How to Grade Dirt with Compact Tractor Front End Loader

More grading here:: https://youtu.be/5pKXz9yND8w One year later: https://youtu.be/oTYyRag1frk

Just an FYI - I've logged over 2k hours in a skidder and many more in a loader. If you want the key to grading like a pro - its really Simple. You use a 3/4 full bucket to grade with. Using the Heel of your Bucket. Sprinkling dirt is for topsoil. You just dozer it around with a full bucket, Go right up to the house and then pull it back with the heel. Its just a bulldozer when the buckets full. You can make cuts and not bounce all over with weight in the bucket also. Lift up slightly and you add traction to the front tires if you wanna push harder on a pile. Empty buckets = weak machines. The heel and Bucket weight will pack it in much better on the back drag also. Its why you don't use the heel method for topsoil.

I just found your channel thanks to Chad @ Doss Farms. This was a great video! I’m an almost 70yo recently widowed granny and I LOVE the tractor my husband got me not quite a year ago. Kioti CX2510 HST. He got front end loader, backhoe and forklift attachments to go with it. We have a small desert 🌵 acreage that requires quite a bit of attention due to flash flooding during the monsoon season in Arizona, and he had a big Ford Loader/Backhoe he cleaned up with. But it’s intimidating to me due to the sheer size of it. This little Kioti is the perfect workhorse for me! Thank goodness he had the patience to teach me a little bit about operating it over the winter. This spring, I put in 150’ of new waterline, including 20 taps, to irrigate a line of Texas Sage I planted three years ago. They had been serviced with a drip line but they’re now getting big enough to need more water. Then, I spread 21 Ton 3/4” gravel in my circular drive, and now I am building a carport pad to put up a 24 x 20 carport to protect my new tractor from the relentless summer sun. I had no idea I would be doing this on my own, but I am certainly enjoying the learning process and am quite satisfied with the end results. This video and subsequent comments are wonderful learning tools for me. Thank you for sharing! I’m so glad I found your channel and look forward to watching more!

Rewatched! Always enjoy Piney Grove and any dirt work! The commentary is great to listen to and the attention to details are off the charts! Must watch daily!

ducktape a water bottle to the top of the bucket, gods level

Hey Brad , l like your math & tractor skills . You do good work & "don't work cheep". By you having 4 tractors, there is a "real number" in what l call " Twack-tor Home-lownership". With you & your tracker "werkun" for 10-12 hours @ 1500$ =150 -125$ an hour, YOU KNOW what it really takes to "just have a tractor laying around". Up in Ohio ,my customer's are "flaber-gasketed" when the price is 65$ an hour ( this year its going to be 75$ --l don't need the "practice "). A few times l rooled up to the job, ( never unloaded) left "pennyless" because they wouldn't pay the 250-300$ "4 hour minimum-unloading fee" C.O.D. & l was farther ahead just to "go home". My many Associate's ( professional Landscraper's)have (4) B26's TLB's & 2 L2501's---all hydrostatic, & only "One" real "Operator" in the bunch that can do a job as good as You ! I just about have "scraped " my 72"original MX5200 loader bucket in favour of a 78" skid-steer style;; because it does EVERYTHING BETTER, except moveing slag from the "Open-hearth Blast-furnace "( l think it's original intended design).You just maybe should try One on for size---only about 700-900$, and the work SO GREAT ! Thank you Sir for the Excelent vidio and happy safe tractoring. Best wishes with all your endeavours.

Great job, Brad. Nice looking fill too! How great to be taking care of your parents!

Heck of a nice job, loved watching you work. And Bella was a great bonus watching her have so much fun with you.

I also own this tractor and love it. Your video was very helpful as I'm still new to its workings regarding leveling soil, the bucket, and back scraping. Thanks for a wonderful and informative vid.

I really like your videos. Everything is very well explained and it's spoken in common language. Very thorough. Please keep up the good work.

Maybe talk about when you’re back dragging if you’re using the float control or a little down pressure. I find myself using the float and rolling the bucket to pull off high and flatten the bucket to drop in low areas. When I think I’m fairly level I’ll use a little down pressure to finish. Being careful not to lose steering from too much down pressure. I think that’s close to what you did. Your end result looks great.

A box blade, field drag and a 36” landscaping rake help out a lot too.. Must be great doing this without a ton of rocks getting in the way too

Gotta say…as good as Bella is…that weaving in and around the tractor would drive me nuts!

You're a good son. Your parents are lucky. I tried to get my mother out of Jersey.. not moving.

Try using a tamper near the house next time vs a garden tool handle, it's much faster. I would never be comfortable driving a tractor that close to the house, so good on you! That's some very sandy clay to be called "fill dirt"...at least just north of you in GA. Good luck with establishing seed, and getting your parents settled. Cheers!

nicely done from a former finish tractor operator

Was sent to see your farm. Doss sent a bunch of people. Happy to learn something new.

Awesome soundtrack. Sounds like 90s pop.

I’ve rarely ever had that nice of dirt to work with.

Hi, Chad from Doss Farms sent me over to watch you. I live in SWF.