Just getting home after 5 days out there, Ill try to make this as short as possible, Ill upload a video when my wife downloads it. I have a few pics but not many. The video will be much better.
I learned alot, first and foremost I understand that no one here can understand the size of the job I am working on. Its not a small job such as a 1/4 acre lot.
It was completely ludacris to assume that I could have learned what needed to be known in the 40 hrs allotted me with the machine. Maybe there are guys born with this skill but I am not one of them.
With that said I learned a TON and I thank God that I was given the chance in my life to have experienced it.
I learned wheel rolling ( thats the technique of packing down material with a full bucket )
I learned almost VERY successfully how to move the fluff ( thats the pile of cut dirt that an experienced loader operator has made for you to move ) Its easier to move the fluff cause for the most part its just that, fluffy material thats already been cut. By the end of the day last night Id say Im pretty darn good at moving fluff.
I learned to go into the material with just a little momentum, dont ease into it too slowly, once into it dont curl the bucket immediately but instead lift the bucket a little at level and then gently ease into a curl, doing it like this makes less trips cause more material in the bucket.
I learned to cut it and make the pile nearby, dont cut and drive 400 feet with a half bucket, make the fluff and then move it, it will save literally hours and hours of work never mind the fuel savings.
One VERY important thing I learned was when cutting the hard stuff absolutely keep the ground smooth beneath you by back dragging with just a little downward angle on the bucket, you might think that machine has enormous ground clearance...... it does not! If you get bogged down in your old tracks your belly will drag and you are just spinning digging yourself into a hole.
I learned DO NOT let the wheels spin, once the wheels are spinning your done, lift up what you have, dump it on top of the pile, lower the bucket into the top of the pile and pull some material backward. Back up, clean up your mess and start over.
I learned how to be a pretty good transit operator, so simple and foolproof. What a great tool to have
I learned how pretty it is to backdrag a 200 foot swipe, that material looks so good, smooth as glass.
I learned articulating loader is the way to go, Ive driven a few conventional steering loaders, articulating is sorta like a zero turn mower.
I learned that a front end loader like I had really isnt a multi purpose tool, for moving material in great amounts like Ive done its the machine to have, grading a large area...not so much, I have a bulldozer being dropped of on Thurs supposedly to do the final grading.
I found a guy that has many years of experience in heavy equipment operation. I paid him 2 hundred dollar a day and I couldnt be any more pleased with the work he did, he and I completely changed the landscape of my property, it is unrecognizable at this point to what it was.
We took a blah, so so piece of property and transformed it into something fairly unique and usable.
I also learned that a wheel loader this size running 13 hrs a day ( he worked 7 and I worked the 6 ) consumes hundreds of dollars in diesel especially when its being used as a bulldozer in which there were some instances.
I prob learned alot more but these are the highlights. Enjoy the pictures and dont let anyone tell you cant do something, with enough seat time Id be an expert but for me it would be more than 40hrs.
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