guidance on digging and travel speeds for the type ofditcher used.ObstructionsWhere boulders, heavy roots, or pipelines could bemet, you should adhere to the following guidelines:. Both walking and wheel speeds should be slow.. Soft boulders are cut through by the teeth.Depending on how buried a hard boulder is, it may bepulled to the surface or forced forward. This is becausethe deeper boulder not only is held down by a greaterweight of dirt but also the direction of the tooth contacttends to force it forward, rather than up.. The wheel will usually ride over embeddedboulders that cannot be removed by the ditcher. If a largeboulder is near the surface of the cut, it may stop theforward motion of the machine; in which case, powershould be cut off promptly.. If a boulder is pulled to the surface, it may landin an inconvenient spot, forward of the wheel andbetween the tracks. You may have to lift the wheel intotransporting position, work forward until clear of therock, push it out of the way, and backup until the wheelcan be lowered to the ditch bottom. If the boulder is toolarge for the wheel to clear, release the wheel driveclutch so the wheel can turn as it is pulled over it.. When the wheel is lifted above grade to clear anyobstruction, it maybe worked back to grade at the otherside in the same way the cut is started.. Turn with caution while digging. Slight turnscause the wheel to move sideways in the trench. If thebuckets have long side teeth or side-cutting bars and theearth is soft, you can make a gradual turn withoutdamaging the wheel assembly. Sharp turns may causesevere damage, such as bending the wheel frame,bending the wheel itself, or pulling the wheel frame offthe vertical track.LADDER DITCHERThe boom on the ladder ditcher (fig. 9-67) cannotbe brought closer than about 35 degrees to the vertical.Figure 9-67.—Ladder ditcher.9-31
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