digging a trench with a front end loader

Hello all, not much experience here but just can't seem to get the hang of this. I'm trying to dig a drainage ditch for a piece of ground that floods from a spring which just spreads all around the field. I got a creek not far from the spring and just need to connect the two. I have a CASE 1490 with a 66 front end loader on it. Rear tires filled. I was not wanting to dig straight down the line because it would be too wide a ditch. So I marked out the line and set the bucket parallel to the line and angled the bucket down into the earth. It will dig but my main problem is the big filled rear tires are just tearing up the ground. I need to rear up the tractor to get a bite in the dirt but this digs in those rear tires and it's just causing too much unwanted damage. Is it possible to do with this tractor or am I just literally spinning my wheels? Any tricks or tips appreciated?

How deep are you trying to go? Just tip the bucket straight down,put down pressure on it,hold the brakes and roll the bucket back.

I just need enough depth for the water to run down to the creek. Problem is I'm a real novice at this, didn't grow up rural and this is my first loader tractor. To clarify, when you say hold the bucket straight down, what position is it in? Is it at a 45 to the ground or completely inverted as in a dump position?

45* is where I would start. But play with it and see what works.If not too wet/muddy,you might have better luck using a3 point blade tipped up on it's corner.

Work downhill! Bucket 90 degrees to the ground, lift front wheels off ground and brake rears, wiggle control to help force bucket into ground and roll the bucket forward to lift dirt out. Use hydraulics instead of rear wheels. First cut is hardest, then just go a half bucket width or whatever you can dig easily.

Bill

What I did was make me a sub-soiler something like this to rip up the ground in the direction I needed a trench, then dug it out from the sides.

When I did my ditch I used my box blade raised on one side by the 3 point adjuster. Worked really well...

Contractors often rip hard soil to loosen it before moving the dirt with bulldozers or wheeled scrapers. You see many bulldozers with a ripper mounted on the back. If you have a moldboard plow you could plow the dirt you want to remove and then scoop up the loose turned soil with your loader. That is much easier on a farm loader than trying to dig into undisturbed soil, most were never designed for that type of work.

Yea, I'm guessing, but I presume the problem is a farm tractor and loader isn't going to work the way you think in hard dirt, it is not a tracked bulldozer, it's a just a farm tractor. You are spinning out because you are asking way too much of it.

A farm loader can move a lot of loose grain, or semi soft manure, or sand. Even a pile of loose piled dirt. But hard dirt is not what it does well.

You never did say how deep you are trying to go?

A plow would make a trench for you, or plow a wider path and you could move the loose dirt, then plow again same area, move the loose dirt. Can get a couple feet deep that way pretty easy. The plow alone will get you a 6-9 inch trench....

If you need a bit wider than a single plow furrow, you can dig a trench one bucket at a time. But you need to come at it sideways, not trying to scoop out a 5 foot wide trench lengthwise!

Drive up sideways to where you want the trench, and scoop.

Go beside your scoop, and make another.

And go beside where you were, and make another.

This will scoop out a trench, one bucket width at a time. It won't be terribly deep, a farm loader isnt designed to go very deep in hard ground, takes many bites to go deeper and deeper.

Paul

And if you can start your cut at the downstream end and work upstream, the ditch will drain out and not pool where you're trying to work.

Want to thank everyone for their responses but I wasn't able to make any progress. I did more damage with the rear wheels than was worth it. Had to spend lots of time filling in ruts. I need lots more seat time and maybe some harder ground.

Buy a spade

that is one impressive ripper pt. I hope your going to patent that!