Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you

[greybeard]

As for the parking area, can you put the FEL back on, tilt it down, just past level/horizontal (on the bucket), and then apply downward pressure on it to remove most weight from the front tires, then back the blade across the area to "scrape" it smooth?

Needs to tilt the FEL bucket down, so the cutting edge is past level about 25º.
Then, on the loader control lever, if he pushes the lever straight all the way forward, past the detent, (the handle will stay all the way forward when he lets go of it) the fel bucket will be in the "float" position. Positioning the bucket as explained above, then going into 'float', he can back drag with the fel easily, getting only the loose stuff.
You can also use the box blade driving in reverse if it has the little flap on the rear.
Box blades are for moving earth.....straight blades are for leveling dirt, and you yaw the straight blade around 180º for the fine smoothing work..

Should be some space at end of the toplink where there are no threads. If it happens again........

 

[Bruce]

The problem turned out to be pressure in the hydraulic line of the grapple that was preventing the poppet from sliding into the male connector and thus preventing the connectors from mating

I'll have to put that one in the back of my mind, probably need to know it sometime ... if I can find it in the dust.

 

[greybeard]

Bruce/STA, if you have this type quick connection (may be a ball instead of poppet) or some variation of it, all you have to do is grab the end of the hose about 5" above the qc connection and sharply (no strongly) jap it against any rigid clean surface. The ball (or poppet) is spring loaded and will go in momentarily and release the captive pressure within the line and you'll immediately feel and see the hose become a bit limp and you can then go ahead and connect the line.

IF, the hose on the grapple is the female, then you may want to do as STA was advised and loosen a fitting upstream somewhere, tho I usually find something small and smooth and press down inside the fitting to depress that poppet.

IF you have the type where both ends are smooth, then you have no choice but to loosen a line. I hate loosening lines if I do not have to. Eventually, they will begin to leak if you don't re-tighten them a little tighter each time, which leads to premature failure of the sealing surfaces.

Now, if your hydraulic line is a weco 5-10KPSI wp like this one, go ask someone else how to do it....

 

[Mike CHS]

I don't use my box blade on gravel for just the reasons mentioned. I do a lot of going in reverse with the front end loader like Joe suggested to fix problem areas but I use a landscape rake on the driveways and it does a good job.

 

[Baymule]

I don't use my box blade on gravel for just the reasons mentioned. I do a lot of going in reverse with the front end loader like Joe suggested to fix problem areas but I use a landscape rake on the driveways and it does a good job.

That is exactly what we do! We have a box blade, but I don't think we have ever used it.

 

[greybeard]

I have pretty hard, compacted clay and iron ore. It gets harder than a hooker's heart in summer.

I altered one of my box blades so it would actually cut below it's frame. I had some old road grader scraper blades I got from the county and shortened one to fit my box blade and installed it over (in front of) the oem blade so it will peel an 1 1/2" of material up into the box area and usually don't have to use the scarifiers..It will still move lots of dirt tho and only lose a little out the sides.

 

[greybeard]

That is exactly what we do! We have a box blade, but I don't think we have ever used it.

I have used mine a LOT. I dig ditches with it, level, pile brush to burn, pull stumps up, clear debris off fences, clean out the loafing shed, spread manure, knocked down fire ant mounds, and have welded a piece of channel iron on the back to connect a trailer to..anytime I don't want or need to start the heavier backhoe loader combo. I have a rake and have used it a lot as well.
My father used one to dig a 14' deep by 40' diameter pond years ago...along with a 3pt dirt scoop.

 

[Baymule]

The problem turned out to be pressure in the hydraulic line of the grapple that was preventing the poppet from sliding into the male connector and thus preventing the connectors from mating(*). To relieve the pressure, I had to loosen the hydraulic line at the T connector in the grapple to let the hydraulic fluid leak out and relieve the pressure. Once that happened, I was able to connect the two lines.

Senile Texas Aggie

(*) Miss @Baymule, I look forward to your comments about hydraulic lines mating!

The first thing that pops into my mind, I'd better not post..... I must commend you for calling and asking for help. I've always had a hard time keeping a straight face when conversing about male and female connectors. The fact that the male end was pressured and that you had to let fluid leak out, just makes it funnier.

 

[Baymule]

GB, we just use the FEL.

 

[Bruce]

The first thing that pops into my mind, I'd better not post..... I must commend you for calling and asking for help. I've always had a hard time keeping a straight face when conversing about male and female connectors. The fact that the male end was pressured and that you had to let fluid leak out, just makes it funnier.