Going to rent a mini-X and will need to load on a deck over trailer. what the safest way to load, back up the ramps? do you need to use the boom so you don't tip? will be operating on a side hill. mostly use backhoes, but need to use an x for this job
Try this method:
When in doubt be safe
I'm by no means an expert, but before I bought the little Bobcat 325 and 331 minis, the only machine I really spent much time on was a old JD 690C. I think it weighs around 40k? Anyway, I was always taught to use the bucket, in a curled position, as a landing skid of sorts to insure balance. I guess I never thought about loading a mini any differently so I load them the same way, backing up with the boom towards the back with the bucket dragging just a bit. Is that the "right" way? I have absolutely no idea. All I know is that I always put on the ole seatbelt and load/unload that same way. I know some here likely have thousands of loadings/unloadings under their belt and may have more experience and, possibly, different advice. I'd certainly not argue. The way I describe just makes me feel safe and I've never had any incident in the hundred or so times I've loaded/unloaded.
I am the same I always like having that bucket on the downside. If anythign goes wrong at least I can do something. Wheelies on an excavator scare me.
depending on the slope of the trailer i am loading i will either use the boom as a stabilizer and back up but most times i go up forward and stretch the boom out to counter weight myself and leave the blade low so if it does go back the blade will stop me.
As I posted in the link we load stick forward so the machine is well balanced. Loading on most lowbed trailers is not a problem with the stick either way however, loading onto a truck on 22.5" rubber is a much steeper angle. My operation manuals state the implement should be uphill when going up and downhill when travelling down. This prevents, when loading (going up), the machine standing on tippy toes as when you have the stick downhill. When this occurs the machine will tend to slew sideways if everything is not perfectly level. I always look at it this way, you can keep the blade to the rear if you want, but when you are in the bush climbing hills you must have the stick uphill to keep the balance. The machine will simply not climb with the stick downhill. I think if you were in the situation going up-hill, with the stick up-hill, and the machine was wanting to go over backwards then you are well beyond the capabilities of safe operation.....that said, you should take a trip to New Zealand oneday and watch where those Kiwis drive their machines Whatever works I guess and each to his own. Stay safe when loading. Statistically, loading at the end of a long day (when the concentration may be lacking) is often the time to get caught with you pants down.
This past weekend I was unloading from a friends trailer. The trailers ramps are about 2" lower than the nice smooth polished edge of the trailer. I had a ton of mud on the tracks and the machine decide it would rather slide out off the ramps then anything else. It was a freaky feeling, skiing the machine down the ramps. I was glad that I was bucket down.