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Implement 'Slicking' Grading Technique

7:15
18:16
65.3K views

At 7:15 in

Testing the NEW skid steer on slick wet clay

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What happens here

Returning to the site the following morning, the operator begins a specialized 'slicking' or 'flat-topping' grading technique. This method involves using the CTL's bucket to press down and compact the wet clay soil on the slope. The goal is to create a hard, impervious surface that sheds water effectively, preventing it from penetrating the soil and causing erosion. This is crucial because the area will not be seeded or sodded for an entire year. The operator demonstrates taking small, precise 'shaves' of the clay to gradually compact the surface. He emphasizes that while the machine will still 'float' in wet conditions, the action of the tracks will help compact the ground.

Goal: The next morning, the operator implements a 'slicking' technique to compact the clay slope, ensuring water runoff and protecting the site from erosion until permanent landscaping can be installed next year.

Tools and materials

  • ASV RT-75 Compact Track Loader
  • Wet Clay Soil

What they say

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in the past we're going to be tweaking wet clay so there's going to be times when i'm just going to be digging in and attempting to shave a little bit off and i get a lot a lot off and i'll show you what i do to fix that let's go this is the area where i just want to take i just want to start to shave nice close shave this cab is so quiet here you can hear everything like i'm carrying on a normal conversation in the cab with you guys so i'm gonna shut up and just let you guys listen but this is what the operators here inside the cab it's just [Music] peaceful very very quiet cap a very quiet cab ah that actually is working out today you know we're not in a rush and i'm looking at that uh drip line of that crab apple tree i definitely want to stay away from that that's a chunk but all right we don't want to get it too fat not all at once because even though this machine floats it'll still compact and if you don't think so put your toes under the tires and tell me if they're not compacted when we're done okay for one don't do that and for two it doesn't have tires it has tracks just saying thin lifts and i want to work it into the soil so i'm actually attempting right now to kind of marry it into the existing soils kind of like play-doh you guys remember play-doh when you push it over the newspaper and you put it in real thin over the newspaper and then you peel it up you'd have the newspaper on it you'd always do the bunnies right at least i always do the bunnies i mean why would you do anything else but they're funny anyway this isn't much different than that you just spread it real thin and you work it right in and pretty soon it becomes part of the topography which is why it's called earthwork i mean thoughts will stand man but the results that we maybe around for a hundred years or more nobody may come in here and regrade this for decades and decades who knows i don't know that's kind of one of those thoughts that i think when i'm going through it and i'm like all right i take the time and do it the way i really really want it or do i get on to the next job well how do i want this to look in 15 years when people are having weddings here and family events and enjoying this land they will never know but i'll know it's me i'll feel better about what i did you do your work right nobody should ever know you did it you know i ran i actually started running excavators uh tract excavator which is like a bulldozer with a bucket right that was the first piece of…

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