"Gerry" wrote in message
...
On 23 Jan 2018 17:12:09 -0400, Mike Spencer
wrote:


SteamboatEd Haas writes:

Is that BX22 practical to excavate rocky ground?
http://www.tractordata.com/backhoe-l...tachments.html

Good question. Sure you can pick up boulders with the backhoe but
the standard bucket is only 12" wide. As for weight I suppose a
couple hundred pounds could be lifted out of a trench. By 'rocky
ground' I think as long as it's not concrete you could scratch
your
way beneath the surface without too much trouble.

I've used one of these several times. If you have rocks, say,
smaller
than your head, no problem or, at worst, slow going. Much bigger
rocks
you'll have to detour around or excavate all around and winch out.

Trench for underground 200 amp power supply to my shop has a zig in
it, a detour around a rock ca. the size of a 20" CRT monitor.

30+ years ago while supervising an airport grading/drainage project,
I
ran into granular material ranging from fine white blow sand to a
boulder 13 x 7 x 5 feet; after paying to have it hauled to a
designated disposal area, middle management suggested that it would
have been cheaper to just dig a deep hole and bury it where it was
found and my answer was "yeah and leave it as a surprise for someone
else!

There's a housing development around here where the builder buried the
boulders under the road. Later when the town extended water and sewer
out there the pipeline crews were NOT happy.