making a level path on hill with FEL

[NEPA Guy]

Best practices? I have a few paths I need to make a bit more stable to gain access to parts of the woods so I can haul some trees out with my forks.

One is real steep and uneven. I tried going at it straight on with the FEL (with my PB) and it seemed to work well but I kept up turning larger stones and then as I continued down the hill one of the boulders smashed underneath the tractor. I'm concerned about doing damage, specifically to my mid pto.

I was able to make it smooth enough to get down the hill and my plan was to get to the top and angle the bucket so I could scrape a clean path going backwards but I felt like I was going to tip backwards.

I'm looking for a better way because I got out and moved one of the boulders by hand and I hurt my back pretty bad. I don't want to revisit that one again.

What would you guys do to make the path? What's the safest way for my tractor, and my back...? I've attached a few photos of the hill. I havent measured the grade but its pretty steep. I just made it back up but don't think I could do it with a giant log on my forks without tipping backwards and smashing my cab and me, to bits. My idea was to keep cutting dirt off the high point and push it down to the bottom of the hill and make it as level as possible.

1 is the side view, 2 is looking up and 3 is looking down.

Now that I'm off my painkillers, my brain is outta the fog. Did I miss anything good?

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[countrynerd]

If you can change your mind to use a box blade that would work better. Rocks will fall behind tractor and low spots filled in as you move forward

Forgot is always easier to pull then it is to push.

Worst case float the FEL and go backwards like a skid stir loader.

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[Tooljunkie]

Always keep heavy end uphill,if you have to drive forward up hill,take a bucket of dirt or rocks. 4wd low range. If working with bucket, then a ballast box carried low is necessary.
Rear tire have ballatst?

To make something steep passable a large amount of material would need to be moved.
I recall in my very young days, the approach to river edge was very steep. D8 caterpillar spent a week pushing and widening,carved away top of hill and pushed it to the sides and very little down the hill.

In your case,wide at top and carry material down hill.like a pie slice. Box blade will assist in loosening and levelling. And provide a little ballast too. Also an angle guage would assist with working in safe limits.

 

[cerlawson]

For this job I would prefer a rear blade. You can angle it and direct material from high side to low side, etc. You also an adjust the tilt to have even better control. Take the road builders through the centuries, they routinely used a grading blade, which,is similar in action to your tractor's rear blade. No point in inventing something for this.

 

[torch]

Always keep heavy end uphill,

Are you sure about that?

I thought it is preferable to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible -- that is, to keep the heavy end downhill (of the rear wheels). IE: back up the hill with a loader, but drive up when towing or carrying a heavy implement on the 3ph.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Ditch the loader, literally take it off the tractor!
You can work the hill much safer and easier without that high weight!
You already have a cab up there that is making it top heavy, and unlike other things top heavy is not good!
Use the box blade to level it, but remember the more you rip up the more that can wash out when it rains.
If you rip it up, put some cover crop on it to cut down erosion and washout.

 

[Lennyzx11]

I live on steep ground. I use the box blade first with rippers down on the uphill side. This loosens dirt and the gravity and working the trail move the loose soil down hill to level the trail. Rocks will have to be picked out. ( I call it apple picking). The box blade will skip and jump on large rocks.


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[NEPA Guy]

Thanks for the tips! I'll see if my neighbor has a box blade I can borrow, I wont be able to afford one anytime in the near future.

I have the electric company doing some tree trimming around the poles this month and I'm taking all the free mulch I can get my hands on, I'll use that to cover the dirt when I'm done to help prevent erosion. Good idea NIW.

I just started to google box blades. If I can't get my hands on one, would it be possible to angle the bucket all the way forward and use the PB teeth to cut the dirt like a box blade? Can I snap the bucket off by applying so much force on it? Especially down hill and if I hit another big boulder?

 

[luketratts]

I have a steep property, with a couple of km's of tracks and still growing... I have a 4in1 FEL, I usually open up the front of the bucket as much as possible and use the the back of the bucket to push dirt around.

I try to avoid picking up dirt in my bucket when in steep areas cause a full load over the front when on slopes makes the tractor pretty vulnerable.

If I do pick up dirt, I just pick it up far enough that l can move the tractor...little as possible.

You will still have a few hairy moments.

In some areas to speed things up, I hired a 3t excavator for a weekend for a few hundred bucks and just rip through and bulk out the general cut to fill shape then after the excavator goes back run over it with a spreader bar on the tractor FEL...


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[Tooljunkie]

When loading skid steer onto trailer its safest to back it on, unless attatchment on front is very heavy. As an example.
The suggestion to remove loader would definetly help stabilize tractor.

 

[NEPA Guy]

I found a nice write up on a guy (with kubota no less on page 2) who created an access roads with his FEL and a box scraper.

These tractors never cease to amaze me.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/269464-cutting-access-road-slope.html

Yet another interesting post on using the FEL as a box blade and some back dragging info.. Good to familiarize myself with this stuff. Ever the rookie.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/99183-neat-trick-using-loader-box.html

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Can I snap the bucket off by applying so much force on it? Especially down hill and if I hit another big boulder?

You're more likely you can bend a ram, when when using it like that when they are fully extended.

 

[highcountrybarry]

I will second all the comments here and add a couple thoughts that have served me well for years running dozers and heavy equipment. First a ripper of whatever sort will make rubber tire work easier, whether on a box blade or a single three point ripper like a subsoiler. Secondly when working on a slope with no ability to angle the bucket you need to somehow start out on the grade you want to achieve. Top or bottom works but the tractor will be more powerful from the top. First start with your machine perpendicular to the path you want to take. Use the bucket to cut out the high side until you have enough room for your machine to sit facing the path you want to take with rear wheels near level. The rear wheels are always going to determine the slant of your bucket. You will need to cut a minimum of a bucket and a half wide, two is better. In an example where the ground slopes down to the right when you are sitting on the path you want to take, now cut into the high side slope with just the left half of the bucket. Back up, move half a bucket to the right and drop the load on the low side. Don't over work the machine, just cut what it can handle and soon you will get pretty good at it. I often will wiggle the tilt on the bucket as you keep forward pressure on it and it will kind of squirm into the ground better, just like wiggling a shovel. Be safe and keep the machine well within it's limits, if it scares you, you are outside it's limits, or your limits for sure.


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[MattN03]

Thanks for the tips! I'll see if my neighbor has a box blade I can borrow, I wont be able to afford one anytime in the near future.

I bought a used 5' box blade for $250 off Craigslist. Maybe that is an option?