Too Steep for Orange BX25 Love?

[tcrote5516]

I'm a firm believer that darn near everything can be done with my BX (just slower than a larger machine) but...this one looks pretty sketchy.

What about hiring someone to cut a reasonable access path for you to use. It would save you from having to hire out for the whole job and would give you a safe route up and down.

My home is built on a hill and I had similar problems in my front yard. I had 400 yards of material brought in and all the work was done/graded by my BX. My grade was half what you appear to have there and I had my tractor on three wheels more often than I care to remember.

 

[alchemysa]

Photos usually make gradients look half as steep. Hard to imagine what that looks like in real life.

 

[Diydave]

I'll make the same suggestion here as I did in the pond mowing thread, buy a $5 angle gauge, lay it on a 2x4, pop a picture, and post here.

 

[ShaunRH]

Sorry, that's time for powered wheelbarrow and towable backhoe in my opinion. You can fit them around the landscape and do work without pulling out all your vegetation.

Inexpensive Chinese jobber:
http://www.harborfreight.com/towable-ride-on-trencher-65162.html

http://mucktruckamerica.com/

 

[Apogee]

You might consider a Toro Dingo for working that slope. It will take a while because it's smaller, but the advantage is you're not tied to the machine if it rolls over. I've seen them used on Craigslist every now and again. Also, many of the rental yards have them. Likely the tracked version would work better for your needs with that slope.

http://www.toro.com/en-us/professio...ity/dingo/Pages/Series.aspx?sid=Dingo-Tracked

I'd also strongly agree with involving a Geotech so any proposed changes to the slope are looked at with a second set of eyes from an engineering standpoint. It'd be a huge bummer to do a bunch of work and have the whole thing slip.

One other thing to consider is the lake can actually be your friend. If it has a launch ramp, you could barge things back and forth from it. We have vacation property on a lake and due to the steep slope that is what we do. Only electric motors are allowed on the lake so it takes a while when moving heavy stuff but it works out well. We just use several of them. The link below shows what we have. It's super stable, no maintenance, carries a ton of weight, and has the advantage of also being mobile. LOVE IT! Also, the "dock" gets licensed as a boat so no dock or shoreline permits are needed!

http://rollingbarge.com/

Finally, if it can be mowed, I'd vote for a meandering "S" from top to bottom. As long as you could run a riding mower up and down it wouldn't be too tough to maintain and it would give you access from top to bottom. Hard to tell the slope from the pics.

What a beautiful place!

Have fun,

Steve

 

[Kubota_Man]

From the pictures you posted I would not change a darn thing. Looks like a resort on a beautiful lake.

 

[Little Orange]

This is about the BX's limit for incline. Great Machine.

 

[Apogee]

I agree with Kubota Man!!!!!

 

[Wild and Free]

From the pictures you posted I would not change a darn thing. Looks like a resort on a beautiful lake.

I agree with Kubota Man!!!!!

X3^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I agree as well.

From the sounds of the first post the previous owner must have paid you to take it off their hands.

I am looking for a get away property if its going to be a head ache you can deed it to me.

 

[Lil Foot]

Not sure if it's in your budget, but you might consider one of these- I have an acquaintance back east who claims he can grade sidehill until the drink pours out of the cupholder without feeling tippy.
http://struckcorp.com

 

[sheepfarmer]

Not sure if it's in your budget, but you might consider one of these- I have an acquaintance back east who claims he can grade sidehill until the drink pours out of the cupholder without feeling tippy.
http://struckcorp.com

Now that brings "some assembly required" to a new level. Still, if the parts really go together it would be fun to build your own mini dozer!

 

[Diydave]

Now that brings "some assembly required" to a new level. Still, if the parts really go together it would be fun to build your own mini dozer!

I love the little struck, I bought about 12 years ago. Only drawback is it is
s l o w. 2 MPH in regular drive, an earth shattering 3 miles per hour in overdrive. And it's pretty high priced, my MH 5000 with 25 hp kohler, 6 way PAT blade, 3point hitch, and PTO was about $18,500, plus delivery to the local freight yard. Still it does an awesome job on impossible angles, and only weighs about 3000 lbs, so it's easy to haul to a job.

 

[Flienlow]

A few more pics, unfortunately it is much steeper than the pictures appear.

 

[OldeEnglish]

Is that the steepest angle you have to work with? The pics look steeper than that... Did you cross check that number with a speed square? I would think the bx could climb that with no problem but I don't own one.... I've driven up steeper than that number with the 7100 and 2910, but only do what your comfortable with. Side hilling would be scary... Personally I don't trust any digital measurement device unless hilti made it, but thats just me. Double check with a speed square to be sure.

 

[Diydave]

the struck hydro, or the ASV RC30 could do it.

 

[85Hokie]

A few more pics, unfortunately it is much steeper than the pictures appear.

The bx will go up it and down it - using 4wd in both cases, and I am not talking about grip - going down you need it for brakes!!!

As far as sideways............can I get a heellllllllllllll no!

 

[clay45]

http://www.cat.com/en_US/products/new/equipment/excavators/mini-excavators/18320486.html

Bundle things up or pile in a bin that you can sling and grab with the grapple (bucket & thumb) to haul off.

 

[Little Orange]

Here are the results to some work the BX25D has been doing on inclines

10" over 48" no problems, 12/48 still good, 14/48 this is working incline for most of the work, and 18/48 well what can I say, it better be short and sweet.

Kubota's office literature for steep inclines states a 20 deg. angle of departure for backhoe attached for loading and unloading on trailers (and in my case for the soil screener).

Oh, did I mention this is for up and down slopes NOT cross slope and as previously mention heeeeeeellllllll!!! is critical (soil conditions, weather, satuation, and SEAT BELts.

 

[Flienlow]

http://www.cat.com/en_US/products/new/equipment/excavators/mini-excavators/18320486.html

Bundle things up or pile in a bin that you can sling and grab with the grapple (bucket & thumb) to haul off.

Our family owns a CAT 304, but I really have no way to haul it (its 200 miles away from me.) Not to mention it gets used quite a bit where its at and the ingress is probably too tight to squeeze 'er through here. It would be a far superior solution to a BX, but I also have other uses for the BX on some of our other properties.

 

[NetMagi]

I have a large portion of my front yard (about half an acre) on a 20-25 degree slope. BX goes up and down no problem in 4WD.

As a test, I sidehilled at ~22 degrees, and I can easily pull the uphill side wheels off the ground by yanking on the ROPS while standing next to it. I run R4's and 1.5" spacers on the rear. That was without FEL, BH, or MMM deck. Just bare tractor. MMM would probably give you a little more stability due to all the weight being low.

Straight up and down if the soil is firm you'd be fine at 26 degrees, NEVER EVER EVER forget to put it in 4WD and use low when descending. You NEED the braking 4WD gives you in the front to go down safely.

An accidental 2WD descent in that back yard, and you better kill the engine and focus on steering, cuz you're going into the drink at about 20-30mph

-Rich H.