Building a road through rocky soil.

I am new to all of this so I am looking for some help. I have a 1982 Case 580 backhoe/loader. My son races motocross (dirt bikes) and I am trying to build a pratice track for him. I have been digging up the soil with the backhoe and trying to grade it with the loader bucket. The process is slow. What really slows me down is picking out the rocks, especially the 80 - 500 pound ones.

I am thinking about purchasing a "Loader bucket Rake" like the one at www.solesbeesequipment.com. My thoughts are that a rake like this would help me lossen up the soil, lift the large rocks up to the surface, and get them into the front bucket without removing much dirt.

My questions are will this work well? Be easier and faster that what I have been doing? Anyone else use a rake like this for this purpose?

Thank you,

Paul

An experienced operator and dozer could easily do your work in a day or less. You then could do the clean up and maintenance.

Thank you,

Paul

I think you might be time & money ahead to rent a small crawler with rippers and 6 way blade for a day to cut in your track and push the rocks around. Then use the backhoe to finish it off and maintain it.

(The time advantage is obvious, the money part comes from the price of extra diesel and the wear and tear on your backhoe from wrestling the rocks)

Heck. Dozers are more fun anyway !

bbott

Paul

I used to ride MX many (30) years ago and helped build MX tracks with the MC club I belonged to. We used a Case 450 mostly, with rippers on the back and a hyd blade on the front.

If you get a local operator out to look at it, they will give you a better estimate that I can guess sight unseen... plus it's been a looong time since I built a track.

(Really), Dozers are fun to operate. As long as your terrain is not steep or otherwise dangerous you'll probably have fun doing it... and when you're done you will have another skill.

But get an experienced operator to spend an hour or two with you and show you the ropes.

bbott

I'd be careful using that for large rocks. It's meant for brush and limbs, and may bend or strain your bucket.