My front parking lot is a real mess due to 2 factors: 1) It was badly asphalted, someone laid asphalt directly on top of dirt 45 years ago 2) I use heavy forklifts unlike the previous owner The result is that an area 50x50 feet is now basically dirt. The asphalt has completely disintegrated and been ground into that dirt. Trucks can drive on it but forklifts cannot except for my Taylor. I want to dig out a foot of surface dirt and replace it with proper stones. My question is, can I do the digging with my bobcat S300? Is it capable of such digging or can it only handle loosened dirt? I use it mostly in winter for snow and sometimes in summer to break concrete for scrap projects.
If you have a tooth bucket you sure can.
Agreed. Teeth will make it much easier, unless you have some way to scarify/rip the existing dirt. Teeth would still make it easier, but digging in hard packed dirt/stone with a plain cutting edge takes a lot of power (inefficient).
Yair . . . . But we all get carried away at times with so called "inefficiency". As I read his post ichudov is talking about excavating an area fifty feet by fifty feet and a foot deep. It would be pretty "inefficient" to equip a bucket with teeth just for that little job. I do"inefficient" excavation with my farm tractor with a smooth bucket by scratching up a bit of dirt and laying the machine on a bit of an angle to get a corner of the bucket to bite. In no way am I saying it is possible in his case, the ground may well be too compacted . . . I am just saying there are sometimes ways and means beyond those what are generally accepted. I think it was one of lantraxco's quotes that us poor folks sometimes have poor ways. (Big grin) Cheers.
Yair . . . Woops double posted, I'll see if it deletes
You nailed it Scrub Puller. Some times you have to "run what you brung". 50x50 is darn good experience.
I did the same kind of job, well, it was digging deeper, I welded up a bar that went over the cutting edge and just hooked, then welded chopped up coil spring sections on the bar so I had about 30 teeth, two inches long, it dug like crazy then.
If it's not solid rock then the machine will do it, may take some time and be aggravating but it'll do it. You might want to check your local skid steer dealers and see if they have a used tooth bucket. A mini-ex or backhoe will be min. $500 a day to rent, you might be able to pick up a used tooth bucket for close to that price and have it for future use.
You said you drive equipment on the dirt, so it's probably packed down extremely hard so that's going to make digging pretty difficult. Consider renting a tooth bucket for a day or maybe a weekend ..return on Monday, unless you know someone (a contractor) you can borrow one from. The $100/day or whatever they charge for the rental in your area will save you a bunch of time over using a regular bucket as well as wear and tear on your nice machine. That might be worth it right there. The difference between teeth and no teeth is pretty dramatic. Also, it's worth checking Craigslist or local equipment sellers for a used one (or a used bolt-on tooth BAR). You *might* get lucky and come across either, but generally they are hard to find in 'decent' condition. If you do, a decent tooth bucket is always worth a certain amount used and you could sell down the road and probably get all or most of your money back. The problem with searching for a used one is you could spend a bunch of time ($$) searching every avenue and it might be time better spent just renting one unless you wanted a tooth bucket anyway for other work. I myself had given up looking for a used tooth bucket when I was looking and just happened to spot one at a larger construction equipment seller for $700. Maybe your local rental yard is ready to sell an older tooth bucket too. It might not hurt to call around and see if there is a contractor looking for a few small 'filler' jobs to keep his guys busy between other projects. You may get a decent price to do it and not have to worry about hauling any dirt away. Hey, good luck!
My thinking was if there was asphalt ground into the ground by the weight of the equipment, the ground is going to be mighty hard. If not a tooth bucket, a box blade with the scarifiers to break it up for him would be immensely helpful.
If it's real hard best to dig with maybe a third of the bucket at a time once you get a flat spot the depth you want. Corner hook and keep the bucket about half full for the extra weight. That works out to around 90 yards of dirt which isn't that much.
If you don't have a tooth bucket just about any equipment dealer around you should have one you could rent for a day or 2. Should be easy to do it, thats a good sized machine.
Sorry guys But for what its worth just go rent a mini to mid size excavator . We rent them for 200 bucks a day.Then you can use the skid steer to grade .
For the size machine you'd get in my area for that it wouldnt be worth it.
I wish I could rent a mid sized excavator for $200 a day. It's possible to rent one for less than $200 a day but that's a monthly rate.
With your inventory of scrap steel I would look around for a piece and build a single shank ripper attachment that would mount in the center of the bucket . Rip in a cross pattern and then remove it to scoop up the dirt & asphalt . We just have a smooth cutting edge on the skid loader bucket and it digs pretty good in given conditions . Then we install the back hoe attachment for tougher conditions like ripping , yanking on concrete , asphalt ,tree stump's and stubborn culverts . http://www.heavytruckforums.com/showthread.php?263-Some-Holmes-750-action&p=2471&viewfull=1#post2471 Will you go back with concrete on the pad project ?
No CM that is our daily rental rate .We have a small ma and pa rental house and for 100 miles around these are the rates .Even the Bobcat dealer rents s450 for 150 a day and that cuts into my skid steer rentals .You will pay more money to rent from the big guys.
That's cheap for a mid size excavator and when I say mid-sized I'm thinking 308, PC78 17-20K excavators. I rented a 420F with a hammer on it and it was right at $1,000 a day.