Carrying a bucket

Hey everybody. I haven't been here in a dogs age but I got a question. Let me see if I can make it a short one. I finally got to run an excavator for the first time. Walking it back down to the neighbors who owns it, the boom was bouncing alot more than what I would have thought was good for it. So, How should I carry the bucket. I'd think close to the machine but of course then there's wires and that. Is there a good way to keep it or do they really move that much walking?

I've always just curled the bucket in, then brought the stick all the way in and left it high enough off the ground to not hit any obstructions while travelling.

What ever works for the situation and makes the ride the most comfortable.

This afternoon I walked my machine about 1 mile to get to the other side of a creek. It seemed to run the smoothest with the stick perpendicular to the ground and the bottom of the bucket basically parallel to the ground. When I got to the gravel road I curled it all up to get under the power lines and left it that way while I tracked about 200 ft down the road because I had to go back under the power lines on the other side of the creek. The boom and bucket did not like that position at all but I feel alot of that had to do with being on the gravel road. As soon as I back in the field and past the power lines I put it back in the upright position and it was a smooth ride down the other side. Just my $.02 YMMV

51cub said:

Walking it back down to the neighbors who owns it, the boom was bouncing alot more than what I would have thought was good for it. So, How should I carry the bucket. I'd think close to the machine but of course then there's wires and that. Is there a good way to keep it or do they really move that much walking?

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I do -a lot of walking- on my section of land. While I don’t especially like the boom pulling/bouncing the hydraulic cylinder I usually lower the boom and curl things in tight. It prevents hitting tree limbs and it’s easier to cross the small ditches in the fields.

Thanks everybody. I guess then that I didn't do anything any different than anybody else would. I just didn't think it was going to bounce like that.I hadn't thought far enough ahead. It would have been one thing if it was my own. But when my neighbor leaves it in my dooryard and says here you go, I try to pay a little more attention