Chris Wilson Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Not had my old Massey Ferguson 35 very long, and have used it so far mainly for pulling a water ballast roller and moving full size round bales with a rear spike and spikes on the front end loader (FEL) with the Ferguson concrete weight block on the back, to put bales in the cattle feeder. I am wondering if I can use the FEL bucket I also got with this rig to dig a foundation for a kennel run? The run is about 30 foot long and 8 foot wide. I intend to remove top soil to a depth of about 12 inches, put crushed limestone down, and then pour a 4 inch concrete raft for the base. There will be some smallish tree roots in this soil. Can I use the bucket to physically DIG this spoil out, or should I spade it into the bucket and just use it to remove the spoil away from the site using the tractor? Sorry if it's a very basic question, but I haven't tried moving compacted soil to below ground level with it yet. Any links to tips on how to do this, assuming it's not a flagrant abuse of the machine? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 If it's grassy surface and has relatively loose soil underneath you might be okay with a FEL bucket, however it wouldn't be a good idea to try this on heavily compacted soil. The tree roots would be a real problem and would put a LOT pf pressure on the hydraulics. They're not really supposed to be used for digging Do you have any way of breaking up the soil a little beforehand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binkatt Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Agree with Homer, not really designed to dig down if that makes sense, more for clearing just top soil, it would do it but would not want to hit a tree stump with it lol. Willl create quite a lot of mess aswell dependant on soil structure. You could hire a mini digger for around £75 a day down my way which would be more upto the job. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 A very small drag plough should be enough to get compacted soil broken up well enough to be removed with the bucket. A old single spade one can be picked up for very little (anywhere from £20-£100) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 14, 2008 Author Share Posted March 14, 2008 I have a Terry for breaking the sub soil, even a Spencer if real brute power is needed (two guys who help out from time to time... ) Maybe if they loosened and I use the loader to shift? Sounds the better of the two options, and as I am paying them... Thanks. The loader only has one way rams, too, so the weight DOWN is just that of the bucket and arms, the rams only RAISE the bucket, or tilt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted March 14, 2008 Share Posted March 14, 2008 Ah, then you might be alright. If it's got a good very low range box you should be okay, but try and get any major roots out (or at least loose) before going in with the bucket. I've broken a couple of FEL's in my teenage years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamieP Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 You can hire a small 1.5 ton digger for about £60/70 a day, that would make light work of it, put some 6mm reinforcing metal grid in the slab and it will never move:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 I'll have a go loosening the soil with a forked loader and digging with the bucket, if it cocks up we'll spade it into the bucket. Good tip re the steel mesh, I'll do that, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucasdemoley Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 We have one at my parents place. I dont know if yours is the same but ours you cant power downwards so basicly you cant 'dig' with the bucket but you can scrape. Also something to note on ours you dont want to be trying to put sidways pressure on the bucket, as I tried nocking a wall down in a shed with ours but I gave up as it was close to bending stuff (could only hit the wall at about 45 degrees) As others have said breaking the soil up will help hugely, but you might be better getting in a mini-digger because A it'll make things easier and B theyr a bloody good laugh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 Managed to dig 90% by hand after starting to make a mess with the bucket and tyres. we had heavy rain the night before work started, so I half expected the tractor to do more harm than good. Thanks for the tips though! It came in very handy for shifting the 4 ton of stone from the front of the house to the back Now awaiting 2 cubic metres of concrete on Saturday, and the forecast says snow... Ah well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wez Posted March 18, 2008 Share Posted March 18, 2008 What you putting in there chris? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted March 19, 2008 Author Share Posted March 19, 2008 Another kennel run for the dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted April 7, 2008 Author Share Posted April 7, 2008 Nearly finished, just the guttering and a tidy up, a bit of soil levelling, few bushes and seeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted April 8, 2008 Share Posted April 8, 2008 It's a fair old size for sure. The freeze didn't affect the concrete then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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