Just another dumb question

for your own work are OK but for woking out not the best. Unless you have a trailer and tow viehicle big enough to transport kind of static unit, where a TLB can least be driven to a site.

Edited by Coke-in-MN - 21 Mar 2011 at 9:23am

No such thing as a dumb question.  It would be dumber not to ask.

Idealy it sounds like you'll want several diffrent machines. Realisticly you want to pay for one. After building a couple of houses, I finally bought a 580 Case to help with the 3rd one. Generally I figured it wouldn't do any job effectively but it would do all the jobs. That was 10 yrs ago. House is up and all is well. And if I wanted to, I could sell the 580 for what I paid for it. But won't. The worst job it does is grading, to light in the front. 

I had kind of figured on the heavier machine to do the rough work, finish grade with my rear blade on the 180 then spread the rock as best as can tailgate and again finish with my 180.  The bigger jobs will be for a true loader or backhoe and I will not even consider a tag on hoe for the three point, seen a few really messed up trying to be industrious with them.

I have a 9' drag blade(cough gag) JD 88 but it works good, I have a Farm Pro post hole digger attachment and of course the 500 loader on the tractor.  If I could come up with a decent track loader that isn't a monster for the money or that the tracks were not absolutely trashed, that would do for a time but footer excavation will call for a hoe.  I was maybe asking for more than I can actually get out of a single machine.  I also intend to build a lake or large pond in time, maybe 20' deep at levee, 4+ acres in water surface, one can generally find old 4 yard LaPlant Choate pans pretty cheap around here and a track could pull that fairly well.

Will be scraping the sides out on a branch bottom, there is a real good place on our new place to establish around a 4-5 acre lake by dragging off the sides and stockpiling to a levee, has drainage from three major points and a spring.  Doing some calcs with a bud, he thought there should be plenty of spoil as we clean up the sides to build a 20' tall near to 90' long levee and really not effect the base lay of land.
I will keep in mind for a bigger machine.

Our DNR actually sites earthen dam ponds, suggests the size overflow and best or better systems for overflows; they have already been out for inspection and Okey-dokeyd the site I picked out, it was by their suggestion to no greater than 20' dam height.

The gal from the DNR recommended I put in 2 four foot concrete pipe overflows, kind of like a regular storm drain stack to a minimum three foot outflow pipes, was also suggested to install them into the inside wall of the levee at around three feet short of the top of a relief spillway, a spillway is required should these develop blockage or be overwhelmed, she showed a overlay on a topo map as to the best approach for that too.  Specs list for materials is lengthy but has to be met to gain permit to build and to keep once completed.
They also require a 'torturous' path at the outflow pipes to minimize erosion issue, large concrete blocks to divert and slow the outflow water speed set to a length of thirty feet out from the end of pipes.

Over time it is funny how construction has changed where pan scraper was the means of most building now a excavator and haul trucks have replaced them. Articulated 20 or 30 yard haulers or such used for large jobs.

If it is a working machine shure will outwork any HD4 and would get a lot more use. then looking on another site it mentioned the trany as one area to watch,