After doing a little barnyard landscaping this summer, we had a good sized pile of dirt to deal with. Knowing that Oldman Winter is around the corner, we decide now is the time to move it. For a job like this, the right equipment is essential. Nothing post 1980 will do.
This pile of fill dirt was taking up some valuable room around the barn. There is always somewhere around the ranch that could use more dirt.
The location of choice was the east line in the Sand Box riding arena. On the pasture side of the retaining wall, the bulls do a number rubbing on the powdery dirt. Consequently it has been eroding away. Looks like a good place for some fill dirt.
It in-turn made a bigger gap on the last rung of the fence line. Putting the dirt here would kill two birds with one stone.
First step was to windrow the sand out of the way. This way we could reuse it. Getting it down to dirt would also make it easier for the haul truck to back in there. The 1979 JD 450 did a good job.
The dump truck of choice was our 1973 International side-dump. Not that we have a lot of other options to choose from, but this guy is the right truck for the job.
Our loader of choice was our early-1960s JD 4010. When you are using equiptment to move dirt, which wasn't made for moving dirt, you want to take special care to operate nice and easy.
No need to over load, especially with short runs. In situations like this, I put the dirt to the up side.
This way there is not a lot of pressure on dumping door on the side of the box. If you don't have any dirt against the sideboard, you can leave the back chain unlatched.
Then, when you get backed into place, all you have to do is reach out the driver's window and give the front chain a fling, unlatching the sideboard and turning your dirt loose.
Then you can start dumping without ever getting out of the truck!
Side dumps definitely have their place. This would have actually been a tougher job with a standard end dump.
Climbing back out of the Sand Box isn't easy with a single-screw truck. Thankfully, this girl is equipped a 2-speed rear-end. When driving in sand you want to avoid spinning your tries. To do so, you need momentum. If you were to try and grab a gear with your clutch in sand, you'd loose speed and bog out. With a 2-speed rear-end, simply pull the red switch on the gear sifter once you have some good speed. Then left off the gas quick, allowing the slack to shift the rear-end to a higher gear, then get right back on the gas. This is a great asset when needing more speed without loosing momentum.
After about six runs, we were done hauling.
Then we took the dozer and leveled out the piles. Keeping quite a bit of dirt inside the arena.
While pushing plenty through the fence so the bulls have some new dirt to play with.
Then just backfilled the sand.
Thankfully, Hank showed up to help with the finish work.
Not bad.
Good stuff. This job needed to be done. No sense in waiting around. Just grab the truck, tractor, and dozer and get it done. There are probably less than 5 side dump trucks around the county that still get used. They are not always user friendly, as there is not other way to get the sideboard back up than with manpower. However, they sill have their place. There is no other truck I can think of that would have worked as well in these circumstances. Our equipment may be old, but it still gets the job done. One down, many to go. Let's ranch.
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