Grading Land, filling in stump holes?

[grimlock97]

This might be a stupid question, but i recently dug up 8 acres of stumps that i had left from clear cutting a few years back, i used a volvo excavator to dig the stumps, now i'm left with several stump holes, i am by no means a professional on a dozer at all, but i'm trying everything in my power to smooth the land with the dozer the best i can then i'm going to disc it up to let it settle, the problem i'm having is smoothing out the areas with lots of holes, how do you do it, just put the blade at one height and go, it's real uneven, i have a 1982 td7e that i've been working on and using, i can't seem to fill the holes in and get the bulk of the roots out without digging more holes. I'm practicing every day for about an hour since my TC is overheating, but i'm trying, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[PCSHAY]

This might be a stupid question, but i recently dug up 8 acres of stumps that i had left from clear cutting a few years back, i used a volvo excavator to dig the stumps, now i'm left with several stump holes, i am by no means a professional on a dozer at all, but i'm trying everything in my power to smooth the land with the dozer the best i can then i'm going to disc it up to let it settle, the problem i'm having is smoothing out the areas with lots of holes, how do you do it, just put the blade at one height and go, it's real uneven, i have a 1982 td7e that i've been working on and using, i can't seem to fill the holes in and get the bulk of the roots out without digging more holes. I'm practicing every day for about an hour since my TC is overheating, but i'm trying, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Practice on piece of ground that is already flat and level. Watch your radiator as it moves up and down and move the blade the opposite direction to compensate. Beginners move the blade too much making too many "bumps", digging in, then cutting "air". Try just cutting an inch or two, making small adjustments rather than big ones. Once you get the hang of this you can try heavier passes. After getting the "feel" of this you'll be ready for leveling your field.

 

[grimlock97]

Thanks for the quick reply, that's my problem, I'm digging whoops everywhere, my biggest problem is the holes, once I go in one I dig everything around it up, I'm watching the blade constantly, not the radiator, I'll try that this evening

 

[willd8r]

You gotta keep pushing dirt around filling the holes compacting the dirt not easy cause you have hard and soft ground just keep working it you will get there Cheers

 

[Trashman]

This might be a stupid question, but i recently dug up 8 acres of stumps that i had left from clear cutting a few years back, i used a volvo excavator to dig the stumps, now i'm left with several stump holes, i am by no means a professional on a dozer at all, but i'm trying everything in my power to smooth the land with the dozer the best i can then i'm going to disc it up to let it settle, the problem i'm having is smoothing out the areas with lots of holes, how do you do it, just put the blade at one height and go, it's real uneven, i have a 1982 td7e that i've been working on and using, i can't seem to fill the holes in and get the bulk of the roots out without digging more holes. I'm practicing every day for about an hour since my TC is overheating, but i'm trying, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Put the dozer on relatively flat ground and in first gear (half throttle) and try to keep the blade exactly 2 inches above the ground at as you move forward. Practice this until you are confident that you have good control of the blade and can follow the contour of the ground without touching the ground. Once you have mastered this filling in stump holes will be no problem. The one mistake most people make is trying to do dirt work at full throttle.

 

[stumpjumper83]

Angle your blade all the way as well, it seems to minimalize the washboard.

For what your describing terain wise here is what I would do. Learn how to operate that dozer on another chunk of ground, get so you can put a ditch in and fill it in, flat grade a road, & crown a road.

Then go rent a 40k pound dozer with a root rake and a set of 3 shank rippers, 6 way blade. Rake all the roots of first, get them out the way. Then drop the rippers and tear all the ground up, rip one direction, then @ 90 degrees to your first pass. Now all your dirt should be on an even compaction level, this will make everything alot easier for you to level in the third step, which is putting that big blade to work, or send it back and finish it with your td.

Reason for ripping is that the hard virgin gound doesnt compact like the fresh fill in the hole does and although it looks level the eye, the front of the dozer will sink and inch or two as you first go over starting your washboards.

Another method would be to put a box blade on a tractor after its all loosened up and level it with that.

Oh, and don't tear up more than an acre at a time without geting an e&s plan or the green police will be paying a visit.

 

[grimlock97]

thanks for the help guys, i already have a flat portion of land that i let someone else level out for me years ago so i can go to that section and practice, i got a couple of 200 foot areas that only had one or two stump holes that i got pretty level, but the other areas have several stump holes and some of em are deep, i'll just have to practice and then work. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[grimlock97]

Thanks PCSHAY, that radiator trick works great, I still need practice but I'm getting better, I got all the roots out of all the holes without making bigger holes and it looks relatively level kinda, still need more practice on smoothing it out real good, thanks again everyone

 

[Stump Knocker]

If you have a thumb on the hoe, get a cross tie or a piece of a log and as you dig out stump use this to backfill the hole.
STUMP KNOCKER

 

[SE-Ia Cowman]

Try getting one blade width in line with as many stumps as possible and make it as smooth as you can then use the corner of your blade not more then 2 feet you can use your level pass as a gauge for were your blade needs to be. You will find that grade control is much easyer in virgan soil just useing the corner of the blade and if you keep moveing over 1 or 2 feet at a time you will get better compaction in the stump holes and have less setteling.

 

[ttazzman]

I have filled tons of stump holes.........#1 you need extra dirt.........i usually have a stockpile of dirt around i usually use some form of loader which seems to be the easiest....

i will put a scoup of dirt in the hole to the far side.....then i will back drag the dirt across the hole with a lot down pressure starting with my bucket half on virgin soil and work my way accross the hole keeping my bucket half on either virgin soil or previously compacted soil i also keep the back edge of the bucket a couple of inches higher than the frount edge that helps compact the soil when your backdragging

the fastest machine i have found to do the job has been a backhoe since i can go to a stockpile quickly and it isnt so heavy that it over compacts the soil

but i have done the process with other machines just not as quick

also have done it like Stump Knocker subjested

if you have to use the dozer with the heavy blade you will have to run it accross a couple of inches high and use the tracks to do the compacting

 

[grimlock97]

thanks again, i do need to dig out my pond and i have some extra soil on the back of the property, now i guess i gotta get the jd450 loader runnin so i can move it around.

 

[Logman]

Instead of pushing all your dirt from one direction, push in an overlapping "X" pattern. That way if you do accidently make a washboard with your blade, your tracks and blade will be going at a 45 degree angle to the washboard on the next pass and won't keep exaggerating the bumps.

The X pattern works great not only for filling stump holes and leveling land, it also works especially well when grading steep slopes. Note: You don't have to complete the "X" on each consecutive push. You can make 3 or 4 side-by-side passes at one 45 degree direction, and then make 3 or 4 side-by-side passes from the opposite 45 degree angle (completing several overlapping X's in the process).

I have cleared several hundred acres of mature hardwood stumps over the years for conversion to pasture and hay ground, and it's the best technique I've found for getting land ready for the disk.