Hello all, I'm new to this forum as well as operating a backhoe. I own a 2006 New Holland LB75. So far it's been great for taking out tree stumps and clearing land, digging holes for sewer tanks etc. but I've yet to learn how to grade properly. Is the technique starting off straight & level? Basically I'm on a hill going upwards at about 3% grade. Because of all the stumps and roots that were removed, it left a very bump path to my end destination. Any tips would be awesome.
Newholland has a great bucket for grading, as it has no rear shoes. I'm not much of a backhoe operator myself, but I work with a gentleman who can fine grade with one. What I have noticed is that he always levels with the bottom of his bucket flat. Tipping your bucket down is ok for dragging material back, but it your wheels go into a hole, your cutting edge will gouge a hole. Using the flat bottom of your bucket will be less likely to gouge
Fill your bucket drive to the top , tip the bucket back a bit beyond flat put it in float and back down the hill at a safe moderated speed you'll have to practice a bit to get how much to tip the bucket back but up want the heel of it to cut in a bit because flat it will just ride over the humps.
Once you have it close then flatten the bucket out or even a hair forward and I most always keep as much in the bucket as it will hold for added weight.
I have also learned to go forward and reverse with the bucket flat. Any tilt forward going forward and it digs a hole. Next time I will try it with the bucket full. I usually get it as good as I can with the backhoe then follow up with a disc harrow and landscape rake on my little tractor. I still end up with dips that collect standing water after a rain.
makes sense, I have seen buddy keep his bucket full, and they do have the heel of his bucket plated
On the last 2 backs backhoes ( haven't done it to the one I own now) I welded a 1/4"- 4" x 4" angle iron to the back of the bucket & it worked very well.
It all makes sense! So i tried some of the suggestions yall gave but the soil on my "hill" is quite hard. Lots of limestone in between. That's the conclusion i came to why grading my road wont be perfect. Once it's somewhat flat I'll add underlayment, some loads of road pack to it and level that out and it should be as smooth as can be. I did notice the cutting edge on the front of the bucket is bent, cracked, broken in some areas. Possibly that's affecting it too but then again the soil in my area is filled with limestone.
dunno how much I know what's right or wrong in this life, but i´m a big fan of pointing the cutting edge straight down and dragging it back and forth as necessary. Not all the time, but it's how I do a lot of finishing. One of the biggest factors is starting off straight, with your back wheels oriented how you want the bucket to cut. So, this dude showed me a neat trick for situations where that's not totally the case, Swinging the rear end over to one side or the other can tip your tractor a couple inches in either directions, the hoe is heavy enough to compress the rear tires a little on one side or another. so if you swing the hoe to one side the bucket will dig in harder on that side. Can be very useful. Good luck!
That's a great tip on swinging the hoe for crowning. I will point my blade straight down on occasion but I hear it's a good way to bend the tilt cylinder rods. In fact mine are bent a little. Seems i have heard of some actually breaking so be aware of that possibility.
now its time to buy a new toy...a dozer....
Or a CTL.....
Hmmm... I didn't know about that part... maybe I'll start doing that less cuz these things are too darn expensive to be fixing. Thanks!