working in creek bed

lectro88 · Oct 31, 2010

Got to clean up after the beavers. And I don't want to post pictures of a midi posing as a submarine. Was going to make some walk boards, but I wanted to make sure I'm headed in the right direction to displace the weight. I'll admit many hours in the seat, but none of them mud bogging. My thoughts 2 x 6 or 2 x 8 through bolted, maybe 5 or 6 boards thick. Was thinking this method because I have an abundance of cull lumber and plenty of allthread. Any advice. The machine is a tb-135 / 8000 lb
thank you.

carlson foods · Oct 31, 2010

I am looking into purchasing a mini excavator maybe tak 53, kubota 161, kobelco 70, any recommendations ? thx

lectro88 · Nov 1, 2010

Tumbleweeds

I hear the sound of the wind blowing, and can almost picture tumbleweeds rolling across the prairie. (LOL)come on guys help me out here. 67 have read my post and only 1 response and it was off topic.

willie59 · Nov 1, 2010

Hi lectro88, I'm not an operator, nor do I have experience in the mud bogging department, but the 2x6 or 2x8's bolted together would probably work, but 5 or 6 boards thick, not much wider than your tracks, unless your going to put them crosswise. Keep in mind, which ever way you place your mats, they will prolly get mashed into the mud and can be a bugger to get out because of suction, might need a good bit of walkboards to get job done. One other option, Roddyo in Arkansas gets into a good bit of bogs with his excavator, he simply places felled trees cross ways across the soft spots, keeps placing tree logs until he can walk across. Beavers ain't the only ones that can take advantage of trees.

Just a few thoughts.

Dwan Hall · Nov 1, 2010

The ones I have seen are held together with chain so they flex when running across them, Also keep a downed tree/pole within reach to help pull you through the mud. Using it in your bucket to increase surface area.

lectro88 · Nov 1, 2010

Thank you for the replies. Yes I had planned on laying them cross ways, and so far as suction yes, but I plan to move and place them with the bucket. No long sections of trees laying in the immediate area. My tracks are a little wider than most like size machines 14" wide, others are 8"-12" It may do better than I expect, I forget the ground preassure PSI. What I didn't want was to make something like 4 sections that would be 16-20 boards, walk on them and end up with tootpicks. Thats my main concern. The creek bed has a cosiderable concave with some large roots which will help keep me afloat in places, but the areas where the span could be wide and uneven could pose a shatter factor for the mats. It may just require some trial and error.
Thank you again.

lectro88 · Nov 1, 2010

I looked up the specs. The tracks are 14" wide with 5'5" of ground contact and 3 psi of ground preasure. That makes it sound to be light on its feet.

Dwan Hall · Nov 1, 2010

Wider tracks will help you get ferther from solid ground. I never go around mud with out a 10' to 15' pole around. It has saved the day many times.

This is not mine but a pole would have saved 2 days work and brainging in another excavator. This ones ground preasure is around 6lb psi.

willie59 · Nov 1, 2010

Ya beat me to it Dwan. :tong

I'm not an excavator hand, but I have experience with drill rigs on tracks. One thing I know about mudholes, they have a tollerance of 0 PSI, and you go down quick. The suction becomes the Bi-itch that won't let ya go. Mudholes and mudbogs can be an animal to deal with. I don't know the best method to deal with it. But you can bet...the beavers do.

mitch504 · Nov 2, 2010

I have spent a lot of time in Carolina mud, but know nothing about 8000 lb excavators.
For my 45,000 lb excavator, and my brother-in-laws 52,000 lb draglines, we use 5x20 foot mats made of 8x12 to 12x12 oak, drilled through and bolted with all-thread.
For truck mats we use 2 layers of 2x lumber layed perpendicularly, and bolted together.
I would think you would need something more like the truck mats. Rather than stack the lumber, I would nail it together into a platform, maybe 2x10 feet and 2 or 3 layers thick, with 3 or 4 of these I would think you could go about anywhere by leapfrogging them around yourself.

Good luck

lectro88 · Nov 2, 2010

Thats the picture I don' want to be in, and the reason for my questions. And wide tracks will get you further from solid ground I will take to heart, like going swimming with a hole in your float, sooner or latter your gonna sink.(SOONER/NOW)Many Thanks.

lectro88 · Nov 2, 2010

mitch504. Your post tells me I should pretty much double my track displacement.
Again. Thank you all for the help.

stumpjumper83 · Nov 2, 2010

one other thing. Whats your plan if you do get stuck? Do you have a winch cat, or second hoe if you get stuck?

It would be in a pickle if you went to get the dam, and got stuck, had to wait till morning for another machine and the beavers build a new dam with some red and and grey thing as the center.

Not trying to discourage you, but beavers can rebuild a dam overnight and do use anything available.

As for mats, with an 8k machine you should able to get by using 2", I think I'd double them up in a criss cross pattern and make them about 8' square, and leave a hole in the middle to get your bucket thru to help handle them.

tootalltimmy · Nov 2, 2010

Here is a video of a mini unloading mats from letsdig18. He is in your neighbourhood and has lots of mud experience.

http://www.youtube.com/user/letsdig18#p/u/156/8JkIMoGcMSE

firetruck dvr. · Nov 2, 2010

Does your mini have a thumb? It sure makes placing the mats easier. I usually use 5 mats. Also just like Stumpjumper said, a winch tractor sure makes for good piece of mine!! Last time I had to go in the swamp with a Cat 304 I had a D5G LGP with the winch cable hooked on in freespool as I went out there. Turned out I did not need it, but it was nice knowing it was there!!

lectro88 · Nov 4, 2010

firetruck dvr. said:
Does your mini have a thumb?

Not yet, been looking, have to admit skill has increased without one. I wonder though if a thumb wouldn't get in the way sometimes.

Is letsdig18 a member of this forum. I dont find him in the member list. I have watched probably all his videos.

Digger Dan · Nov 4, 2010

lectro88 said:
firetruck dvr. said:

Does your mini have a thumb?

Not yet, been looking, have to admit skill has increased without one. I wonder though if a thumb wouldn't get in the way sometimes.

Click to expand...

Sometimes it does but I wouldnt be without one, I have three machines and they all have thumbs

mitch504 · Nov 5, 2010

letsdig18 is dirtman2007

Digging It Inc · Apr 10, 2011

may i also suggest using a nice like heaavy duty 1-2" diameter rope drilled through in 2 spots to create a nice handle for your bucket to grab onto for moving.

skbexcavating · May 9, 2011

I used a bunch of old cross arms and ran cable through them instead of all thread only because that is what I had. I put a loop on each end to help move them around as suggested. The cross arms are mostly 4x6 timbers. I save all of the scrap lumber from any demo jobs just for making mats and stuff.

Hopefully you don't fall off of the dam. A guy in our area was cleaning out a dairy pond and 'fell off' and subbed an EX200. It only had 100 or so hours on it too! He ended up having to pay United Rentals to rebuild it. I put the first 80 hours on it before he rented it. I used it one time after they rebuilt it and it was never the same! Hopefully the beavers go on vacation when you are modifying their house!

working in creek bed

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