Posts
1200
Joined
10/10/2008
Location
MI
US
Edited Date/Time
6/27/2020 7:10pm
To the guys that built it themselves what all did you use to build it? Thinking about buying a piece of equipment and am torn between a utility tractor with a loader/bucket and box blade or a skid steer. Would really just like a small dozer but cant justify 80-100k for my personal track.
That said, my track is a SX track and doesn't require the need for a disk/tiller.
Hire someone who rides and can operate a dozer (unless you can)
Buy a skid steer and a cheap older tractor to pull discs and brush hog with.
Tractors are hard to build/maintain jumps with. You can't see what the lip of the bucket is doing like you can on a skid steer.
The Shop
For real building you need a dozer preferably with a 6 way blade. You can rent one for the main build.
For regular maintenance I've found a mid-size 30-45hp 4wd tractor with front loader is best all around unit. Mostly because implements are much cheaper than Skid steer ones. We mostly use ripper, tiller & a drag. Also have brush hog & landscape rake, disc etc. We use the tractor for finish work also and icing in faces & landings plus to pull water trailer.
I did buy a skiddy a month or so ago. Just a cheap one to see how I like it. A tracked one would be perfect for a maintenance unit but not enough to justify cost. For that price I could have a decent dozer & tractor....
Our jump faces are too steep for most skiddys to maintain. The FEL works way better. You can see just fine & there is much more weight on the bucket when back blading so it is more effective. ........
All 3 machines are 40hp. I bought all of them used but don't mind working on machines so I'd rather save money. I'd be into the same machines new about $130+k whereas I'm in only $30k.
I push dirt with the dozer and maintain with the tractor. I have a 7' tiller and the 9' tandem disc that I use to soften up the track or getting rid of ruts.
I don't use the mini for much on a track unless I'm loading a dump trailer to move dirt from one area to another.
I have a disc but rarely use it. But that depends on your dirt. A good set of rippers is a must though, imo. The built in ones on a box blade don't go deep enough. I had a box blade years ago and sold it. An angle blade is more useful overall, imo. Landscape rake is another useful tool for rocks and clearing land....
Been using a Dearborn harrow for years
Picked up a C tooth Cultivator for $80 the other day.
I use this to break up hardpack then follow up with a weighted drag/disc/tiller depending on what I am going for. My drag is a chuck of railroad rail with more steel welded on. Usually just use drag because faster. Just bought tiller so haven't used it much yet.............
I think a compact track loader (CTL) works better than a rubber tired skidloader; you can push material a heck of a lot better with them. But they’re substantially more expensive than a skidloader and weigh quite a bit more which may require a heavier trailer if you need to haul it.
If you think you need to rip the soil deep to form the track you may want a chisel plow. This can require a tractor with some decent HP depending on how deep and wide you want to go. I have an 8’ that I’d pull with these 100 HP tractors I have available. I use to rip it 12” deep or more. A lot of my track is a clay base though so takes some HP to get it done. I’d use my old ‘52 Oliver 77 to pull an old culti-mulcher around to finish out with.
You need to really plan for water drainage as that ls probably the biggest issue I had with my track. Its largely built on a hillside. It seems like the last several years when we get rain its of a 4-5” per hour intensity. That erodes the hell out of it. Its a real bummer to spend a few hours get the track shaped up and then have one of these rains hit it and reset you almost back to where you started. I believe I spent more time on the tractors than I did riding. But if you have others enjoying your work that helps you feel better about making the effort.
Pit Row
All the major prep is with a dozer, then a 40 HPtractor with a bucket for finish work. We rent the dozer for a weekend once every other year. The clay holds up well on faces and landings so that's enough.
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