Pushing in New Roads and Trails

[3RRL]

Last weekend Loretta and I went up to the property for 4 days. We were going to spend Thursday and Friday looking for windows and doors and meet with the contractor. We were also having a neighborhood street cleaning work day to maintain the private paved road we share. We got everything done early so that left some time for me to create some new dirt roads and trails on the West side of the property.

That area, about 15 acres or so, is very wooded and has lots of gullies and arroyos throughout it. It is particularly secluded from the rest of the property because of that. We wanted a decent jeep & ATV trail that would open that part up for easier access. We also wanted some cleared trails for our evening walks so we don't have to hike through the dead fall, stickers and rocks at night.

So I started to cut a trail into that area from our main road.

 

[3RRL]

You may have noticed the large rock out cropping next to the Kama in the last photo? I soon found out the entire area was ladened with rocks and boulders! Avoiding the big ones was easy, but that wasn't the case in most areas. As soon as I cut below the dead grass, I would pop out a big rock or boulder. Then when I went to clean it up, I popped out more! It soon became obvious that I might not be able to cut into the slopes to level the road as much as i wanted to. I would have to carefully remove the rocks and replace the holes with as much dirt as I could find.

Aside from the steep slope in this gully, there were many rocks visible in the area near the West border where I wanted the trail to be. I knew it was going to be pretty tough on the tractor. Some of you may have already seen the thread about the field repair I had to do when I broke a tie rod end out here.

 

[3RRL]

This is a view of the opposite bank. I am going to cut a road through this gully using the fel and the boxblade from where the tractor was in the last photo.




This is what the road looks like working my way down from the top. Normally I would cut at more of an angle going down the slope but the rocks made it very, very hard to cut into the side of the hill. Instead, I tried to reduce the steepness by rolling the rocks down hill and pushing as much dirt over them as possible.




I did most of the road cutting in reverse using the back of my boxblade as a dozer blade. I knew I would end up bending one or both of my lower drag links doing this. After the rocks were exposed, I turned around and either pushed them with the fel or used the grapple to move them.

 

[3RRL]

I used the back grade method for a couple of reasons. I felt much safer grading backwards in reverse. Whenever I hit a big boulder, it would either slow down or stop the tractor. That gave me a "wall" and allowed me to pull forward (up) and reposition. I also avoided the biggest boulders I could see.

On the next attempt, I would push some dirt down with me and fill the hole. What this did is it created a safer, more level area (already cut) for my tires to be on. I had all kinds of control with my new hydraulic side links to cut as I wanted. I didn't want to risk doing it with the fel because it was too easy to drive forward, down the hill and maybe run over a boulder that would flip me over!

Here's a photo Loretta took as I was working the other side of the gully. Some of the boulders I took out were the size of a baby VW.




Another view of the opposite bank. You can see to the right how I wanted to cut across the bank sideways but gave up. Now it's going to be a fun roller coaster ride for the Blazer and ATV!

 

[3RRL]

Now here's a view from that opposite bank I was working. You might not be able to see how steep it really is. This part of the road is nearly done for now.



Here is the same view a little farther down. You can clearly see the difference in the dirt coming from different banks.



That Kama is one powerful tractor. I ended up breaking the tie rod end off when I got the fronts wedged over some boulders. I also bent the crap out of the 1" x 4" thick lower drag links. Also scraped all the nuts and bolts off of Pat's EZ Change system but it stayed on and held. The tractor had tons of torque and traction and I actually saw the lower lift arms bend before I could jam the clutch in. This happend while I was still on top of the first bank! Not bent enough to stop it from working though. I managed to finish what you saw with them bent like that.



Thought I'd share with you guys some more pics of my property and work there.
Thanks for looking...
Rob-

 

[Egon]

Neat! Nice pictures.

I have made a few trails out at "The Farm" but using a much smaller tractor and no box blade, only a rear blade.

We also have an ocasional rock. Slate/Granite/clay drumlin deposit on slate bedrock.

I had to work downhill with the bucket. On the side hills I'd get a level pad to start from and the just keep working down keeping the track level by cutting the side hill and filling on the downside.

 

[EddieWalker]

Hey Rob,

Nice job on your trails. I had the impression from your first post that this was gonna be a quick, easy fun little project that you're doing just to enjoy the afternoon. Then as I read along, it turned into a battle of machine and the terrain!!! Good to see you won, but the battle scars are fun too!!! hahaha

Do you think your trails will function as a fire break of any kind? I don't know how big something like that has to be, but I have trails around my place and when it gets to fire season, I make sure they are cleared.

Thanks for the fun read,
Eddie

 

[MikeB44]

I used the back grade method for a couple of reasons. I felt much safer grading backwards in reverse. Whenever I hit a big boulder, it would either slow down or stop the tractor. That gave me a "wall" and allowed me to pull forward (up) and reposition. I also avoided the biggest boulders I could see.

On the next attempt, I would push some dirt down with me and fill the hole. What this did is it created a safer, more level area (already cut) for my tires to be on. I had all kinds of control with my new hydraulic side links to cut as I wanted. I didn't want to risk doing it with the fel because it was too easy to drive forward, down the hill and maybe run over a boulder that would flip me over!

Rob,

Thanks for the safety tip on going slow and steady down a hill. I was asked today about clearing a riding trail. I hadn't thought about something close to the surface stopping the tractor. (A tractor doing a handstand on it's FEL is not a pretty picture or thought.)

Mike

 

[3RRL]

Thank you for the nice compliments, I was hoping you'd like the pictures. I always enjoy seeing pictures of what you all are doing on your property.

I don't think the roads and trials are wide enough to act as a fire break. I think (maybe wrong) they need to be around 30' wide to be successful? These are only 8' to 10' wide at best. I think it also depends whether there are trees or just grasses. I am going to repair those battle scars at home.

The safety aspect is important, especially when you combine steep slopes and uneven, rocky terrain. It makes for an accident waiting to happen....a recipe for disaster. Using the fel bucket I have "skipped" over some rocks and they end up under the tires. The bucket is also way out in front of you so you can't always see whether you actually picked up the boulder or not. The box blade is right under your nose and you can see what is happening there. I know being turned around for hours may seem like a real pain, but when you don't have a bulldozer, you have to make due. My seatbelt was strapped very tight the entire time and I could barely turn to see my backwards work. But NO WAY was I going to loosen it!.

Again, with the boxblade and tilting hydraulic cylinders, I could cut the road, keeping it level and stable. Most important thing is my tires were then on the "level" already cut part. It made a huge difference in how I felt when operating. When climbing up the opposite steep slope just to get on top so I could start cutting downwards, it was still scary running over many of those rock outcroppings.

 

[johnk]

That were sure some steep slopes. It had to be quite hairy going up them. I don't mind coming down them because You can always drop the box blade to steady you. Going up is what scares me.. Good job...