5 scoops Using Tractor Loader - PEP BB earthworks.sand.tractor

In 2022 my neighbor dug out these trenches with a backhoe.
After that, I filled them with wood both from the cottonwood tree I had trimmed as well as some trees from an organic farm.

This was my starting point and I borrowed his tractor for the work.
I covered the wood with the dirt from the trenches, acting as mostly flat hugelkultur.

Six of us used the tractor in sequence at the SKIP workshop so there’s a lot of disturbed ground. The bucket on the tractor was much easier than the excavator. Hooray for building berms!

It took 31 mins on the tractor to move 5 loads. The route I needed to take was tricky and time consuming. I also used the tractor to improve a berm (another earthworks BB) so I needed to be precise in dumping the load. It was a bit of a challenge operating this machinery given that I'm 5'0". I loved being able to learn how to operate this equipment!

Attachment 1   - The pile of material before you begin
Attachment 2   - The destination before you begin
Attachment 3   - action pic
Attachment 4   - a pic of the source pile at completion
Attachment 5   - a pic of the destination at completion

plus Attachment 6 - photos of start and end times

At Wheaton labs during 2024 SKIP event, I used a tractor loader and moved 5 scoops of earth onto an existing berm. The whole process took a little over fifteen minutes (included images of time stamp).

  - The pile of material before you begin
  - The destination before you begin
  - action pic
  - a pic of the source pile at completion
  - a pic of the destination at completion

Hey PEP-folks,
I have been quiet for a bit, as we have moved the family from AZ to the prairie side of the PNW. We're on a bit more acreage, there is water (seasonally), and it's just a much more hospitable climate. Currently, we are enjoying a new year's day snowfall, and I am catching up on some photos and BBs.

This is the loader moving side of this fall's pond cleanout, which was pretty minimal, but mostly exploratory as we are on our new place up in the PNW. There is a LOT of basalt not far under the clay. The excavator does not go in very far (especially with the 24in bucket), but that is another BB.

For this BB, I submit the moving of spoil from the digout, from a loosened mass in the pond bottom to a new berm on the pond edge (which I later overseeded with vetch and Austrian winter peas, maybe there is a BB for that, too).

Figure 1 is the best way to show on a plan view where the source & destination are, about 40ft apart.
Figure 2 is the loose soil and some of the spoil from the digout with the backhoe.
Figure 3 is the action shot of moving a bucketful in the loader (Kubota B26, it has been a really good little machine).
Figure 4 is the new berm-line of dumped soil at the destination (this has stayed almost exactly at the waterline of the full pond, though I didn't check the grade, so one end is slightly lower than the other).
Figure 5 is the scraped source region, I did not try to get every last cubic inch of dirt, but left a little backed up against the dam berm, figured it wouldn't hurt to make it slightly thicker.

Thanks, hope this ticks the BB boxes, and happy homesteading!
Mark

Today at Bootcamp we got to move some sand over to improve Fukuoka Flat. It's a continuing work in progress, but you can see the progress, and my tractor skills.
1. Destination at beginning
2. Source at beginning
3. Action Pic
4. Source at end
5. Destination at end

The most difficult part of this one was digging in the soft sand, it makes scooping more tough and getting bogged down in the sand can happen suddenly. Otherwise it was a success.

4/29/2025

Hello skip team!
Do you love my new tractor!? I was finally able to finish this bb with it. I moved wood chips with the loader bucket onto a hugelbed I'm working on. In case you would like to check, wood chips were approved for this bb in the claroficarion thread. Heres a video of my 5 scoops:

https://youtu.be/gLllPna9gf4?si=wGpQvGzsNE-ZgzTP