Pond diggin with a Ferguson TO35

[CsaUpstateNY]

I am in the process of digging a farm pond with a box blade, back blade and scoop.
I am really impressed with my new 1959 Ferguson TO35 it has 14" loaded tires and runs pulling circles around my Tiashen TS354c 4wd

I clearly did not have a clue how long it would take to excavate a 50'x 250' x 8-12' deep hole.

But this tractor is up to the task and I am having fun...

Oh yeah and quickly learned why it had bright shiney new draw-bars when I bought it.
They are not intended to push a box blade backwards... After the third time of bending it I welded a 1.5x1.5 angle the full length.
Added an adjustable sway-bar because it is stronger... don't know how I lived without it before.

 

[mguitas]

:welcome:

 

[CsaUpstateNY]

Thansk

 

[kiotiken]

Wow, that's about all I can say. I wish you all the luck in the world with it. We need updates, it seems like a near impossible task to dig that deep, that big with no loader. I would guess this project is going to take months, how long were you planning on it taking?

 

[Beltman60]

good luck and keep us posted with lots of pictures
:thumbsup:

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I am in the process of digging a farm pond with a box blade, back blade and scoop.
I am really impressed with my new 1959 Ferguson TO35 it has 14" loaded tires and runs pulling circles around my Tiashen TS354c 4wd

I clearly did not have a clue how long it would take to excavate a 50'x 250' x 8-12' deep hole.

But this tractor is up to the task and I am having fun...

Oh yeah and quickly learned why it had bright shiney new draw-bars when I bought it.
They are not intended to push a box blade backwards... After the third time of bending it I welded a 1.5x1.5 angle the full length.
Added an adjustable sway-bar because it is stronger... don't know how I lived without it before.

View attachment 329064View attachment 329066View attachment 329067

Welcome.

Yes there is a lot of difference between a farm tractor and mini/CUT form of tractor. A TO35 will not do much in a same rice field but will do a lot on dry ground where weight is a plus and not a minus like in rice farming.

What you are doing has been done many times over the past 50-60 years with just a scoop and back blade in the days before the box blade was invented. We had a 1962 801 Ford and cleaned out and dug several ponds when I was still home. They are better than a bulldozer in the last phase of building a pond when you need to remove more dirt and do the detail shaping.

Keep moving and hopefully rain will not stop you.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I am in the process of digging a farm pond with a box blade, back blade and scoop.
I am really impressed with my new 1959 Ferguson TO35 it has 14" loaded tires and runs pulling circles around my Tiashen TS354c 4wd

I clearly did not have a clue how long it would take to excavate a 50'x 250' x 8-12' deep hole.

But this tractor is up to the task and I am having fun...

Oh yeah and quickly learned why it had bright shiney new draw-bars when I bought it.
They are not intended to push a box blade backwards... After the third time of bending it I welded a 1.5x1.5 angle the full length.
Added an adjustable sway-bar because it is stronger... don't know how I lived without it before.

View attachment 329064View attachment 329066View attachment 329067

Welcome.

Yes there is a lot of difference between a farm tractor and mini/CUT form of tractor. A TO35 will not do much in a small rice field but will do a lot on dry ground where weight is a plus and not a minus like in rice farming.

What you are doing has been done many times over the past 50-60 years with just a scoop and back blade in the days before the box blade was invented. We had a 1962 801 Ford and cleaned out and dug several ponds when I was still home. They are better than a bulldozer in the last phase of building a pond when you need to remove more dirt and do the detail shaping.

Keep moving and hopefully rain will not stop you.

 

[CsaUpstateNY]

I figure Sept - October with 10-12 hours per week after work and weekends.

 

[Briana03]

Welcome to TractorByNet!

I moved your thread to the Massey Ferguson Classic/Vintage forum.

 

[The kid]

Looking at your tracks. It looks to me you should pull from the middle out wards instead of dragging dirt across the length. That way your hilling the sides and not having to pull the dirt as far. Good luck. It can and has been done with a box blade. Takes time though. BTW, stabilizer bars would help secure the box when backing up too. It's risky pushing dirt because if you hit a rock slab you could do severe damage not only to the empliment, but lift arms and upper hitch. -kid