ajschnitzelbank
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L4701, BH92, Frost Bite grapple, Logosol M8 mill, Stihl MS661
I looked through the build thread, wow! Very impressed.
What did you do to or on your Kubota today?
- Thread starter gurn
- Start date
trial and error
Well-known member
Equipment
B7100dt manual trans. homemade FEL, 4 way hydraulic dozer blade
ve9aa
Well-known member
Equipment
TG1860, BX2380 -backblade, bx2830 snowblower, fel, weight box,pallet forks,etc
Not a grapple, but you can make yourself a (sorta) set of pallet forks for $0.00 by ratchet strapping two HD pipes under your bucket. I used the "2 pipes" method for months while the piggy bank grew large enough to afford real forks (which are much better, yes).
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If you're careful, you can use the forks to make a trench. Remove one fork to make a narrow trench.
ve9aa
Well-known member
Equipment
TG1860, BX2380 -backblade, bx2830 snowblower, fel, weight box,pallet forks,etc
I actually have need to make a shallow narrow trench this summer (~80' long x 6" x 6") and was trying to conjur up ideas to make a ripper of some sort, but ya know what--after the tree thing y'day, I might just see if it's possible to do with one fork.
Might just be !
ken erickson
Well-known member
Equipment
B7100 hst, 2650 front mount snowblower, L2501 hst qa loader
It was good day down at my habitat project today. A friend that helps me out on the place came up and hunted for a few hours this morning before I made my way down to the land. He is a good machine operator and spent 2 hours moving downed Scot pines to my brush piles. I am clearing a larger picnic area for a 13 x 13 outfitters style tent. I have a grandson that has been battling leukemia now for 1/3 of his life. One of his desires is to tent camp at the land this summer.
NCL4701
Well-known member
Equipment
L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572, Farmi W50R, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
It is possible. Been there, done that on a 40’ trench for a condensate drain through a gravel area that had been packed by vehicles for 30+ years. Started it with bucket approaching perpendicular to the trench but finished with the one fork method.
Had to do a little clearing of loose dirt with a narrow spade but even with that it was a LOT easier than digging the whole thing by hand in rock hard dirt/gravel.
Well I did not do much but I did start her and got her out of the barn. Hope to mow trails, till a garden and food plot and lucky enough may slip the backho on to dig some stumps tomorrow…but for today she started and now big orange is watching the pups.
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Shouldn't be a problem, depending on your soil. If you have rocky clay like I do, you're gonna go about 4 inches before a rock stops that tractor by turning your 'fork' into an anchor. I use a subsoiler to break the soil and hook the rocks out. Sure made the shoveling a lot easier when I ran the water line to my shop.
The back end of the tractor is a lot stronger than the front end and a ripper/subsoiler will pull the dirt up rather than just digging in and becoming a rather strong brake, if not a catastrophic break. Don't get me wrong, it can be stopped, but it isn't gonna break your tractor if it does.
If a strapped on attachment on the FEL doesn't hold, the target is your oil pan or radiator, or it may go sideways and take out a front tire. A middle buster or turning plow will make a nice clean trench in a couple passes. Both use basically the same frame as the sub-soiler, and they aren't horribly expensive either. The trench may be slightly larger than you wanted, but it's pretty easy to push the dirt back in if you have a FEL. The biggest advantage is that they're pulled BEHIND the tractor, not pushed. The down-force they create means more traction the harder they're used, too. The biggest advantage is there's no moving parts on any of the three. I kinda like passive things that I can leave outside and not worry about rust or water contamination in hydraulics/bearings on moving bits n bobs. If you're using a subsoiler, a fairly simple mod will put wire or flexible pipe in the ground as you make the trench, and all ya gotta do is run over it with the tires.
Just be extremely careful if you use the pipe idea, or anything that wasn't designed for the purpose you're intending. ALL of us do exactly that, some with more success (luck) than others. Occasionally, one of us wins a Darwin Award. "I shouldn't have done that" is not something you want to say to yourself when fluids are pouring out of your hard-earned machine.
trial and error
Well-known member
Equipment
B7100dt manual trans. homemade FEL, 4 way hydraulic dozer blade
I won this fight, had to roll this thing into the"bucket". but it's no longer a lawn ornament and I'm the one with the smile not the "bucket"
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NCL4701
Well-known member
Equipment
L4701, T2290, WC68, grapple, BB1572, Farmi W50R, Howes 500, 16kW IMD gen, WG24
I guess maybe I’m bored again with the wife’s TV choice this evening and maybe my prior post about using (or maybe more accurately misusing) a single fork as a trencher for a small one off job was dangerously unclear so this is the whole story.
My father was still alive when the condensate drain in his air handler clogged. We unsuccessfully blew it out with an air compressor, water hose, and finally ran a snake up it from the outside end. The snake pulled out a bunch of roots and it started to become clear it was root infested, not just a couple, so we decided we’d have to find where it exited under the basement slab, dig it up, and reroute it.
Filled it up with the water hose and got a couple copper rods to find it. Turned out there were about 14 natural water veins running parallel to the pipe there so that was not extremely helpful. He thought he remembered where it was buried from decades ago when he built the house. But he was wrong… about 10 times. I can’t remember what I did yesterday much less 35 years ago so that’s all swell but I had dug about a dozen holes 24” deep with manual post hole diggers in a highly compacted gravel driveway before we miraculously found the pipe. Where I found it turned out to be past a blockage but that got me on the right vein with the copper rods so I traced it back to about a foot from the house (where it was more like 30” down) and dug it up AGAIN.
By this time I’m remembering when I bought my L pre-COVID I could have gotten the BH-77 for only $9K more. Too much back when I bought the tractor but if someone offered it to me for $9K right then, I would now have a BH-77.
Anyway, so I then dig out a big enough hole with a pick and shovel to work on the pipe but need a 40’ trench about 30” deep on one end, tapering to 0” as it runs toward the drop off at the edge of the gravel area.
I am not 22 anymore and I don’t make a living with my back these days, so all this hand digging has me about 2/3 toasted, digging in this stuff requires a pick for at least the first 12” and there’s a lot left go on this deal. My father was 86 at the time, his A/C was down until this is fixed, and it was stupid hot so we’re either finishing today or he’s staying at my place until it’s fixed. Translation: We’re fixing it today if I have to dig the trench with a soup spoon and my fingernails. (BTW, I’m extremely confident he agreed with that sentiment.)
He had an old homemade three tine 3 point ripper buried in the back of the shed we considered using. It’s so lightweight we were both concerned pulling hard with the L would just wad it into scrap. Thought about cutting off two of the tines, doubling the center one, and using the remaining one for bracing. Figured that would take most of the rest of the day just to dig it out and modify it so decided that was Plan B if Plan A failed. Also half considered taking a plow off the two bottom moldboard and plow with the remaining one but the trench was too deep for that to work.
Plan A was start by digging as much as possible sideways with the loader. Between running the boxblade at a steep tilt and the bucket hitting it sideways that worked well but it needed to be about 30” deep at the deepest point and we really didn’t want to dig a moat for a 1/2” PVC pipe.
So we tried the forks. Took one off. Put the remaining one near the center of the rack. Recognized this ain’t really what this was designed for so didn’t try to do it in one pass at 4mph with a rooster tail of dirt flying over the hood. Went slowly and carefully taking 2” to 3” slices at a time. Hit a big root or three. Try to pry them out. Some did and those that didn’t met an axe.
Slowly and carefully with a single fork then cleaning out with a narrow spade was kind of slow compared to a trencher or backhoe. We didn’t have a trencher or backhoe. Renting a trencher or backhoe, digging the three tine ripper out of the back of the shed and modifying it to something useable, manually digging with a pick and shovel; all were slower than going slowly with a fork. And this was a one off emergency job.
Got the trench dug, cut the pipe near the house, ran some water through it from a water hose to confirm no clog under the slab and that the ditch was sloped right the whole way (it wasn’t so did a little more digging), rerouted the pipe, and both of us were relieved he could stay in his own house that night. He suggested we backfill later since that would take a while. Told him it wouldn’t: he could pack it in if he wanted or just take a seat and watch. Carefully covered the pipe with dirt making sure to not get rocks up against it. After that no more of that manual labor stuff. Between the boxblade, bucket, and a pile of washed 3/4” we had for just such occasions it didn’t take long, partly because any going slow for Dad’s peace of mind was over by that point. Backfilled the trench, all the random holes, threw some gravel at it and dressed up the whole area with the boxblade and back dragging with bucket.
While I was doing the backfill my father was sitting taking a rest and was on the phone with somebody, but of course I couldn’t hear any of it.
My brother called me that night laughing about their conversation. He asked me if I remembered what I was doing while they were talking. Told him doing the gravel top dressing on the backfill. He said Dad told him the A/C was fixed and it was all good but his next project was going to be rebuilding the corner of the house. Brother asked him what was wrong with the corner of the house. He said, “Nothing yet but your brother just drove toward it about 10mph, slammed the bucket down 2” from the brick, picked up the boxblade, and reversed going 10mph in the other direction and I don’t think he ever really stopped. Fifth time I’ve watched him do it, I’ve told him to stop but he can’t hear me, and if he misses he’s going to take the whole corner off the house.” Brother said they agreed on two things: the house was never in any danger (they’ve both seen me operate/drive a lot of stuff for a lot of years); the Kubota might sort of resemble Dad’s 9N but they were VERY different machines.
Looked to see if I took any pictures that day but didn’t see any. Pretty sure that was summer 2021. I guess I was too much on task for pics.
Anyway that’s the full story of my only experience misusing a fork as a trenching tool. It’s not a trencher, but if I needed to do it again, I would (it actually worked a lot better than I thought it would). YMMV.
My father was still alive when the condensate drain in his air handler clogged. We unsuccessfully blew it out with an air compressor, water hose, and finally ran a snake up it from the outside end. The snake pulled out a bunch of roots and it started to become clear it was root infested, not just a couple, so we decided we’d have to find where it exited under the basement slab, dig it up, and reroute it.
Filled it up with the water hose and got a couple copper rods to find it. Turned out there were about 14 natural water veins running parallel to the pipe there so that was not extremely helpful. He thought he remembered where it was buried from decades ago when he built the house. But he was wrong… about 10 times. I can’t remember what I did yesterday much less 35 years ago so that’s all swell but I had dug about a dozen holes 24” deep with manual post hole diggers in a highly compacted gravel driveway before we miraculously found the pipe. Where I found it turned out to be past a blockage but that got me on the right vein with the copper rods so I traced it back to about a foot from the house (where it was more like 30” down) and dug it up AGAIN.
By this time I’m remembering when I bought my L pre-COVID I could have gotten the BH-77 for only $9K more. Too much back when I bought the tractor but if someone offered it to me for $9K right then, I would now have a BH-77.
Anyway, so I then dig out a big enough hole with a pick and shovel to work on the pipe but need a 40’ trench about 30” deep on one end, tapering to 0” as it runs toward the drop off at the edge of the gravel area.
I am not 22 anymore and I don’t make a living with my back these days, so all this hand digging has me about 2/3 toasted, digging in this stuff requires a pick for at least the first 12” and there’s a lot left go on this deal. My father was 86 at the time, his A/C was down until this is fixed, and it was stupid hot so we’re either finishing today or he’s staying at my place until it’s fixed. Translation: We’re fixing it today if I have to dig the trench with a soup spoon and my fingernails. (BTW, I’m extremely confident he agreed with that sentiment.)
He had an old homemade three tine 3 point ripper buried in the back of the shed we considered using. It’s so lightweight we were both concerned pulling hard with the L would just wad it into scrap. Thought about cutting off two of the tines, doubling the center one, and using the remaining one for bracing. Figured that would take most of the rest of the day just to dig it out and modify it so decided that was Plan B if Plan A failed. Also half considered taking a plow off the two bottom moldboard and plow with the remaining one but the trench was too deep for that to work.
Plan A was start by digging as much as possible sideways with the loader. Between running the boxblade at a steep tilt and the bucket hitting it sideways that worked well but it needed to be about 30” deep at the deepest point and we really didn’t want to dig a moat for a 1/2” PVC pipe.
So we tried the forks. Took one off. Put the remaining one near the center of the rack. Recognized this ain’t really what this was designed for so didn’t try to do it in one pass at 4mph with a rooster tail of dirt flying over the hood. Went slowly and carefully taking 2” to 3” slices at a time. Hit a big root or three. Try to pry them out. Some did and those that didn’t met an axe.
Slowly and carefully with a single fork then cleaning out with a narrow spade was kind of slow compared to a trencher or backhoe. We didn’t have a trencher or backhoe. Renting a trencher or backhoe, digging the three tine ripper out of the back of the shed and modifying it to something useable, manually digging with a pick and shovel; all were slower than going slowly with a fork. And this was a one off emergency job.
Got the trench dug, cut the pipe near the house, ran some water through it from a water hose to confirm no clog under the slab and that the ditch was sloped right the whole way (it wasn’t so did a little more digging), rerouted the pipe, and both of us were relieved he could stay in his own house that night. He suggested we backfill later since that would take a while. Told him it wouldn’t: he could pack it in if he wanted or just take a seat and watch. Carefully covered the pipe with dirt making sure to not get rocks up against it. After that no more of that manual labor stuff. Between the boxblade, bucket, and a pile of washed 3/4” we had for just such occasions it didn’t take long, partly because any going slow for Dad’s peace of mind was over by that point. Backfilled the trench, all the random holes, threw some gravel at it and dressed up the whole area with the boxblade and back dragging with bucket.
While I was doing the backfill my father was sitting taking a rest and was on the phone with somebody, but of course I couldn’t hear any of it.
My brother called me that night laughing about their conversation. He asked me if I remembered what I was doing while they were talking. Told him doing the gravel top dressing on the backfill. He said Dad told him the A/C was fixed and it was all good but his next project was going to be rebuilding the corner of the house. Brother asked him what was wrong with the corner of the house. He said, “Nothing yet but your brother just drove toward it about 10mph, slammed the bucket down 2” from the brick, picked up the boxblade, and reversed going 10mph in the other direction and I don’t think he ever really stopped. Fifth time I’ve watched him do it, I’ve told him to stop but he can’t hear me, and if he misses he’s going to take the whole corner off the house.” Brother said they agreed on two things: the house was never in any danger (they’ve both seen me operate/drive a lot of stuff for a lot of years); the Kubota might sort of resemble Dad’s 9N but they were VERY different machines.
Looked to see if I took any pictures that day but didn’t see any. Pretty sure that was summer 2021. I guess I was too much on task for pics.
Anyway that’s the full story of my only experience misusing a fork as a trenching tool. It’s not a trencher, but if I needed to do it again, I would (it actually worked a lot better than I thought it would). YMMV.
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trial and error
Well-known member
Equipment
B7100dt manual trans. homemade FEL, 4 way hydraulic dozer blade
Awesome story, NCL, reminds me of the time 15 years ago we had a rented mini ex and skid steer at my parents putting in a drainage pipe and basin for the driveway. Well we had been at it all day it was late evening when it was time to start backfilling, then it was dark then it started pouring then when we where 2/3 done on the side of the hill. The real fun began, the mini jumped a track, it was dark and raining pretty good and only one of us had ever put a track back on less in the dark and rain. We prevailed and all went as well as it could but that was a big dirty greasy wet mess
Your start of this story hit the nail on the head, when my wife's TV choice is like the "Voice", I wind up here at OTT or youtube watching Buckin Billy Ray or Eric at SMA.
But the busting your butt to fix your Dad's problem was a good read for sure, Thanks for sharing it.
In 2008 I had hernia surgery with the 3 small holes. I was home and my sewer plugged. It wound up being in the first couple of feet just outside the basement wall. I couldn't ask my son for help as he was in the hospital because of a freak work accident, had piece of rebar go thru his rt bicep. So I slowly worked the shovel to have the tank pumped and dig up the pipe to repair. That was 13 years before my L2501 with it's BH77!
Made me smile!
Bill
Got the pressure washer out and cleaned the remains of last years grass off the FDR2584 and greased it. I typically do that before I put a piece of equipment away so I don't know how something that large slipped my mind.
I got a mow in, tilled, and planted / bedded some potatos. I am not sure the pups were trying to help or not but they certainly had a big time taking potatos from the furrow and laying down in the way.
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ve9aa
Well-known member
Equipment
TG1860, BX2380 -backblade, bx2830 snowblower, fel, weight box,pallet forks,etc
Barely started on my bucket boompole project. Pipe is 2" (aprox) thickwalled aluminum around 20' long, slipped through a trailer hitch on my bucket. I am able to reach pretty high up with it.
Even with no bracing or anything, I was able to pick up an empty pallet.
Lotsa plans for this thing for times when I need a "sky hook" or don't want to climb a ladder.
I wish I could recall my
Hi gh school Grade 10 Physics formulas for levers so I had an idea how many pounds I can pick up 20' out.
(more work needed--this was just proof of concept)
Even with no bracing or anything, I was able to pick up an empty pallet.
Lotsa plans for this thing for times when I need a "sky hook" or don't want to climb a ladder.
I wish I could recall my
Hi gh school Grade 10 Physics formulas for levers so I had an idea how many pounds I can pick up 20' out.
(more work needed--this was just proof of concept)
Attachments
GibbyESS9
Active member
Equipment
2020 Bx23s,BX2672 plow, Titan Forks, Land Pride 48” BB, FEL, Bestco Flail mower
Radas
Do you have any dimensions for that.?I think that is my next addition for my storage.
Cheers
Gibby
Yes sir:
fried1765
Well-known member
Equipment
Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.