Aug 31 - Sep 4 : Rocks
I must have had a long weekend because I got a lot done. Prior to this, I had been struggling with getting things into the bucket, even with the Heavy Hitch toothbar. Big rocks tend to roll forward, especially when they don't physically fit in the bucket. And hooks are just handy to have for all sorts of things. I went and added JU Fab Works' The Work Boss to the front frame and 2x Choremaster Plates to the bucket. I already have a variety of chains and hooks and such so this gives me another option to use them!
Those few rocks I'd been scalping that I wanted to dig up back in Aug 28? Turned out to be a bigger job than I expected.
Rocks:
More Rocks:
Even More Rocks:
You can see how I've started to push them towards the edge of the river. The plan is to place them along the bank and it'll look nice. There is an abrupt transition and rocks there will not only look better but hopefully prevent some erosion in the future as well. I had the shanks down at the highest height and I couldn't go a foot without hitting a rock. What I ended up doing was covering all the area with the box blade to identify the rocks, put the BH on to dig them up, repeat until no more rocks.
Not done yet, but lots of progress. Right now I am just getting the rocks out of the way and putting them near where they will ultimately go. Tidying up will wait until spring.
I am thoroughly impressed by what this machine can do. No, it's not big or powerful enough to brute force every problem, but if you think about it like a puzzle, there's nothing I haven't been able to figure out how to get from point A to point B. Between pulling stuff up with the backhoe + thumb, using the bucket and chain to lift rocks (some so big I got it half an inch of the ground - but that was enough!), curling the bucket to roll rocks along that were too big to lift, or using the bucket or box blade as a dozer to simply push stuff around, it gets it done. SURE BEATS A SHOVEL!
Kids love going for rides.
I must have had a long weekend because I got a lot done. Prior to this, I had been struggling with getting things into the bucket, even with the Heavy Hitch toothbar. Big rocks tend to roll forward, especially when they don't physically fit in the bucket. And hooks are just handy to have for all sorts of things. I went and added JU Fab Works' The Work Boss to the front frame and 2x Choremaster Plates to the bucket. I already have a variety of chains and hooks and such so this gives me another option to use them!
Those few rocks I'd been scalping that I wanted to dig up back in Aug 28? Turned out to be a bigger job than I expected.
Rocks:
More Rocks:
Even More Rocks:
You can see how I've started to push them towards the edge of the river. The plan is to place them along the bank and it'll look nice. There is an abrupt transition and rocks there will not only look better but hopefully prevent some erosion in the future as well. I had the shanks down at the highest height and I couldn't go a foot without hitting a rock. What I ended up doing was covering all the area with the box blade to identify the rocks, put the BH on to dig them up, repeat until no more rocks.
Not done yet, but lots of progress. Right now I am just getting the rocks out of the way and putting them near where they will ultimately go. Tidying up will wait until spring.
I am thoroughly impressed by what this machine can do. No, it's not big or powerful enough to brute force every problem, but if you think about it like a puzzle, there's nothing I haven't been able to figure out how to get from point A to point B. Between pulling stuff up with the backhoe + thumb, using the bucket and chain to lift rocks (some so big I got it half an inch of the ground - but that was enough!), curling the bucket to roll rocks along that were too big to lift, or using the bucket or box blade as a dozer to simply push stuff around, it gets it done. SURE BEATS A SHOVEL!
Kids love going for rides.