Newbie question - Takeuchi TB135 mini excavator operation on slopes

[ctann]

Hi all,

I have been lurking around this site for quite some time. I have 18 acres of steeply slopped land, that I am slowly developing. After a lot of research, I finally purchased a Takeuchi TB135 mini excavator to help me out with the work. I know this forum seems to be more geared towards tractors rather than Mini-exs, so if I would be better off posting these questions somewhere else, please give me a pointer...

I have only a dozen hours in the seat right now, but I'm getting the feel for the machine. I cut a pad for my water tanks, and a short connector road this weekend. All this work was on a relatively steep side slope, but I had a nice flat starting point, so by cutting and filling was able to keep the excavator nicely level and stable.

The road on my property is in good condition, but steep - hitting 20 degrees in some places. The TB135 is rated for 30 degrees, so I felt pretty comfortable running up and down the road (blade uphill - of course). Now in the research I have done on mini-exs, the advice is always to operate the machine in a level position - if necessary cutting a flat spot to set the machine on. My question is, when I am already on a road that is sloping 20 degrees, how do I safely cut a flat pad for the excavator? The end of the pad I cut this weekend joined up with the road, and the transition from the flat to the slope was about the only time my pucker factor was high... now that was cutting from the flat side first, I would have been much more wary if I had been trying to cut the flat pad from the slopped road. At one point I stopped while driving down the slope, and considered swinging the boom around to drive back up again. Even that felt a little precarious, and I wound up driving down to a much shallower sloped part of the road before swinging the boom.

As a follow-on question, I have some trenching work to do (running water pipes). I had planned to run the trench down the middle of the road, but again, that means operating the machine on a 20 degree slope. Is that safe, or would I be better off renting a trenching machine for that work. My ground is pretty rocky (pulled out some very large boulders when cutting the pad), so I am concerned that a regular trencher wouldn't do the job... If I do the trenching on the slope, am I best trenching moving uphill, or downhill? It seems moving uphill would be more stable, but at least downhill there is always the boom in front to act as a support should things go wrong...

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[yankeerider]

Why do you feel the need to keep the blade on the uphill side? With it downhill, you can lower the blade as a means of leveling the machine.

Sent from my iPad using TractorByNet

 

[ctann]

Why do you feel the need to keep the blade on the uphill side? With it downhill, you can lower the blade as a means of leveling the machine.

That was straight out of the Takeuchi manual. I know with other equipment on slopes, you want to keep the heavy end uphill, thus it made sense to me to keep the blade uphill - although I can see your point about using it for leveling.

http://www.hireone.net/images/downloads/TB016-operators-manual.pdf (page 18).

By the way, the Takeuchi manual also says "do not use the dozer blade as an outrigger" - and I see that being done all the time in youtube videos. Anyone care to chime in as to why Takeuchi would make that recommendation?

Chris.

 

[JoeL4330]

If you are working on a slope, your manual and physics agree: (a) work/travel up and down slope (along the "fall" line) rather than across; and, (b) keep boom up the slope and low. This still allows you to cut a level "bench" above you and then move up onto it. You may pucker a bit as you move up onto it, but this is illusory: the effective slope is reducing as you move onto the bench. (think of loading your mini-ex onto a flat bed...up the relatively steep ramps, appear to "hang in space" for a sec, and then plop down.)

Now you are on a pad and effectively no longer on a slope. From the pad you can continue to cut the bench (full bench is always preferable) across the slope, perhaps angling down gently and "switchback" as required.

Incidentally, as I read what I just wrote, I realize it may seem counter-intuitive that if you are at the top and want to cut across, you first go below your desired cut and work above you ...when the temptation to just cut below you seems so obvious...but you can only safely cut below you when you are level, not when you are on a steep slope.

BTW, I believe part of the reason for advising that you always travel with the blade in front is to avoid confusion... having the controls work "backward" part of the time.

 

[paulharvey]

You use the back fill blade to pick up the down hill side of the machine to level it out when working on a slope like that.

 

[Recoveryhill]

By the way, the Takeuchi manual also says "do not use the dozer blade as an outrigger" - and I see that being done all the time in youtube videos. Anyone care to chime in as to why Takeuchi would make that recommendation?

Chris.

The diagram in your manual shows the hoe being operated near a drop-off with the dozer blade lowered on the hoe end along with the warning not to use the blade as an outrigger. I don't think they mean not to use the blade opposite the hoe end to level the machine. Even when legal disclaimers and warnings are written in a native language they are confusing. Add translation from another language and you're on your own. The intentions are good but they always go overboard to avoid litigation.

Every time a lawsuit is directed at a particular issue, another disclaimer/warning is added to the kit and once one equipment manufacturer adds one, they all copy the addition. Ask yourself if you have common sense and if you can honestly answer that you do, operate this and any machine using that skill.

An example is raising the tracks off the ground using the backhoe and blade, before changing track width. Well, hello? If it didn't occur to you to do this to begin with, common sense is lacking. Oh...and using the blade along with the hoe to lift the machine is using the blade as an outrigger.......so there you go.

 

[PILOON]

I have many hours on mini excavators, all brands and sizes.
On slopes I always 'back up' (blade down hill) and stick uphill for balance. When in position, lower the blade to level the machine and then rotate the boom to work. I have also come down hill with the bucket up front and lowered using it as an outrigger and skidding on the backside of the bucket.

If you need to move a large rock (on level ground) squeeze it between the bucket and the blade and raise both blade and bucket at same time. You will be amazed at the size of rocks (boulders) you can move that way.

As said, bucket and blade to lift the machine: great way to clean out the tracks!

While locking one track and skidding a turn is cool, it is also the fastest way to throw a track. Better to use the stick and raise a track and use the stick side force combined with track turn. Re tracking is no fun.

 

[ctann]

Thanks for the replies, some excellent information. I am actually looking forward to getting back on the slope this weekend.

I agree that common sense goes a long way, but mistakes are easy too when you're a beginner - I don't want to learn this stuff the hard way! Here is a snapshot of the work I did last weekend:

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[MHarryE]

Your Takeuchi manual is opposite what my Caterpillar manual says. Mine says to always lower the blade before digging for stability. It also states the recommended method for spreading and narrowing the track is to raise the front with the blade, high as it will go, then raise the rear using the boom.

Part of my job my last few years before retiring was accident investigation so I ended up getting a lot of accident pictures. Minis are very accident prone. I don't know if it is just that operators get overconfident and screw up or if it is something else. The important thing is you are safety conscious. As for cutting a trench down the middle of your very steep road, that will be a challenge but I think you can safely do it. I have worked on some steep slopes but I have followed my Cat manual instructions and have leveled the machine with the blade before digging. The I worked slowly and carefully.

 

[Recoveryhill]

Your Takeuchi manual is opposite what my Caterpillar manual says. Mine says to always lower the blade before digging for stability. It also states the recommended method for spreading and narrowing the track is to raise the front with the blade, high as it will go, then raise the rear using the boom.

The Takeuchi manual fails to instruct to lower the blade before digging but this is common sense. The Takeuchi manual does instruct to lift the tracks off the ground before changing track width.

I think the OP's understandable confusion was created by a drawing of the machine on the edge of a cliff with the blade on the hoe side, lowered, and warns not to use the blade as an outrigger. This is just poor technical writing as what was meant was not to use the blade as an extension of the machine base to achieve stability, on unstable ground. Don't operate on unstable ground, period and certainly don't expect a lowered blade to fix things. The blade can and should be used to level the machine on a slope before digging and to stabilize the machine while digging, anytime.

Any machine with a rotating boom, on rubber tires or tracks, is an accident waiting to happen if one violates the laws of physics. This is especially true with cranes but applies equally to conventional backhoes and trackhoes. With minis, the narrow track width simply tightens the envelope of what is safe in a boom swing with weight on the bucket since unlike cranes and conventional backhoes, it doesn't have outriggers to counteract the tipping force. Trackhoes depend on counterweight and track width to keep them upright. The good news with hoes is the bucket being engineered so that if on flat ground, the load weight is a known commodity and the counterweight and track width are engineered to keep it upright. On a crane, with a hook and god knows what attached in terms of load, the variables are wide open.

For a skilled operator one can use the hoe arm as an outrigger and survive some extreme side slope maneuvering but you won't find instructions for that in any manufacturer's operator manual......