Oh to have an excavator for one or two days! But got use what I got. Have dug several holes with the 175 for big rocks and have a few more to dig for remaining rock and stumps. My first method of digging was to dig in, take a scoop, back out and pile it on the side of the hole. This works fine, but takes a while because of all the back and forth tracking. I was wondering if digging like a dozer would be just as quick or quicker? Last Saturday, I dug a smaller hole, but this time dug in and pushed the dirt up and out of the hole to the other side (like a dozer would). I had that hole dug, filled and covered in what seemed like a short amount of time, granted it was a smaller hole. That's all the experimenting I've done. Any advice from some who have done both on which is most efficient for a track loader?
Boone, some photo of rocks / stumps, size etc... i think each one is differant, is it in the middle of field, next to house, you get the picture, etc... You are correct to stop screwing around, always push forwards as much as possible, but can the stumps be left longer? Depending on size i would dig down on left hand side, then if smaller stump keep the same direction and start to slice nearer the centre of stump taking 1 foot at a time. If larger stump, again keeping the same direction ( to stop screwing around) dig down on right hand side, pushing all spoil infront of you. Now for the stump removal, all you have is the width of the stump infront, you may have to a couple of bites, but move right up to the stump tip all of your spoil over the stump (again no screwing around, and the bit of spoil falling back is loose) and flick the bugger out. the only roots to break are on the far sidewhich wil come outas the stump is pushed over. Hope this helps, but i would never work around in a circle as it too much messing around, production in going forward and not repostioning.
It's more efficient to push out of the hole like a dozer. The added benefit of a loader is you can scoop a bucket full in the bottom and walk it straight out and dump it. Your on the right track.
CM's got it right, the fastest way to dig any hole is to do it like a dozer would, the benefit of a loader over a dozer is that you can carry the dirt over shoving it, anytime you pick it up you add tremendous traction and also the ability the pry yourself out if you get stuck, the downside is you tend to sink quicker with a loader than a dozer would, also you can carry and then dump rocks in over the side you didn't dig from, rather than shove them in along with the dirt that goes with them, meaning the hole doesn't need to be as big to hold the same number of rocks as if you were doing it with a dozer.
Thanks for the responses. I'll dig my next few holes like a dozer then. All of the stumps are ones remaining in the burn pile.
When you dig and carry, like stockpiling dirt some distance from the hole, what's the best strategy? Is there a better way than to dig, reverse out and turn away?
Phildirt, that is basically what the previous posts have discussed, consensus is you can push more out the hole than you can carry in the bucket. If practical push the load all the way to the stockpile area, leaving the windrows on each side until you are done. With a dozer this is called slot dozing and is the way to move the most dirt. Carrying dirt in the bucket or turning to go to the stockpile is much less efficient but may be necessary depending on the job or worksite.
yes i agree, push the dirt out of the hole, much quicker than hauling out buckets. i work for a large toronto sewer and water main company and at times the supervisor asks me to bury large rocks either in the road or in the lots. i run a 973C.... tons of power.
Not really unless you can set yourself up to slot doze it like said early.