Breaking up solidly compacted ground with loader buckets can be a big challenge.
When you are confronted with having to break up hard, clay-compacted ground or other surfaces that over time have acquired the resilience of concrete, most compact loaders fitted with even the best buckets may struggle.
One of the most efficient methods of tackling the problem is to use heavy duty rippers to break the hard surface so the bucket can do its work of levelling or removing material. Rippers are also useful when it’s impractical to have an excavator on the site.
Contractor Aaron Willis of Crookwell, New South Wales specialises in construction of farm sheds, dams, access roads, landscape and other construction sites stop working in the well and surrounding districts. The terrain in these areas means it is common to encounter hard, highly compact and clay soils that often provide a challenge to dig and level.
To excavate all level needed a solution to just this problem, so when he invested in his new Takeuchi TL 10 compact track loader and added the option of a rear-mounted ripper/scarifier.
“Having the right tools to deal with the variety of jobs we encounter is very important for us. It also makes sense to use our track loader for as many tasks as possible and to select the attachments that will at the greatest efficiency to our business”, Aaron said.
“With experience, you get to know exactly the right loader speed at which the ripper bar will operate with greatest effect on hard ground. It is a matter of knowing your machine and operating it within its capabilities to get the most productivity out of the attachment.
“When we’re not using the ripper bar, it’s easy to pull the pin and fold it up out of the way behind the loader, so we can work normally with the bucket and engage the ripper bar whenever it is needed. It is a lot easier than using the old front mounted rippers that had to be changed over from the bucket”, he said.
More information at www.takeuchi.com.au or call 1800 685 525.
