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Hondaman900

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Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
45
I have to agree, a bobcat or any skid-steer these days MUST have a ROPS, which makes them a lot safer. Most of your old tractors had no such thing. If you rolled over you were in serious trouble. I do see most of them these days coming out with a bar that would help, but on a machine that would weigh in the order of 5 + tonnes, i can't see it doing much to save your life.
I have never had a close call, but i know someone that took a tumble down a hill in his, the ROPS surly saved his life. I heard of a guy that took his rops off to work under a house that was just moved. He was cleaning up before the stumps were put in and he hit a support and it came down on him. A rops would have saved his life, the moral of the story is NEVER use your machine without your ROPS attached.
This is a great question. I have a 600, all the manuals, but am learning how to use it as I go. I've used rental hydrostatic Bobcats before, but the mechanical clutch system in the M-600 is different.
My property is mostly sloped to various degrees. I know the "protocol" of going up and down the hill, and never sideways or turning on the slope. The problem I have now is that I want to cut into the slope and grade a level pad for a shed. However, with the weight on the back end, my 600 doesn't bite into the ground while trying to dig uphill as the front end is too light, and it has a tendancy to tip backwards. I had a scary moment yesterday when it started tipping backwards, I let off the gas and it dropped back down, but bounced around and when it settled I was sideways on the slope. Not a happy moment.
If I cut from above I can't get the flat pad I need. Any suggestions on how this is done safely?
Thanks,
Stephen
 

bewing

Member
Joined
May 11, 2005
Messages
7
This is a great question. I have a 600, all the manuals, but am learning how to use it as I go. I've used rental hydrostatic Bobcats before, but the mechanical clutch system in the M-600 is different.
My property is mostly sloped to various degrees. I know the "protocol" of going up and down the hill, and never sideways or turning on the slope. The problem I have now is that I want to cut into the slope and grade a level pad for a shed. However, with the weight on the back end, my 600 doesn't bite into the ground while trying to dig uphill as the front end is too light, and it has a tendancy to tip backwards. I had a scary moment yesterday when it started tipping backwards, I let off the gas and it dropped back down, but bounced around and when it settled I was sideways on the slope. Not a happy moment.
If I cut from above I can't get the flat pad I need. Any suggestions on how this is done safely?
Thanks,
Stephen
My suggestion would be to start from above by digging down and pushing the dirt in front of you. Keep going at it this way until you have enough pushed out to level the pad. I am not an expert but without seeing the situation that would be my best guess.
 

Hondaman900

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Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
45
My suggestion would be to start from above by digging down and pushing the dirt in front of you. Keep going at it this way until you have enough pushed out to level the pad. I am not an expert but without seeing the situation that would be my best guess.
I was thinking about that but then thought I'd in effect be digging a hole in front of the bobcat which it would sort of fall into. Perhaps I could start it that way, and once I get a sort of level spot, then turn the other way and dig into the hillside.
The soil is hard-packed but loose and soft once dug up, so I'm not sure how stable a platform it would be. I dug a path down to this area this way, but in effect was cutting through a berm from above, making a steeper slope where there was a shallow slope and drop-off. The clay I pushed out in front just gets churned up by the Bobcat tires and didn't compact into a ramp like I had hoped.
Here's a pic of the property. I'm trying to create the pad behind the tree behind the shed. I'll post a pic of the actual spot tonight. Don't have that pic at work today.
A friend suggested pounding the ground with the bucket teeth to get a start into the slope and start digging in there. What do you think of that technique? It's pretty hard compacted soil mixed with shale, so I'm not sure how far in I can dig before getting blocked, especially uphill.
This has to be a common excavation problem though, don't you think?
slopingyardsm.jpg
 

Tazza

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Dec 7, 2004
Messages
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I was thinking about that but then thought I'd in effect be digging a hole in front of the bobcat which it would sort of fall into. Perhaps I could start it that way, and once I get a sort of level spot, then turn the other way and dig into the hillside.
The soil is hard-packed but loose and soft once dug up, so I'm not sure how stable a platform it would be. I dug a path down to this area this way, but in effect was cutting through a berm from above, making a steeper slope where there was a shallow slope and drop-off. The clay I pushed out in front just gets churned up by the Bobcat tires and didn't compact into a ramp like I had hoped.
Here's a pic of the property. I'm trying to create the pad behind the tree behind the shed. I'll post a pic of the actual spot tonight. Don't have that pic at work today.
A friend suggested pounding the ground with the bucket teeth to get a start into the slope and start digging in there. What do you think of that technique? It's pretty hard compacted soil mixed with shale, so I'm not sure how far in I can dig before getting blocked, especially uphill.
This has to be a common excavation problem though, don't you think?
I to would start from the top, all you want to do is make a spot that is a little less steep so you can drive along the hill sideways. You need to keep the heaviest part up hill, so back up the hill and dig what you can to make a flat'ish spot for you to drive on. When you have that, just keep working it to get it flat then extend it out as far as needed. With a standard setup, its not so easy to get it to cut flat, but when you have one flat spot, extending it is easy.
Good luck with it, you will get the hang of it in no time.
 

Hondaman900

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Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
45
I to would start from the top, all you want to do is make a spot that is a little less steep so you can drive along the hill sideways. You need to keep the heaviest part up hill, so back up the hill and dig what you can to make a flat'ish spot for you to drive on. When you have that, just keep working it to get it flat then extend it out as far as needed. With a standard setup, its not so easy to get it to cut flat, but when you have one flat spot, extending it is easy.
Good luck with it, you will get the hang of it in no time.
If I cut into the hillside going downhill, am I not making it more steep? Is it the dug out dirt pushed ahead that makes that area flatter, is that the idea? Here are some pics:
The pathway down to the shed location:
ShedWork.jpg

The corner looking up behind the tree showing where I was trying to cut in:
ShedPad1.jpg

The desired location for the level shed pad:
ShedPad4.jpg

I'll try excavating downhill to get enough of a start to resume an uphill dig into the hillside> Hopefully if I can start a cut-in I can keep going, creating a level pad and a wall of dirt into the hill.
Thanks for all the help.
 

sterlclan

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Joined
May 1, 2004
Messages
528
If I cut into the hillside going downhill, am I not making it more steep? Is it the dug out dirt pushed ahead that makes that area flatter, is that the idea? Here are some pics:
The pathway down to the shed location:

The corner looking up behind the tree showing where I was trying to cut in:

The desired location for the level shed pad:

I'll try excavating downhill to get enough of a start to resume an uphill dig into the hillside> Hopefully if I can start a cut-in I can keep going, creating a level pad and a wall of dirt into the hill.
Thanks for all the help.
yup you just push enough to get a flatter starting point and then dig into the bank and push it off the low side it only looks tough once you get going it isnt to bad Jeff
 

skidsteer.ca

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Joined
Jan 20, 2006
Messages
3,853
yup you just push enough to get a flatter starting point and then dig into the bank and push it off the low side it only looks tough once you get going it isnt to bad Jeff
When I forced to cut a grade going uphill I'll keep my bucket half full to keep some weight on the front to help it dig.
Ken
 
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pondfishr

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Oct 11, 2005
Messages
216
When I forced to cut a grade going uphill I'll keep my bucket half full to keep some weight on the front to help it dig.
Ken
skidsteerca is right. The extra weight in the bucket works good to help sturdy the machine. It is also helpful when back dragging and leveling.
 

Hondaman900

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Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Messages
45
skidsteerca is right. The extra weight in the bucket works good to help sturdy the machine. It is also helpful when back dragging and leveling.
So, I got a free hour today to take another stab at this. As recommended (thank you all) I backed up the hill, and started digging in going downhill. Much easier to get a cut-in than uphill. When I had what I thought was a good start and a more-levelled area for the uphill work, I went down to the bottom, did a careful 180 and came back at the slope.
Cutting into the slope was much easier this time, and with the shale embedded in the soil, it takes many passes to make progress. The hard clay and stone gets glazed and I lose traction occasionally. A full bucket also helped. Pics below of what I achieved after an hour following your collective advice. You can see the more-level area at the bottom of the cut.
We're expecting torrential rain for the weekend, so hopefully next weekend the ground will be softer and easier to work.
GettingTheGrade2.jpg

GettingTheGrade3.jpg
 
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