My first job with the JD350

[Jeff D.]

Today was the first time I've had a chance to use my little dozer since I picked it up last year. I had to push some brush and smaller trees to make a crude road for a well drilling truck to have access to an area where they needed to drill.

The frost has the ground pretty hard, and it wasn't an easy job, but the little JD 350 did alright. I was glad I put the FOPS(?) on it, and even with that I had alot of limbs and brush still trying to get at me. I ran with the blade about 1.5-2ft off the ground, pushed over the brush/trees, which broke easily since they're frozen. Then went back a couple of passes more shearing it off at the ground. I'm real green in the seat, but enjoyed the chance for practice.

I had to put a culvert in across the ditch too. The hardest part of the whole day was finding somewhere I could get some dirt with my dumptruck. Seems all the pits are closed for the season.:crying All my antiques got a workout today.:bouncegri

In a few days I need to dig a trench for a waterline. It'll be interesting to see how it will be to get through the frost. I've no experience digging with frost still in the ground. Anybody have experience with that. Any tips(other than wait till it's gone )

(on edit: I couldn't post the pics I wanted for some reason. Although I resized them previously, it said the were too big. I've never had that happen before here, on pics, after resizing. Has something changed? A different file size limit?:beatsme These pics were small enough to be allowed)

 

[HeyUvaVT]

Looks good! that deere must have a decent amount of power to get through that perma-frost like ground up there!! how much does that machine weigh? i ask because my RC100 weighs about 10500lbs and I cant even scratch the ground here right now

 

[Steve Frazier]

We haven't made any changes to the image posting. Perhaps your resolution was set higher than normal?

 

[komatsukid]

job well done. i dont have any experence digging in the frost, we are typically laid off when the frost hits. good luck with your next job.

 

[Jeff D.]

Looks good! that deere must have a decent amount of power to get through that perma-frost like ground up there!! how much does that machine weigh? i ask because my RC100 weighs about 10500lbs and I cant even scratch the ground here right now

Thanks!! The deere is about the same weight as your RC. The only thing that helped me is that we've had a few warm days in a row that's softened up the surface alittle bit, but it's still hard underneith. I normally wouldn't have even been trying a job like this now, but the road restrictions for spring breakup are coming soon, so it needs to get drilled before that, or it'll have to wait quite awhile. Plus they said it would be better to drill now, without the worry of the truck sinking in.

We haven't made any changes to the image posting. Perhaps your resolution was set higher than normal?

:Banghead You're right Steve, that's it.:yup It was a different digital camera used this time. It must be adjusted differently.

good luck with your next job.

Thanks. I very well may need it. Time will tell.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Jeff, in JpegCompress select image and "resize from the menu at the top. Then set the highest value shown to 640 and close the resize button. Then move the slider while veiwing the file size counter at the bottom until its below 100.

Oh and the job looks like you needed some FOPs...well done for the little dozer

 

[atgreene]

Jeff, nice looking rigs!:thumbsup

As far as frost, we dig a pile of it here. I usually start somewhere where you can break through the frost. Snow, vegitation, anywhere that is soft. Get a hole, dig under the frost and undermine it. Keep a large rock handy to drop on the edge of the underdug frost to break it off.

My little Takeuchi 135 will do 1' of frost fairly easily, more with some work. The most I've chiseled at was 3-4 feet. With the ripper tooth it will pick at it and do quite a job. The larger the rock you can drop on it the better. At 3-4', we usually rent a machine with a hammer to save the wear and tear on small machines.

Good luck.

 

[skiggy]

Well I had no idea about frozen ground until I bought a skidsteer and was trying to dig when ground frozen... found out it would not dig... then was told by someone else when ground is frozen forget digging with skidsteer. I am new to having a skidsteer but figured a machine over 5000 pounds would still cut into the ground - especially with a toothbar - guess i was wrong - will have to let it thaw some, then dig at it. It did dig o.k. in dirt that has been piled up for a while..

 

[Jeff D.]

Squizzy, I'll try that.

Atgreene, Thanks for the tips and I'll keep the idea about the rock in mind. I just happen to have one that would fit the bill nicely.

Skiggy, I'm in the same boat. I'm not sure what to expect either, digging through frost. We've had very little snow this year, and a spell of powerful cold temps until recently. Theres been alot of frozen/broken water mains ,sewerlines, and septic systems this year because of it. I've noticed excavators and backhoes out digging up the streets and peoples yards doing repairs, so I know it is possible(but very hard, I'm sure).

If I can't get it done with my stuff we'll just have to have someone with a big honking hoe come in and show us how it's done.:notworthy

 

[Countryboy]

So Jeff, you gonna show us the rest of the pics since you've been edumucated on how to post them?

The little dozer looks alot better in its "natural environment". I think I've only seen it in the shop. The reflectors and the stenciling on the FOPs make a nice touch. :thumbsup

 

[Jeff D.]

Thanks!

I looked through them and most of the other pics are similiar to the ones I posted. I'm planning on taking more pics (maybe even next week) of progress on this job, if weather permits, so there will be more will be coming...........eventually.