Digging with small tractor?

Anonymous-0 · Oct 31, 2008

I"m not sure if this is the right place to post or not. I"m wondering
if a small tractor, such as an 9N with a bucket, can be used to
excavate soil. Not full time. I need to do some excavation for a
garage I am building at my house, and this looks like a good
excuse to get an old tractor. But I don"t know if this would be an appropriate use for the tractor. Thanks for any and all input.
Christopher

Jim in Ma. · Oct 31, 2008

Chris A lot depends on the type of soil you have. Perhaps you could. If I were doing it I think I would hire or rent a backhoe for a job like that.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 31, 2008

It depends on how much you need to move. A skid steer could do a better job. A small tractor with a box blade could maybe do it but you need some practice. A tractor is handy to have around. I'd look for a tractor that's a little bigger and newer than a 9N. Dave

thurlow · Oct 31, 2008

You can do it with something like this..........

<a href="http://s261.photobucket.com/albums/ii44/thurlow8/?action=view&current=scoop.jpg" target="_blank">

</a>

Anonymous-0 · Oct 31, 2008

A 9N wouldn't be much good for moving dirt.

armand tatro · Oct 31, 2008

One way to do it would be to moldboard plow the ground than dig out the loose dirt. You could maybe do this cycle only about two or three times than you would have to try something different. One thing to think about is to end with the finished floor at least above grade so water runs away from it. Also as the wind blows over 20plus years what was 6 inches above grade is now at or below grade and you have drainage and other problems. Armand

old · Oct 31, 2008

9N is to small but one like say and 841 with a Sherman combo tranny can and will do a lot of work with the right loader and power steering. I know because I own one and have done a lot of digging like ponds etc and it has done a lot more then I would have believed. With the Sherman combo you have a very low gear and can if you get good traction almost rip the rear tires off the rim. You can also find 3 point back hoes etc that will be an add on the say an 841 Ford. Of course it still will not move things that only a dozer will but it will do a lot
Hobby farm

Allan in NE · Oct 31, 2008

Sure it would work. Just don't get in a big hurry and be careful.

Allan

Mark - IN. · Oct 31, 2008

Ag tractors aren't good for stuff like that, and stuff like that isn't good for Ag tractors. The front axles just aren't beefy for that. As shown, is a 3-point bucket that might help. If you expect to do that kind of work, oughta use at least a construction tractor like say a Case 580, or one made by whomever. For sure an 8N or something similar aint going to put up with a lot of that, and certainly not for long before she starts walking pigeon toed, except I guess wood be pigeon fingered.

Mark

jlmtractor@yahoo.com · Oct 31, 2008

you could do it, but that is going to be a b#$%^ to hold a grade with, I would just go rent a skid for a day and be done with it...

jlmtractor · Oct 31, 2008

ok i screwed up my name ignore that... hahah..

Dave 2N · Oct 31, 2008

All depends on the type of ground you have. All of those neat advertising pictures of 8N's ditiching and building ponds? Not around here in our blue clay and hardpan. Mellow ground like down along the river? Sure.

And as someone below said-forget trying to hold a grade.

Mr. Lang · Oct 31, 2008

Okay, thanks. I do have to remove quite a bit of dirt. Its an area about 75 feet long and thirty feet wide, going from nothing to about three feet deep at the far end. The reason I was asking about a 9N or little David Brown is that's what is often for sale around here (Vancouver Island), and sort of what I could stretch to afford. Around $2500. As stated, a tractor is handy for lots of stuff around the place, and just walking around today, I could see a half dozen jobs that could be made easier and more fun with a little tractor.
Christopher

RayP(MI) · Oct 31, 2008

Got one of these - Doesn"t work real well, takes a LLLlllooooooooooonnnnnggggg time to transport any great amount of material. Very useful for picking rocks by hand however.

Mr. Lang · Oct 31, 2008

I don't know why my reply went in the middle there. Maybe it didn't?
Christopher

Anonymous-0 · Oct 31, 2008

Unless you have a lot of time in a skid steer, it's better to just hire it out to someone who has experience. What they could do in 4 hours, you'd never get done in 2 days. It all depends on how much time you have. I've seen people rent a machine, or had a machine, and didn't know what they were doing, so they ended up paying even more to have someone come in and clean up their mess. Dave

showcrop · Oct 31, 2008

Rent a small excavator. they are far easier to run than a skid steer and easier than a backhoe, and because you can swing instead of moving you will move the material quickly. first fifteen minutes you will be slower than tractor but soon you'll get the hang of it and you will be able to get some other jobs done with it in the afternoon.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 31, 2008

Why not try, what do you have to lose ? We moved quite a bit of dirt a few years back with a Farmall M and a F11 loader. It moved things along to loosen up the ground with a chisel plow wearing spikes.

jimva · Oct 31, 2008

you"d be much better off and way a head to spend $150 bucks to rent a skid loader for a day from a local rental place.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 1, 2008

Based on your numbers that's 125 cubic yards of dirt, or 10 large dump trucks full. Too much for a small machine. A tractor with a loader might move 1/4 yard per pass (optimistically) so that's 500 passes. If the dirt is hard packed it will be very difficult to loosen with a light 2WD tractor. Your excavation is a 1/2 day job even with full sized construction equipment. It would take a month or longer with a small tractor, if it could be done at all.

Anonymous-0 · Nov 1, 2008

A 9N can do the job if you get a reversible slip scoop. Set the dig angle to dig just past level. If you have plenty of other jobs to use it for, get one. BUT, if after the garage, the jobs are few to none, I would opt for a rented machine.

greenbeanman in Kansas · Nov 1, 2008

Rather than a front end loader I am of the opinion that a box blade with teeth would be the better choice. You can move a lot of soil with one if the soil doesn't have to be drug very far from the starting location.

RodinNS · Nov 1, 2008

Really, you'd probably be better off getting a decent sized track hoe or dozer in for that...
If you've got to dig footings, then a hoe. Otherwise the dozer will put grade down faster than anything. Either has the advantage of having weight enough to run the fill in and compact it fairly well before building.
You could probably rent as well but it would likely be cheaper to hire it out...
If you want a tractor down the road, then go get a tractor.
A skid steer would probably work OK for the ground work too, but I'd sooner a dozer myself.

Rod

Digging with small tractor?

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

New User

Member

Well-known Member

New User

Well-known Member

New User

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads