Bucket Edge

[TheMurf]

Looking to spread some top soil in the yard, do I need to install a edge to my bucket on a bx1880 ?
If so, what do you Gentlemen recommend ? What brand and type? Thank you..

 

[OrangeKrush]

You had top soil delivered and are just spreading it you should be fine. Now if you are planning on digging or scraping fresh dirt/soil up, then it would come in handy to have a piranha tooth edge.

 

[TheMurf]

Thanks Orange Krush, No digging, just fresh screened top soil and spreading.. I thought maybe I need a straight edge in the bucket.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

Your bucket should already have a straight edge. Backdragging is a good way to spread soil.

 

[trueg50]

FEL might be your best bet.

I had to regrade part of my yard and spread 7yds or top soil just recently. The back blade worked well, and the box blade where I needed perfect flattness, but I ended up using my bucket for most of it to add a slight slope. You can get great control with backtracking and floating the bucket. If you want to take more material to lower a spot, then angle the bucket down more, if you want to pack and smooth then angle the bucket up more. I don't think I used my back blade/boxblade more than 20% of the project.

 

[TheMurf]

Thank you Gentlemen..

 

[fried1765]

Your bucket should already have a straight edge. Backdragging is a good way to spread soil.

Backdragging lightly is Ok, but with the bucket tilted full down the bucket cylinders are fully extended, and can be easily damaged.

 

[D2Cat]

Backdragging lightly is Ok, but with the bucket tilted full down the bucket cylinders are fully extended, and can get damaged.

The highlighted part is the critical part. Light pressure or not you're asking for bent cylinders. Neil gives a lesson here.

 

[trueg50]

Backdragging lightly is Ok, but with the bucket tilted full down the bucket cylinders are fully extended, and can get damaged.

Throw it in float and back drag away. Don't have the bucket perfectly straight down of course , but for dirt you don't need much of an angle to spread and pack down.

 

[NCL4701]

Backdragging is like a lot of other operations: do it right and it’s a good thing; do it wrong and you’ll likely tear something up.

Heavy grading is for boxblade, backblade, bucket cutting going forward. Backdragging at a shallow angle in float to put a final finish on loose dirt, gravel, similar aggregates without obstructions such as stumps, big rocks, etc. is fine. Float, reasonable speed, and a shallow angle will provide a level of safety to make sure it doesn’t get bound up and overload the curl cylinders. The Messick’s video is a good explanation of when it’s appropriate and how to do it properly. If backdragging with the bucket isn’t cutting enough and you think a more severe bucket angle is needed, consider turning around and use the boxblade or backblade for heavier cutting.

 

[lynnmor]

If you are only trying to fill some low spots in an established lawn, just spread the new soil as best you can, then tow a wooden pallet around in a figure 8 pattern. I have done this numerous times towing the pallet at a slight angle with some weight on it. If you need to cut established dirt, this won't do much.

 

[Vigo]

Backdragging with the fel bucket is highly highly adjustable and will only really expose the bucket cyls to danger if done with the bucket edge pointed too far down.

Keep in mind with the loader in float, it can only ‘float’ as fast as it can piss two cylinders’ worth of fluid through a 1/4” hose through a tiny loader valve. If you roll too fast you can very easily cause the entire tractor to ‘bounce’ over something and leave a big mound even though it was in ‘float’.

 

[TheMurf]

Thanks for the advice gentlemen. Since it's not a massive amount, I will probably dump it in the low spots and use my stone rake by hand to spread it out..

 

[xrocketengineer]

I spread some fill dirt with my bucket and regular edge by back dragging with the bucket almost leveled and in the float mode and I was very impressed with how well it worked. My only issue was that the fill dirt had some conch shells and when the edge would ride over them, it would leave a hump. I had to come back and remove the shell and finish with a rake by hand.

 

[TheMurf]

That looks good. Nice and smooth.. I will not have to worry about shells here as it's rocks and stone under the surface. Our town is Highland it should have been name Bedrock.