Considering that your outriggers will raise the rear end up, I was going to recommend that you try working your loader bucket and your outriggers in such a way that -- after your loader bucket is firmly planted in the ground -- you raise the rear of the machine up until the machine is angled slightly downward. In others words, after the front bucket is in the ground, lift the rear of the machine up so that it's pointing down in the front. Obviously, you can only point the machine downward so much, but it sounds like you're digging the same kind of glacial till that we're cursed with. We've been digging through all manner of rocky earth for many years and that's how we get the best performance out of the hoe section of our machine.