Mini diggers in woodland

[richy_B]

I was in a natural clay pond yesterday and I agreed about the rubber tracks and steep, wet conditions. I had the blade all the way down and was still sliding all over the place. I'd have been stuck without my trusty waffle boards. If you've not got some do - one of the best £60 I ever spent.

I will give them a clean later!?!

[mattplace]

My mini forwarder! Works great in the woods but you would really need a grab and rotator.

[richy_B]

My mini forwarder! Works great in the woods but you would really need a grab and rotator.

Nice. Have you welded a hitch to the front of the blade? I thought about putting an American type receiver on the top of the blade so I can slot in a hitch when needed.

[mattplace]

Nice. Have you welded a hitch to the front of the blade? I thought about putting an American type receiver on the top of the blade so I can slot in a hitch when needed.

Yes, for now I welded a bracket to the blade. I couldn't decide what height to put it so trialed it like this... And it's been on for 3 months!
I will make a socket for it eventually as when it's on digging duties again, the hitch will get in the way.

[Matthew Storrs]

58 minutes ago, mattplace said:

Yes, for now I welded a bracket to the blade. I couldn't decide what height to put it so trialed it like this... And it's been on for 3 months!
I will make a socket for it eventually as when it's on digging duties again, the hitch will get in the way.

I bolted a hitch on to my digger blade which worked quite welll as was only 2x M16 bolts to undo if it gets in the way.

[mattplace]

I bolted a hitch on to my digger blade which worked quite welll as was only 2x M16 bolts to undo if it gets in the way.

Ideally that's what I wanted to do but my blade has a boxed in structure behind the face of the blade so I can't get access behind to do the nuts up. On the plus side, it will provide more strength and stability for a socket to be welded into. [emoji106]

[drinksloe]

Or weld the nuts on the back as captive nuts??

assuming u can get in to weld.

Could u also thread the holes u drill in the blade so u don't need nuts at all and then use a couple of spring washers to keep them locked tight??

[Baldbloke]

On 14/03/2018 at 14:29, mattplace said:

My mini forwarder! Works great in the woods but you would really need a grab and rotator.

Is your hitch/towball positioned low down on the blade, midway, or nearer the top?

My trailer runs on bigger wheels so I welded a strengthening bar to mount the hitch on the rear of the body so it ran level. However I'm thinking of getting/making a lighter trailer so am interested in a different solution.  

Edited April 4, 2018 by Baldbloke