440 building a road

[The Fireman]

Its been a while getting to this point but I am finally hauling gravel and building the road to the site I plan to build on. About 3 weeks ago I had the 310D trailerd over and cleared out all the tree stumps in the area I plan to put the house and widened out the road quite a bit. All the rock made for some tough digging but over 3 days I got things a little closer to where I want them. One of these days I'll scan some pics from 2 years ago when I borrowed a 650H and put the original "road" in.

Fortunatly dads been helping me alot on this project I wouldnt be where I am today if it wasnt for him, and that applies to alot more than this road.
That cherry stump sure gave the 310 a work out, thought I was going to get a front row seat at the olimpics before I got that one out



I couldnt get a dump truck in before I started with the 310 so after smoothing things out as best as I could I started getting gravel hauled in. After 5 loads were delivered I took the 400 over and put her to work. I wasnt sure if it would be up to the task and the job still isnt done but so far its done alot better and seems to be better suited to the job than I expected. I never expected a loader to set a grade well but with a little practice I am happy with the results.



Once I get the road in I'll start working on the pad for the house, I just got back with the 440 today after spreading another 5 loads out. When I'm done the road should be about 1/4 mile long and 30 feet wide so I can plow it in the winter. So far I'm about 1/2 the distance so another 10-15 loads of gravel should put me where I want to be, the width I'll work on as I go adding a little each year. I'm close but there are still a few places that need to be a little wider to make me happy.



The gravel spreads out nice over the stone, the rock is rough on equipment so I'm not breaking any speed records here but at least I didnt have to dig out the base and haul in fill to get a good base, and drainage wont be an issue either



Still a work in progress but for the first time since I bought the proporty its starting to look like somthing. At least now I can get my truck off the road, I never used to worry about that until I bougth the new truck

Hope yall enjoy the pics

[Lavoy]

That looks like fun!
Lavoy

[Toivo1037]

Great project! Very satisfying (and fun) to do that stuff yourself too.
Looks like we will be working similar projects. Just go teh 440 crawler loader back working, and I just bought a JD310 too, only mine is a bit older then yours, and it is a C, not a D.
Keep the photo records coming, always like to see others projects.

[The Fireman]

Sure is fun to be able to do this stuff myself. I figure by the time I get the road in and the gravel pad down the 440 will have paid for itself. My biggest problem is getting away from work long enough to get over there and get something done, seems like I'm always working over time. Not that I'm complaining but there comes a time when I just have to get away from the plant and get out in the dirt

The 310 was one of my best purcheses, I picked it up from the dealer I used to work for. It came in on trade and they let me have it for what they had into it. I always wanted a backhoe but I wasnt planning on buying one at that point but I just couldnt pass on this one. Now that I've got it I dont know what I did with out it.

Once I'm done with this project I think I'll pull the crawler into the shop and do a little more work on her, the steering clutch on the left side works but it isnt right. I wouldnt mind restoring it once I'm done but we'll see just how ambisious I feal.

[Lu47Dan]

Ambition , I have enough of that right now .
Looks like you are having fun out there on the 440 , makes me want to speed up the working rehab on my 420 . Have fun and watch out for those low hanging branches . Dan

[The Fireman]

alot of those low hanging branches are going soon. They dont bother the truck or the crawler but the backhoe gets into them if I'm not carefull. Whole lot cheaper to cut the limbs than it is to replace a window

[Ray III]

310D's are awesome.

[The Fireman]

310D's are awesome.

They sure are, They're the last backhoe deere built that didnt have a computer controlled engine. Not saying I wouldnt take a 410G but at least with the d series theres no computers to give trouble. The only thing I wish mine had would be the extendable dipper. I get by alright with out it and with 2 wheel drive but there have been times a couple extra feet on the dipper would have been nice.