I started this thread to discuss finish grading with skiploaders, also called landscape loaders (Deere), industrial loaders (Cat) or loader/toolcarrier [?!] (Case). So fire away with any questions, comments or experiences. Also I’ll pepper in some current and past projects (ala rollover pete!) and some custom modifications I’ve made to make the job better or faster. A little about me- I have been an equipment operator in southern California for over 20 years, but I started at the very bottom, running shovels, water hoses etc for a company that did mostly oilfield work. Like many small companies you work your way up as you show ability, and most of the guys there could run everything that was needed. I spent a lot of years as a mechanic, then dump truck, water truck, loader, dozer, backhoe etc as was needed. I instilled in me the importance of versatility, and how you will always work if you can do every job. I eventually had the chance to hook up with a union company, mostly running backhoes, and a little skip work. After that I worked for a while doing a big mass grade in Orange County, and every time the foreman asked if I could run something I said yes! So by the time I left there I had run every machine in the spread. There were some good times on D9s and push-pull 637s! After that I got called out of the hall to run an 824, and as the job was winding down the owner asked if I could run a skip, as he had one but no operator. So the next day I was out on his skip, still covered in spider webs from being parked! He was a great boss and I was with him over 5 years, He had a bunch of equipment that was all paid for but not enough work to keep operators so it was just me, running the D8L, 950 and skip, with occasional stints on the D6 and 623. Good Times! It was all rental work so I was in a different place every few days. Well the other equipment eventually got sold, so it was just skip work. There was a medium sized mass grader who really liked my work, and kept me busy all the time. They said I was the only operator they did not have to babysit, that is, they lined me out once and didn’t have to worry about me for the rest of the day. They even had me working unsupervised on Saturdays, unusual in that industry. That, and I could keep up finishing house pads behind 3 D6s with lasers, sometimes 25 a day. As I became closer to them they kept telling me I should be working for myself, I already was just like being an owner, I did all the maintenance, fueling, etc and did not see my boss for weeks at a time. After much convincing I decided to take the leap, so I sat down with the boss and shared my intentions, and offered to buy his skip. He declined the offer but was very encouraging, and gave the fuel tank I had been using, (full of fuel!) and helped me get set up, including forwarding all his skip clients to me. So in 2003 I refi-ed my house, found and bought a skip, fixed it up, got set up with the union, a corporation, etc all just in time to start a pretty big job, like 200 house pads. I was in the black before I left there They kept me as busy as I could possibly be for several years, problem was, I lost touch with all the clients I had gained from my last job. I had all my eggs in one basket. So guess what happened next- the bottom fell out. So now I get by, with odd jobs and fill in work and selling antique tractors and parts from the collection I amassed when the money was good. Anybody need any help?
My tractor of choice is the Ford/New Holland 545D, as I’ve been working around these tractors for my entire career. The same basic tractor is under the early 555, 655 and 755 backhoes and is based way back in the 2N/8N/9N and its agricultural decendants. This is my first tractor all fixed up and ready to go to its first job. It has since paid for itself several times over, it’s pretty worn and in semi retirement. I bought another one just before things fell apart, and it's paid for, so when the time is right I can jump right back in...
Good to have you here. I have always wanted a Skip but have never been round one.
It has always seemed to me a 580 size skiploader-with box scraper,and a pc-45 would be a great combo to own!
Yesterday I had a job placing base for a hospital parting lot with a JD 210LE. Mixed placed and graded 300 tons in about 6 hours. There was a fancy new Cat on the job, what's unique about them is the joystick control for the box. I've only got to play with one for a few minutes, and I can see how it could be pretty fast once you learned how to use it. From an owners POV all i see is a bunch of electronics to go bad. For those of you unfamiliar with skips this is the same control on the Deere-
I too got to spend a little time with the CAT skiploader. I didn't like it. It's center of gravity was too high and I thought the controls sucked. It would be a great machine for loader work but I think it lacks in the finish grading department. I have well over 10,000 hours on skiploaders, and in that time have been on a lot if different ones. I personally own and prefer the John Deere. If you do a lot of work like in your pictures, check out the roadrunner grader attachment, www.roadrunnerblade.com . What you did in 6hrs. you could do in about 4hrs with the roadrunner. They are great for finishing grading large areas, roads, and spreading material. I got my first one over 7 years ago. One of the best investments I have made.
Hey Bob- Wow that is pretty handy! I can see how if someone had a large contract it would pay off. Re: the 6 hours- I was waiting for trucks, too..
The bigger problem in California besides no work is the taking of the older machines by the CARB folks - oh, they dont actually take the machine, just the operation of it. * The JD and the Case are the fave's around here as long as they are 4WD - the low end torque of the JD motor causes a little more wheelspin than the Case. Put some material in the bucket and place machine in 4WD then one can cut some grade. * The Roadrunner blade box - does it have two blades? One at a skewed angle? I saw one once but would typically run a Gannon as for myself.
CARL,Thanks for posting this ! Boxblade work is an art and it takes a feel just like everything else. I grew up in this business and my father always prefered ag tractors for boxblade work, thats where our reputation got started in 1979, but i have never operated a commercial boxblade tractor. We have been doing more dozer work lately but i am considering another tractor. After all those years of TRACTOR NECK, you know what i mean, i discovered they have swivel seats !!:Banghead I am leaning toward cat or deere but also discoverd the ag tractors are coming out with swivel seats now. The controls on the CAT i am really interested in because its more what im used to but i am willing to think out side my little box. Any input would helpful and would love to here opinions on the other tractors! :notworthy May we all have success!:drinkup
This is my first and only Ag tractor and I went WAY out of my way to eliminate tractor neck. For utility work, tractors just seemed backwards to me but a skid steer didn't fit the bill either. You can't see in the pic but the entire operator station can rotate forward or backwards in about 15 seconds. Steering, dash, controls, seat, everything spins as a unit. As long as you are aware of what is behind you it's really easy to use the boxblade in reverse and it becomes a nice dirt pusher going forward. Actually I think I got the direction of travel switched around but you get the point. When I find some time I'm going to add hydraulic cylinders to one of the 3-point arms and top link for more precise grading without having to make manual adjustments. Since the direction of work I do is split about 50/50 between my other attachments I couldn't figure out which direction to mount my tires so I split them 50/50 as well.
Gotta ask, what is that !?? Looks cool and very outside the box! Never seen any thing like that in Okla. , dealer support ???? :beatsme
It's an Italian Antonio Carraro steep slope vinyard tractor. Great dealer support in PA, don't know about Okla. though. The US importer is in California and they seem to stock a boatload of parts. The price of new was out of my budget but I found a used one in Arizona. I was working on the A/C and all of the metalwork around the engine was still off.
dirtmonkey- I don't have any experience on the Cat but my primary objections would be that they are HUGE, expensive, and that the joystick controls 6 or 7 functions, so there are that many switches, wires and solenoids (or whatever) to fail. At around $100 an hour a $5 part can lose you $500 pretty quick. Oldandworn- Same question- what the heck is it? You have some great ideas, i was thinking of doing the same thing with a JCB Fastrac or other equal-size-wheel tractor they offer. Think about how sweet it would be to finish next to an inside curved curb with a articulated or dual-steer tractor! On tractor neck- On the 545D, I use a remote hydraulics adapter to move the control valves from the trans to the top of the right fender (look close at post #2). We call it "Massey Controls". Also i add right side brake pedals so I can sit side saddle, that is, both of my feet are on the right side, so my head does not have to swivel all the way around :roll
i run a tractor in snow thats looks just like your 545d execpt mine is only two wheel drive 7.5 truck blade mounted to the front and runs off the remote hyd. which have been moved off the tranny and on to the right fender and on the back is a large capacity box blade works good for backing up to garage doors and pulling away
Carl, It seems skip loaders are a california thing. nice 545. The cat one seems too high, like its just a backhoe with a gannon. I like the deere myself, followed by the 545.
Yeah, BL. I have heard that they are less common in other parts of the US. SO, everyone else, how do YOU grade parking lots and sidewalks? Finish grade building pads?
There are a few around here, but the term "skiploader" isn't. They are just "loader tractors", or occasionally "landscape loaders". I always thought "skiploader" was just a regional term for any front end loader. Most grading like that here is done with little dozers and graders, though we've always had 1 or 2 around.
Parking lots and Building pads = Dozer or Grader with lasers or GPS Sidewalks = Dozer, Grader, Skidsteer or Mini-Excavator depends on size, how much and type of conditions I've only seen a few landscapers with old Ford tractors like that around here, blows my mind you'd use a tractor/box grader to grade 200-300 house pads. Always interesting to see how different regions of the US use different equipment and methods.
dirthog- just to clarify, the skip isn't grading the the pads, just finishing them. It varies, but the company I worked for punched pads with D6s with lasers, and a grade checker doing layout, to within 1/10th of an inch. they would usually let the dozers get about 50 pads ahead of me so they would not be it the way. Then I come in, slick off the slopes, pretty up the toes, cut the neatlines and spin out the pad. I could get 15-25 a day depending on the size, material and details. The funny part is all my work sometimes only lasted a few days, (but it looked great!) and the underground guys would show up and blow it all away. But it had to be done to get approved by survey, soils, gov agencies, and the developer, so we could get paid. It was satisfying to know that after all the dirtwork, sometimes millions of yards, with all the equipment involved, what people actually SAW, was MY work.
Do not see my of these tractors used around here. I can see how they would be nice to do a fast site clean up. I have often wondered if a JCB Fastrac would be a good multi use tractor for stuff like what you do. Would like to see some pics of the work you do.
I was doing some work in washington state and had to sub some paving work out, they use mini excavtor to do the removal, I didnt see too many bobcats up there, and no skip loaders. I wonder how the dozer get in and around parking island planters. I dont see any dozers on small commercial sites, and rarely a blade (grader for the rest of the country). The rest of the country is missing out on the skip. Every paver out here has a one toothed gannon and a roller behing the dump. They even pave asphalt with the gannon.
wnydirt- Funny thing about finish grading- the better you do, the less it looks like you did anything and pics just look like nice, flat dirt. I'll post some as this thread moves along, but the subtleties of swales and grade breaks are usually lost. These pads are for a row of tack sheds at a horse ranch. All the cuts, fills and slopes were done with a skip. There was NO hand work before these pics were taken. Each pad is about 10' wide and the slopes are 2-3'. See what i mean? Hard to tell what it is. I don't know of any other machine that can leave this level of finish. But I'd love to hear how others would do it...
never seen one of the size over here, some of the landscape contractors I know use them on ,mini tractors.......
I have driven the CAT around the lot and it did seem like a hoe with a box blade, kind of splashy . Havent demo'd a deere yet but, will soon. The reality of it is we can still buy a 40-60 hp ag tractor with a cab and more toys for the base price of skip.We normally make e few mods like fluids in tires and stick extension on the draft ( or 3 point ) control for more precise control .Thats probably what Ill end up with , no more than it will get used, it should last a life time. Although it would be nice to have the power and weight of the skip...the never ending dilemma.
Carl, here in Okla. residential house pads and final grades are done starts to finish with either a CTL or tractor and boxblade , most with starting grade of 2 feet or under, anything over that i normally use my dozer depending on the situation. My preference is to use the ctl if i can and with very precise or "pavement" looking results. On finals around homes i use a 66' wide ctl with a 4n1 bucket and a smaller skid under 4 feet or a small 13 hp tractor with a boxblade.The way i see it is i have a $65,000.00 wheel barrow and rake, so if i have to use the reel thing something went wrong! Although there is a proper time and place for everything. ointhead What sucks here in Okla is 5 foot building line between homes when it comes to final grades and we have more hills than u think and tyring to keep the ROPS from taking out the fence next door when keeping to the 3.5:1-4:1 slope:Banghead:Banghead
Anyone used the Case 570 ?
We dont use them here much. THe only 2 contractors here that have them locally is APAC has a 480LL with a gannon and Bonds company had either a 580 or 480 similar set up with a 4 in 1 . He sold out to APAC and bought a few machines back and does sub work. I ran a 545 a little and really like the down pressure, power top link and side link grading much faster than an ag tractor. In 2wd you can loose traction but I put it in 4 wheel drive and a ful bucket and it has some power. One a friend had I built him a durabilt style grader blade with a roller on back and a flip down bock for material moving. Around here most grading is done with a dozer but my brother does alot with his D Allis Chalmers grader. My old 3550 Ford hoe is built like a 545 with a hoe and 2wd. THe hoe clamps on the back a sorta quick tach. They did have a power lift attach ment that fit into the hoe's place and had a valve bank on it and ran a Gannon box. I think the whole set up was Gannon. Im wanting to build one for mine so in the winter when Im not using the hoe I can have a beefy landscape loader.
In the early days of the first company I worked for they ran Ford 4500s with the hoe that hangs on the back. Two big bolts and two hyd lines and off it came. They would do a backhoe job one day and a grading or mowing or discing or rototiller job the next, all with the same tractor. Talk about low overhead! Except for some upgrades, my 545 is identical to a 4500. Doing skip work with a manual trans sucks, the shuttles were real nice when the came out, and four wheel drive revolutionized the industry.
I see more deere 210lj's on the commercial side of things but none with a cab. A used rental might be an option but i really prefer a cab. From what i can tell deere still has the PTO where as cat does not, that would be nice. I could run my old toys
CARL BTW that was nice looking work on that hillside!:notworthy Setting your own grade and laying those out must have been fun
Thanks dirtmonky. I dunno if this makes it better or worse, but It was all eyeballed. There was no layout done or measuring devices used There was a level on the gannon, a trick I'll show later as we get into mods... Re: PTO- Really? I had to look that up. I thought PTO's were lost as they got away from ag-based tractors. Now that the 3-point is part of the frame i wonder where they snake it thru? If anyone has a pic, I couldn't find one on the web...
Ah Ha! I just needed a few more minutes on the web. According the the JD parts diagrams, ( http://jdpc.deere.com ) it is a hydraulic pto, with motor and gearbox mounted in the 3-point structure and a separate (from the main) pump. Seems like that would make a LOT of heat...
A friend has one as a yard mule for his implement mfg facility. Its a Ford but built more on a TLB frame. It looked like a 455D. It has a PTO on it and a weight box and hitch. It also has a set of forks and a jinpole for the loadser to. The PTO had and air compressor that had a tank on the counter weight. Its jup for sale in a few months and I was thinking about buying it if its within reason. My 3550 has the same hoe set up as the 4500 I even had a beat up 4500 for a few months one time. My 3550 lacks the lift levers, and pto and pto levers. I lost a pin off the swing tower on the hoe and unhooked it. It was useless with out the rear weight so I fount a forklift counterweight that I made a hitch like the hoe has. I plan to put liquid in the tires and make the lift for it and a Gannon style box for it.
The Case has the same type hyd PTO available
skip loaders are pretty popular here with asphalt crews, landscape crews, concrete crews, pretty much everyone uses them
Ah yes, the ol' bubble in the butt:cool2 I remember as a kid i use to hold grade rod for my father befor lasers came out but as i got older i took an old brake hub from an old 57 chevy, welded a piece of pipe in center to hold the rod and a chain handle hold so i use the transit one man , just alot of walking back and forth ointhead THANK GOD FOR LASERS!
I've pulled alot of dirt with a Gannon box blade behind a 2 wheel drive Ford 545 industrial tractor (no loader). Don't you guys on the west coast call that a double skip or something like that? The key to making that 2 wheel drive tractor pull is weight on the tires and use of draft control of the 3 point hitch. That was where the Fords and Masseys excelled over the Case 480LL, 570MXT, JD 210LE, etc. I never will forget climbing on a new 2 wheel drive Case 480LL with a Gannon box and down pressure on the 3 point hitch. What a joke! when you down pressured the box blade the weight transferred off the back tires and you went nowhere. I could pull more dirt with my old 42 hp Massey ag tractor. The box blade is kinda a lost art around here. Everybody finish grades with skid steers now. I can still make an area look slicker with my old Ford than just about anybody can with a skid steer and I don't need a helper with a rake following me around.
Myself, i would never have another 2wd except for sweeping streets. When we got our first 4wd i knew then that was the way to go! On the residential side especially, but thats my.02 .
http://www.machinerytrader.com/List...atid=1046&mdlx=Contains&SO=2&btnSearch=Search These are the northern michigan version of the skip loader. Its funny cause anywhere in lower michigan or anywhere else has no idea what it is when you say domor
stevel- Yes they can certainly pull a lot, and nothing has come close to replacing them since they were discontinued around 2002. There are only two types of companies around here that still use the 545 in that configuration (2wd, no loader)- Footing trenchers and yard pullers. Both work exclusively in new construction, usually residential. The footing guys all have small, ancient bucket wheel trenchers and can turn out work at an alarming rate. Yard pullers come in after the house is built and put the final profile on the yards. I have not heard the term double skip. Never seen a Domor either, but they are unknown in their own state
Got some rare aerial view of the job i did last week-
Nice looking work Carl. Do you have a hydraulic top link to adjust the angle of your box blades? Can you apply down pressure with your 3-point? Most Ag tractors can't and can only lift up.
I know the Domors, been kicking around the idea of picking one up.
O&W, absolutely! It is probably the most important adjustment. I've seen guys try to grade using the lift, hovering the box as if it were a blade (dozer or grader). They soon find it is impossible. The JD skips have down pressure, altho it's reliefed light so you don't lift the tires. My 545 does not, it still has the Ferguson System from all the way back in 1934 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Company ). I don't think it functions much while grading, and it takes a lot more technique (and ripping) to make them dig without down pressure.
Thanks for the info and Ferguson link. I have only used my box one time so far and that was to fix the very long entrance road to my property. The road hadn’t been maintained for 30 years and it was full of very deep ruts plus it had high and low spots like a roller coaster ride. I was not fun because I had to constantly get off the tractor and manually adjust the top and side links. It was quite a learning experience getting the highs and lows smoothed out and took a lot of up and down adjustments on the 3-point. If I just left the box dragging on the ground it would make the lows lower and the highs higher as the tractor would run up and down the elevation changes. In the end I was very pleased with how smooth the road turned out and it has a nice crown now so it doesn’t collect water anymore.
Good work there Carl! I have been away from the boards for a while. Reading your post looks like alot of what I went through mirrors you. The difference is I mostly use bobcat's , of course that is what I own!. I see you have one there. I can load trucks faster with a skid steer than I could with a skip loader but on finish grade one (Skip) can't be beat. Are you staying busy?
O&W, wow you earned that road the hard way! Modern non-ag 3-points have a lift that will apply down pressure or float, and hyd rams on the top and both side links to tilt and pitch as needed. Reel- That's not my skid it belongs to the contractor i was working for. I'm just an hourly rental. I have seen guy load trucks fast with a skid, looks real easy until you try it
More pictures Carl !:notworthy:notworthy
I few more pics, the big slab in the background is poured onto the base i graded in post #5. This part will be an asphalt parking lot with a thicker drive section. The drive section also had about 100 yards of spoil on it that I loaded out in my 'spare time'.
I don't miss skiploaders at all my neck hurts just thinking about them. I liked JDs never did get the hang of Cats joystick and hate Fords ETC with the directional pedals.
Wow this kept me burnin' some fuel. 900 tons on the ground before noon, then another 500 the next day...
A couple more
just did a small parking lot that got me thinking of this post Carl. It was to small for a grader. ended up doing it with a mini excavator and loader because that was all I had. Wish I had a skip onsite. would have made short work of it and could use it on alot of other things. Awesome pics. Very nice work would love to see you in action.
Very nice looking! What kind of material are you working Carl? I assume you are using the rear blade with some down pressure for the final touches.
Hello O&W- That mat'l is CMB, or Crushed Misc Base, also called recycled base, made from crushed concrete and asphalt. Also used is CAB, Crushed Aggregate Base, made from rock but more expensive. Yes that JD has down pressure, but i can finish the same without. Keep in mind that in these pics it has already been rolled- like paint, it can hide a lot of sins
Really Sharp work there Carl
Graded these tank footings this week. there were only 3 but it took 3 days. I upper portion i had to do with all those stakes there. What a pain! I call it 'Forestry Finish" because of all the standing wood The soil was a huge pain, too- sand, full of river rock. I'd make a pass, then labor would jump in and move all the rocks. Then repeat. Hundreds of times. On top of all that, there was ZERO tolerance. The whole thing is AT GRADE. I usually get a tenth to play with, but I spent hours cutting hundredths. And there was a constant, bone chilling wind the whole time. And it was two hours from home. Whined enuff yet? Also a good example of how fine grade just DOES NOT PHOTOGRAPH.
Yair...carlsharp, please forgive my ignorance but as regards grade you say you work to a tenth of an inch? How is that possible and why is it required...not too many concrete finishers around here could hold that on a slab...LOL! Nice work you do and cheers.
Amen to that Scrub Puller !! Finishers around here pour the " SELF LEVELING LIQUID " and half of them cant get it right ! I get tired of always being the guy that has to do it right so every one else can half*** it. I recently did the subgrade for a $2,000,000.00 home. The home belongs to a local foundation engineer . I watched the footing crew work and they never once set up a transit or laser, or set any grade pins to pour to!:Banghead Lazy or stupid ? :idontgetit Sorry for the rant :soapbox
Ha I re-read my post and realized it would really impress a machinist! Grading plans are drawn, and surveyors mark stakes, and grade checkers check, in tenths of a foot. So when I say hundredths, it's of a foot. For comparison there are 96 1/8ths in a foot. Really fine jobs grade to within 3 hundredths, but most are within a tenth.
I use a 4520 cab john deere cut for my work tractor with 6' Gannon on it top and tilt. I love the size but the tractor needs improving.
Thanks for posting your skiploader experiences Carl. Skips aren't something you see a lot of discussion about on the web. Growing up on the West Coast, fine tuning before pouring concrete or placing asphalt and finish / landscape grading using a skiploader where just how things were done. I ran a bunch of rental skips for contractors I worked for and then for myself for twenty years after I got my concrete license. I relocated to Texas a few years ago and can tell you that skips are a foreign piece of equipment here. Most finish grading is done using skidsteers which are absolutely everywhere. What I'd call rough grade seems to pass just fine for finish grade too. You can tell it does since most properties in my area of North Texas have absolutely terrible drainage. I'd love to upgrade to a Deere 210 LE, but with the economy being what it is, I have to do brush hogging and a lot of other ag related jobs to stay busy, so I use what I have, a hydrostatic CUT. I continue to advertise and push drainage grading though. Maybe someday it'll catch on!
Same here in Oklahoma the honey holes are gone. It's getting more competitive here too. The jobs that get the lower bid always have issues to deal with later after sod has been laid. I had a guy once tell me to teach guys how to do dirt work. I told him it takes years to develop the skills it takes. And you have to want to do dirt work or it will show.
More work pics.
So how do the Case loaders stack up? Iam loking at a low hour 570LXT with a Gannon blade. I need something to run onto the back of a single axle tipper, with the aid of alloy ramps, and this looks to be ideal. There is also a Cat machine for sale here too, a little larger machine, but almost twice the price. These machines (with the Gannon blade) are practically unheard of here in Aus.,this one has been imported from the U.S. I thought it might be good for small,but distant, road repair jobs, save having to travel with the grader. Cheers, Greg
I love the Case Skiploader. They were the first ones (I think) to come out with a platform machine. The old Fords and Masseys you would sit astraddle of the transmission, and it makes working over the rear all the time hard for most. Especially the older ones with the gannon controls in front, between your legs. Case figured it out, and raised the seat up so it can swivel, and put the gannon controls on the fender so they are easy to work while swiveled over looking back. I think it is much better that way. The John Deere 210LE's are the same way, and those 2 are the best chopices for skiploaders. The other thing Case did right is offered hydraulic downpressure, instead of only float like the ag tractor conversion Ford and Massey's. I can remember running a Case and it would have enough down pressure to lift the rear tires off the ground. Not that you would want to, but that is also why they are 4X4 as well. You can still float the Case, and it has a detent to do so, but if you want to carry grade, it will hold where you put it. The Case is pretty rugged as well, and the tractor is basically the same as their backhoes. I have seen them still running strong after many hours of use. The only trouble I have seen is a front planetary failure with many hours and operators who never took it out of 4X4 for travel or work on hard surfaces or asphalt. For what you are describing, I would think it would work out perfect, and the longer you have it, the more you will find to do with it.
Thanks for the reply Jerry. Would you know what the hooks on the bucket are used for? I've seen several advertised stateside with exactly the same setup. Also this machine is only showing a little over 1200 hrs on the clock but the rear tyres would only have about 10% wear left, the fronts are brand new . Do you think it would be possible to wear a set of tyres out in this amount of time? Cheers, Greg
The hooks are for floating forks. For picking up anything from pallets to pipe.
The rear tires being worn down like that is an indication that the previous owner used the machine on pavement quite a bit. Probably used it mostly in 2WD as well by the look of the fronts. The 570 is a nice skip.
Looks like a good one to me. You can get the forks that slip onto the hooks for material moving. They are a pretty cheap way to have a forklift around when you need it. Just another way to make a very handy tool even more usefull.
Real handy machine, I bought an 05' 570MXT a couple years ago for some tight base rock work. Also good for rock knock down if the trucks over run the grader Just keep the oil changed in the planetary hubs ( they don't hold much) and diffs, particularly the rear where the brakes are. Nice machine !
http://www.arrowforklift.com/bucket-forks.html This is another idea that I haven't seen here. There are plenty of backhoes with forks, but they are permantly mounted to the bucket and fold over the back of the bucket when not in use. Nearly every farm in the country would have an ag tractor with a loader, but they all have forks on a frame which are swapped with the bucket. How do they fare with O.H.&S. rules, which seem to be getting crazier by the day? Cheers, Greg
I have a set of forks for my 953C like that, only a little beefier. Very good for carrying pipe and structures when you are running storm or sanitary in rough places. They don't get used much but when you need them they are priceless. I don't know what our OH&S (OSHA) would think about them or if they have made a "clarification". I wouldn't feel comfortable using them to pick and place things that require finesse but for a pick and carry, I don't see anything unsafe about them.
Or...My tractor is used mostly for gravel work and my fronts wear about 50% faster than the rear tires. The fronts have probably been replaced. That would make more sense.
Here's a job I've been doing off and on for the last few weeks. 1400 cu. yds. of compacted, select fill for landscape grading and the access and 200 cu yds of base for the driveway. I still have work to do on the road and landscaping as the subs get out of the way. The home was built 3'-8- above grade to take in the view.
That's quite a shack you're working on.
Yes it is. The owner says he's "gonna show" his brother in Ca. what he can build here in Texas for the same price. He's acting as his own GC / super. When I told him he'd need over 600 yards just to get in his garage he looked at me like I was crazy. He doesn't think so anymore. No plans or elevations for my end of the job, not much input from him either on what he wants. I just grade it out the way it works best and looks balanced and he loves it.
I started out running a Kubota B7200. It had a loader and a Gannon box out back. Later I moved up to a 2wd Case 480LL (loader/landscaper?). It took some patience to move dirt w/o 4wd. I've run the Fords too (like yours Carl) and they felt very primitive. It must be the noise and sitting on the tranny like that. They were the first 4wd units that I ran though. They sure moved dirt compared to the 2wd units. Never could find a use for the draft feature though. Can anyone say what, if any, advantage that may offer? I saw the first Deere 210s come out, C model I believe. Again, a 2wd unit. I thought the "new fangled" down pressure was cool but very easy to loose traction w/o 4wd. Ford did also offer a platformed unit later on. It looked as though it was based on the triple nickel. I have never tried the Cat but I do like the Case 570s. Since I have moved to CO (from SoCal.) I have not seen many skip loaders. I know a guy who has a 570, and another who has a 210. There is a large paving contractor in town who has a couple 210s. I now do all my grading work with my 416 TLB (4x4 and 4-n-1 bucket) and/or my AWD skid steer.
Let me guess that "shack" is either in flower mound or pilot point?
Actually in Sanger. They've been building some large homes near the lake the past couple of years.
yea since all the Quater Horse farms starte flocking to area it got a big injection of money in the early to mid 90's. I have several friends that live right on FM455.
Yep. I have a friend that built a monster home on 455 as well. This particular home is about five miles south of 455. It's still Sanger, but I believe that just across the street is Denton
must be right on the line. heck i remeber when they built the new highschool in sanger, that was a big deal. Then when the light tower blew down another big time event.
If you remember the stone mansion just south of town on the the west side of 35, vacant with no windows and critters living in it for years? It now has windows in it, so it looks like they may finally finish the house. They sold the bottom land to the ISD which turned it into a park with some really nice baseball fields, picnic areas and jogging paths.
Yep i even know the story behind it. they put windows in it a couple years back i thought?
I believe so. Probably when they made the deal with the ISD. I've heard several stories, the most common one being that they inherited money and ran out before they finished the house. I've only been in the area since 2003. I attended a few events at the indoor arena next door and always wondered what the h*ll happened with that house.
HI-JACK! Call the NTSB!
Well they did use a Case skip loader to do a great job on the baseball fields!
the story goes rich guys wife wanted to start breeding horses so they bought the land and started building, they built the barn and the arena and he came home one day to find her in bed with the horse trainer.