TODAYS SEAT TIME

[BrokenTrack]

I went down in the gravel pit today to do a little exploratory digging with my tractor, but the ground is still frozen.

I did get up on top and pushed some debris from logging over the edge, but it seemed like I was doing more harm than good. When the ground does thaw out, at least I know I can get on top of the bank and push down quite a bit of gravel so when I do start hauling, I can dig it out of the bank easier.

 

[Oldpath05]

I went down in the gravel pit today to do a little exploratory digging with my tractor, but the ground is still frozen.

I did get up on top and pushed some debris from logging over the edge, but it seemed like I was doing more harm than good. When the ground does thaw out, at least I know I can get on top of the bank and push down quite a bit of gravel so when I do start hauling, I can dig it out of the bank easier.

I notice that to, weird, one place I can sink out of site then go some place else and still frozen, at least you have gold..........

 

[Oldpath05]

I managed to get my tractor stuck in the holler again yesterday... was building fence, crossing a small creek, wanted to get a fallen cherry tree out of the creek to clear the path for the fence... front wheels got too far over the edge of the bank, and the more I tried to back out, the further in/down it went... a hour later, with the help of my wife and 2 sons, two ATV's, chains and come-a-long, it came out. Forks on the loader were nearly useless to self extract, tips just pushed into the soft damp dirt. Had the bucket been on, I likely would have bucket curled my way out. Not this time...

Nice pics, I like your exhaust pipe protector, you didn't like the exhaust blowing forward? My ammo box is on the other fender yours is where my tea cup holder is.

The last time I got stuck my tractor was just the opposite so I couldn't use my pto winch, I did use my atv, hook it to a tree then double up the 3000 winch with snatch block to the bucket, also a com-along and chain on another tree, did you know those are great for exercise, if needed, then my son brought both to full pressure then I rolled the bucket and eased the tractor out.

 

[Oldpath05]

That's .. why grapples are great.

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Yes they are but not sure if my little tractor is big enough, I know my wallet isn't that's where my ten dollar log stoppers shine and speaking of shine I bet you could win the shiny tractor and tire contest or come in a close second, what brand wax you using.......

So which grapple do you like best for picking logs and or rocks? Do you know how hard it is to get rocks in the bucket I almost have to have them up hill so's scoop them up, very aggravating.

 

[Jstpssng]

I often have to scoop them up, then shovel out all of the dirt which comes up with them. I find some pretty big boulders when plowing my garden.

 

[Oldpath05]

Speaking about logs rolling out of FEL, this happened shortly after I got the Put-Together working in 2005. Notice the forks are fully curled back and now pointing straight up. It is a good thing it was lopsided and could not roll :

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I think you have the only tractor that when of if a log rolls off backwards it wont hit the driver just the drivetrain which mean it will stop the tractor not the driver, that's acceptable and temporary.............

 

[Oldpath05]

I often have to scoop them up, then shovel out all of the dirt which comes up with them. I find some pretty big boulders when plowing my garden.

Yup so a grapple might work best on picking up rocks only. I find if I have to get off and on, on and off or on on off off the tractor, I get mad and bent out out of shape, and the only cure for that I know of is some how get in the shiny tractor club..................

 

[Jstpssng]

Yup so a grapple might work best on picking up rocks only. I find if I have to get off and on, on and off or on on off off the tractor, I get mad and bent out out of shape, and the only cure for that I know of is some how get in the shiny tractor club..................

Mine was shiny when I got it, but it didn't stay that way for very long. It's all set up for a grapple with SSQA and Land Pride controls, I just don't have the $1800 to spend on it right now.
I also have a lot of brush to clean up and 11 stump piles from when I had my field cleared, so eventually will have one.

 

[Jstpssng]

I went down in the gravel pit today to do a little exploratory digging with my tractor, but the ground is still frozen.

I did get up on top and pushed some debris from logging over the edge, but it seemed like I was doing more harm than good. When the ground does thaw out, at least I know I can get on top of the bank and push down quite a bit of gravel so when I do start hauling, I can dig it out of the bank easier.

I tried to find some gravel to fix a road a couple of weeks ago, but nobody had a pit open. You really need an excavator to open it right now, and nobody could afford to do that for 4 loads.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I tried to find some gravel to fix a road a couple of weeks ago, but nobody had a pit open. You really need an excavator to open it right now, and nobody could afford to do that for 4 loads.

Like OldPath05 said, it is hit or miss. In some places I could take a bucketful, but not in other places. BUT...the working face of my pit faces North and not South, so that is why it is what it is. With all the snow we got, it is just easier to wait until it is all thawed out really.

But my pit sucks anyway. It has good gravel quality wise, but I do not dig enough out of it a year. For the last 100 years, people dig here, then there, and so on, but it grows back into trees faster than we dig out of it, so there are burrow pits and stumps galore. I really need to get a big bulldozer in, flatten the area, and start over. But it is a catch 22 because I do not dig enough out of it a year to justify doing that.

Last year I dug 700 cubic yards out, and that was a lot for that pit. A few years earlier I dug out 350 cubic yards, so it really is not a lot of gravel.

What I really should do is, rent an excavator for a day, and just dig as much gravel out as I can in 8 hours, and make a big pile that I can dig into with my tractor easier, but as with most things, it is just easier to pick away at it with my tractor one bucketful at a time, and haul it where I need to a little at a time.

This is my gravel pit so you can see what I mean by being pock-marked by burrow pits.