Help! I don't know what I'm doing!

[Mini305CRNewbie]

I have a CAT 305CR - mini. My boyfriend has been operating for years and seems to think I should be able to do what he wants with no direction whatsoever! I know what I want to do with the mini and I know what it can do, though I really can't seem to combine the two.
We have/had a ditch (for a drain field) that runs around the back of the house/shop and off into the woods on our property. The BF of course straddled the ditch and dug the entire thing. I walked the entire thing as the "ditch witch" holding the transit and telling him to dig or fill as we went. After completing the drain field he covered a few sections of pipe with 6 to 8 inches of dirt, I think just to hold the pipe down. Then tells me to backfill the ditch!!! I have used the mini occasionally to pick up logs and randomly to move things. I learned how to dig or scoop a bucket full of dirt with a CAT 320!!! just 2 days before he told me to backfill. BIG DIFFERENCE in the digging scooping and lifting power.
So at this point I have managed to push (with the blade...which I love to use and he hates) pull and drag 99% of the dirt he had piled up on the sides of the ditch back into the ditch. - I should mention he wanted me to backfill by straddling the ditch like he did while digging! That scares the crap out of me! I don't want to fall in, don't want to tip over and really don't want to break the machine! (I still squeal and panic if I lift a track off the ground pushing to hard).
Anyway, as I said its been refilled...but it looks like a million Tonka truck bumps and hills. I keep trying to slowly rotate the house with the bucket flat on the ground to smooth/level out the mess I've made like he's done a hundred times in front of me. But its making things worse. He says I cant drive down the ditch to pack it with the tracks or scrape it with the blade....so I'm seeking any advice you experienced operators can offer.
I have OCD and it is killing me and my pride that I can't just make the damn ground flat. I'm very easily trainable, if he had just stood outside and told me what he wanted and which stick to do it with I would have learned the technique I should be using. Instead, I know I have learned bad habits and the wrong way to do things. Any advice will be greatly respected and appreciated.
Thank You

 

[Welder Dave]

He's not helping you at all! I would say he's purposely trying to show off in order to make it more frustrating for you. I HATE working with people who have years of experience and instead of being patient and helping to train you just expect you're supposed to know how to do it in a couple hours. First thing is to be totally comfortable with the machine. Bad habits can be hard to break. When I worked with apprentice welders they appreciated it that I not only helped them but explained why you do things a certain way. A lot of experienced people seem afraid of their jobs and want all the new guys to figure it out on their own. It takes thousands of hours to be a good operator and there's always new stuff to learn.

 

[Mini305CRNewbie]

Thanks Dave! I wish he were just trying to show off! He is actually just too busy, and kind enough to let me stay home and not have a real job. He's got a quick-change dump truck, log truck, and lowboy and 2 excavators and a bobcat that keep him and his business extremely busy, not too mention all the welding/fabricating jobs he does and assists his friends with.
Though I totally agree with you, I love to be shown the right way to do things and know how hard it is to break bad habits.
I'm also smart enough to know that I am pretty sure I am teaching myself bad habits. That's why I thought this forum might be able to give me some assistance. I am totally comfortable with the mini, though I have spent more time in the CAT E110B. I prefer the big machine simply because I know I can't take it into tight spaces. In addition too this backfill project, I have been taking out trees and clearing the vine maple and underbrush from the back of his property. I am totally comfortable (far from good at it, if you know what I mean...it gets done but its not pretty) raking/scraping the pine needles, picking up bucked log chunks, and knocking down little trees, snags and branches for my burn pile....They call it being "Firewise" in my neck of the woods. I am mostly too chicken to put the stuff directly on the fire but am getting really good at throwing my grabbed piles at the fire, then pushing it into the fire with the back of the bucket. That fear goes along with the keeping the tracks on the ground and not breaking the machine. Sticking all, part or any of the thing in the fire goes against my girlish-scared attitude.
I have watched him take the mini (when he has time-or I beg him to) pull up to a pile of burnables I spent an hour or more raking/piling up...squish the entire thing down, grab it with the thumb and bucket and whip around drive right up to my fire and gently place it right in the flames without so much as dropping a stick!
Its helpful to watch him do that sort of thing because even though he's a terrible teacher, I can see what the machine is capable of, though it pisses me off too! What he does in 3 min and one grab takes me 4 grabs and I drop crap (leave a trail) the entire way.

 

[Vetech63]

I am mostly too chicken to put the stuff directly on the fire but am getting really good at throwing my grabbed piles at the fire, then pushing it into the fire with the back of the bucket. That fear goes along with the keeping the tracks on the ground and not breaking the machine. Sticking all, part or any of the thing in the fire goes against my girlish-scared attitude.

This is why he is better than you currently are. Spending time in the machine and learning the operations will help you overcome this.

……….or you can do what my wife does. If I need her to do something for me that I would normally do better than her, she just bats her eyes a bit and bribes me with something I want. Dammit...…...it pretty much works every dam time. The woman has some kind of super powers over me that I just cant figure out.

 

[Welder Dave]

When I mentioned getting comfortable with the machine, I was referring to know what to expect in different situations and not panicking. I've done things in my skid steer that would have people drop their jaw. Having the front end go up and hitting the back will freak a lot of inexperienced operators out. The machine won't go over backwards unless you're going up a steep hill or do something really stupid. I've tipped forward on the side of a dump truck loading wet clay. It's nerve racking but you have to keep calm and not panic. I was able to tilt the bucket down while it was against the truck box and dump the clay on the ground. This got me back on the wheels. Trying to back up would have put me face first with the ground. The control levers on my machine are a little stiffer than most other machines. Maybe slightly more fatiguing but I think have better control because you have to make a conscience effort to move them. I rented a small machine one time and it tipped forward which immediately forced you to go full speed ahead because of very little resistance on the steering levers. I can also control wheel spin easier. Jobs don't always go as smoothly as you expect.

 

[Phantom970]

Wish I had a missus like yourself. Mine won’t even look sideways at our gear, then I get growled at for not involving her, then when I ask I get a BIG no.

Anyways, widen the tracks on the little girl if it can? (Not familiar with that model) and straddle the trench and just keep pulling the dirt with the bucket slowly towards yourself. Or cheat and use the blade. Guessing it was a 450 or 600mm trench?

Or ya just gotta run parallel to it and push and pull the dirt to desired level. Just be patient. Once the very first bucket width is how you want it, hang some of the bucket spare out of the next cut so you can watch the cutting edge follow the last cut you did. Finishing is a slow process. Slow and steady. Don’t be afraid to “rub” the soil with the under side of the bucket if you find it keeps biting in or your having trouble with lumps.

Lastly, there might be a hydraulic mode on that thing for final trimming? Again, not familiar with that model. Otherwise reduce your engine revs to try and make the Hyds less aggressive if that’s an issue for you.

Post some pics and you might get some more detailed tips..........