are you , bro?

.

life's to short to be just trying to help the newbies understand the difference between a "material handler" and a dozer. they can and will dig no doubt about it, but given the choice of to buy a bh or not after reading this thread will help with that decision. i know my scope of work was greatly incresed with the bh.
i have owned a massey 175 with fel and bb, john deere 301a with fel and bb, some litttle kubota thing i would rather forget i ever owned, a bx23 and my current b3030tlb. the massey and jd both would dig in our sandy soil like no tomorrow, problem was they did not have 4x4 and you could get stuck pretty easy with a full load of dirt.
As i stated on the first post my neighbor rented a b24, and was very unhappy with the "digging abilty" of the unit. He asked me to come help and make sure i had my teeth on, after about 15 minutes of working the FEL i turned around and got busy with the bh. utilizing the BH made the process quicker with less stress on the tractor.

 

[oosik]

I dig some with my FEL and at some places on my property there is actually more than 6 inches of dirt over bed rock (basaltic lava) but not a lot more. I take it slow and easy - I'm in no hurry besides digging with the FEL is a slow process anyhow. For any digging I follow the recommended procedures in my Kubota FEL OP manual (Kubota calls it peeling & scraping). I've never in thirty years experienced any problems however I'm not digging large holes with it either.