Digging with New to us Mini Excavator!

Welcome to Sonne Farms! On this channel we showcase numerous jobs a Corn/Soybean/Beef producing operation takes on each day. Hop in the cab or sorting alley with Cole, Brian, and Jeff, to see how life really is for the people that help feed the US and the rest of the world. In addition to Corn, Soy, and Cattle, Sonne Farms puts up grass and alfalfa and sells pure bred Black Angus Bulls in South Dakota.
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[@wilsonfutrell1833]

For a first time, I thought you did very well with the swingy and the tilty and the turny stuff. 😆

[@alanatolstad4824]

"Ditchin' and fixin'"!---Your imaginative camera placements never fail to entertain!

[@user-kf9fv1qj9u]

Great job running the mini excavator Cole

[@jeffsorenson1547]

Cole, that narrow trench in a pasture may give you trouble. We lost a bull in such a thing - tipped upside down into it and couldn't right himself - an expensive lesson.

[@philipfleming3546]

Brain, surprised you didn't request windows washed and check oil when Cole was filming in beginning. 😂😂😂

[@dannaumann9758]

I was going to recommend starting your trench on the “water” end. Keep the water flowing as you dig, it will be at the correct depth. Guess your already done, so it don’t matter!

[@richarde.miller9304]

Cole isn’t it a blast having TONKA TOYS, it’s just being a kid in the sandbox all your life. You did a AWSOME job🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@joelhuber888]

HI Cole the next time you do that start at the water and bring it with you that way you get the right grade and the water will flow, always a learning process. I enjoy your videos thank for taking the time to make them.

[@bendermanufacturing]

In your application a buried tile line will prevent animals and people from falling into your open ditch. Using filter fabric will maintain flow for many years to come. Connecting the overflow directly will reduce the amount of mud that is there, and will allow the area to be graded during the drier times. Great first dig Cole. Paul

[@scottrosevold3645]

I think that is a great idea. You already dug the trench, bury in the tile...

[@jeffquackenbush7433]

a drainage pipe that shallow would likely slowly freeze up in the winter causing a bigger problem

[@davidfrese4975]

@@jeffquackenbush7433 if the water from the spring is always flowing during winter, then the water will not freeze in a underground pipe or tile

[@jeffquackenbush7433]

All depends how fast the flow is

[@MichaelHolloway]

@@jeffquackenbush7433 -and how deep

[@kathyk479]

Cole you Did just fine!!!! Trench Looks great!!!!

[@jerrycallison6125]

To any naysayers, ask if they want to come and do it for you since they know how. You got the job done. I don't see Home and Gardens looking to do an article with pictures, so none of that really matters. You are moving water. it was a success.

[@kevindawson5345]

Cole I thought you did good for your first time. Practice will make perfect. A good video. Thank you for sharing your day with us.

[@user-ks2sq7xz6z]

Chains won’t work well on a bucket that small. Only other advice I would give is next time digging a trench that will be in place like that one leave open spots in your windrows of dirt on either side so the water that is standing can get to the trench and away from the ground beside it. Otherwise good job that’s the other way to learn!

[@davidhudman7144]

You are doing great for just starting. If you just had a little wider bucked would help. Can you add a Thumb to it is needed? When it dries out next summer you can spread out the dirt removed and straddle the ditch and dig out the high spots no problem.

[@wild_insomnia]

Cole is jack of all trades,and Brian in his natural habitat is a very interesting specimen to behold,maybe BBC Earth would like to study this new species.

[@michaelraby7043]

How about adding some field tile and run it to the ditch then add an over flow catch basin near the tank. Just a thought. You are doing great keep it up

[@jamesbyrne5734]

Well Cole . You went at the deep end for a first timer and didn’t get stuck .😂 So I’m impressed with that 👏👏

[@charlesprouty213]

Cole, Start learning how to drive your trackhoe using the foot pedals. That will make it easier when you use the blade for pushing and grading. It also enables you to dig and move quicker.

[@catharinalausen6263]

Unless you are using a lazer you might find it easier to start at the wet spot and just keep the water coming to you, it will act as your level. Consider buying a thumb attachment, it’s amazing the different jobs you can do with it.

[@joebedinghaus2766]

Agree, also the water always following you might lubricate the bucket some so the mud comes out better.

[@billwhitman1529]

Cole, you may want to consider coating the inside of that bucket with "slip plate" so the muck won't stick. It'll wear off quick when you work in dry dirt but when working in muck your job will be 100 times easier.

[@chadrogers5925]

Or diesel fuel… brushed in

[@MamaBear-tn3cm]

Don’t say “I suck.” Say “ I am going to be better at this tomorrow.” Never put yourself down. There are always going to be others that will do that. Believe in yourself.

[@dclug1]

My dad is just getting back from up your way, went clear up there to buy 6 of those wind breaks you guys use. We are located in SE KS, it was a bit of drive!

[@davidsandberg7631]

Near Columbus

[@coryweber6188]

I've run excavator for many years and you actually did pretty good if that was your first time I've seen guys that claim they've been running excavator for years way worse then you just keep putting around after time it becomes easy

[@jeffreyjohnson8212]

There’s an art to learning to work any new machine….especially an excavator. You’ll get it eventually!

[@wearewildwoodranch]

Its a neat rig. I would change the bucket to a ditch bucket. Not sure that chains will work in that bucket. I would say its less the equipment and more that its not the exact tool for the job. But, you got it done :)

[@RebeccaVanDewalker]

Another Sonne Farms video. I like watching them every night & disappointed if there’s not a new one! Loved the “new” piece of equipment U guys are just fun to watch! God bless!

[@johnnyg5122]

My wife and I raise cattle and hay on a small farm in s.e. Oklahoma. I am currently going through cancer treatment for head and neck cancer. I really enjoy your videos because I can’t get out and work right now. Thank you for sharing.

[@peteparker7396]

Pro tip,,, don’t curl your bucket up all the way, keep the teeth pointed at you and then when you swing curl bucket down pop the stick out at the same time. Acts like a sling shot. If it gets really plugged up curl all the way out, extend your boom and stick all the way out and give the ground a love tap or two. It will come out.

[@AlwaysAwesome001]

Pro tip. Doesn't make for good KZbin content. 🤣

[@jacksondahlke]

Yep

[@alvinmartin6270]

Spray your bucket with diesel oil what ever you got laying around

[@dannaumann9758]

Thanks Cole-for the intro to the “Sonne Farms Zoo”! So glad you are still able to enjoy yourself on the farm!

[@robertfranssen]

Get a wider bucket . U guys in the U.S always use buckets with teeth and very small. Get a wider bucket like 4 feet . Use from the side . U can pull a side at it too. Now you are just making a trench for utillities lol. Great effort though for the first time.

[@perryspradlin31]

Cole My Dad always told me the first guy had to learn to do some time .as long as the water is running down hill and you did not have to be pulled out and you know how to use the boom to pull or push your self out you going to do fine great video thank you.

[@brynredmon7869]

He baled that little rig right in there fearless as anything. Pete Parker has good tips. Where the bucket pin attaches to the stick you kinda want a little air pocket in there. It will help that mud releases. Slightly popping the bucket outstretched helps, but be careful it stresses that bucket pin pretty bad. Diesel will help until you have to add more diesel. Best advice it patience, you will learn more the more you run it. Also it may be small but they can be a bear to get unstuck.

[@ChristianandFamily]

Excavators are my happy place. Nothing teaches better than saddle time Cole.

[@joshbutterfass5251]

A bigger bucket might help with digging a better trench as well

[@wjonthetrail]

The one thing about water is it’s ability to show you the grad it needs to flow So if you start digging at the wet end of your ditch and the water follows you your on grade Those little excavators are beasts and they make a thousand attachments for them A quick disconnect and a few different buckets and you could do anything with it They even have a brush head you could clean ditches with I love those things I had a case CX50 With a thumb and 4 different buckets Good purchase you will find a lot of jobs it can do

[@wjonthetrail]

Oh if you dig so the water follows you then you won’t have to over dig your ditch

[@mmurphy2317]

Iirc...it's on demo...not a purchase?...Cole? Brain?

[@jeanhorne5893]

Hi Cole and Dad Brian hope you are doing good today.Thank you for sharing everything.God bless you all.

[@melindaburch4318]

Cole, you have good instincts. I get very “bossy” watching people do things.

[@tomt6863]

The trouble with starting at the bottom is not being able to judge how deep to dig. If you use a laser level or transit, you can stake the slope and it won't matter where you start.

[@bay9876]

Ellie dog envious of your digging into the ground. Dogs are natural born diggers and love to ride in the excavator and dig with her master.

[@paulprigge1209]

Doesn’t cost anything. SUBSCRIBE PEOPLE! Doesn’t cost anything and it helps These special people out so much!

[@tonyjones9715]

Cole you did great. You will only get better with time. The pro tip guy is right on. 👍👍

[@ikopi56]

Just a couple of ideas. Go back in after the ground dries and widen the trench, making it harder for the cows to push it full of dirt. I'd also haul out or redistribute the excavated stuff to keep it away from the edges of the ditch.

[@marymonson2187]

I lost count of how many times my neighbor had to get himself unstuck by crawling out using the loader. It’s a farm thing! 😂

[@johnt3728]

Thank you for your videos I love watching them.

[@michelpicton8357]

Thanks for all the great camera angles. Appreciate the content 👌

[@pjmoody]

Cole, you're doing a great job. Better than what I could do. You need to get to know the machine. Thanks for sharing (nobody ever responds)

[@lance2659]

Weld segments of old log chain to hang doenoff back of bucket. Joys of living in the land of gumbo.

[@kennethrunyan3168]

Old timer who dug field tile by hand said start at standing water and go to outlet. That way you get your fall for water to run.

[@larrydavidson3402]

You did just fine Cole for your first time. You'll get the hang of it in short time.

[@shealy265]

Enjoy the your learning process/adventure with the excavator.

[@UlsterScot17]

Hey Cole, the bucket you have in UK 🇬🇧 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 we use that size shape for digging foundations, and a 3ft wide bucket for clear waterways, with smooth edging blade. Some now put thumb grab. 👍

[@onewhitestone]

Well, I think you did a good job Sonne. You will get better the more you use it. They way you dug that trench was right, always go to the water not from the water. I wish there was a way that you could have dried that black gold out, it looks like it would make great topsoil. I normally would just bang the bucket on something like a rock or log to clean it. And yes, the biggest problem with tracks, dont leave them with all that mud in winter, you will regret it later. All in all, good job.

[@allanpeters4403]

First time operating an excavator - you did good Cole!!!!

[@brucemoore2163]

I eventually got a ditch bucket for my mini excavator. One thing I suggest you would do is just drive parallel to the ditch instead of having to back up and always drive forward. That excavator will do a 360 and drive along the edge quite easily.

[@NoTill1825]

That was going to be my suggestion. Buddy used a Bobcat 332 I believe it was, had a 1 ft and a 30 in bucket. Plus driving along the trench.

[@mikeegan9820]

15:38

[@Dan-qy1rg]

I haven't ran any of the excavator's or backhoe either, so I couldn't tell you which way is up with them, but it did look fun. Thanks for sharing, have a good evening!

[@garethstott]

Perfect location for Tiff`s new underground swimming pool. Get excavating Cole...

[@paulcraft144]

Back in the 50s my dad made a ditch about a quarter mile long 5 feet deep and 10 feet across through our pasture field by using half sticks of dynamite 18 inches apart.

[@ronaldschmidt4748]

It's good that you got to use the excavator. As you use it more you will become more skilled, Thanks for the video Take Care and Be safe on the farm. Out

[@Charles53412]

Cole looks like you need a ditch cleaning bucket for that new excavator, which will help keep that water flow moving in the right direction.

[@user-kf9fv1qj9u]

Great video Cole and Brian

[@jeffandjanebelstra182]

Hey Cole always had the same problem with cattle around our cheese vat and wind mill Took a mini and dug in a 4inch tile from a overflow on the tank to about a hundred ft away Ended the mud around the vat For most every thing I dig now a three ft bucket gets the job done fast

[@ernopekkala4580]

Yeap, only way the end that mud from coming back is to run drainagepipe from that overflow to a ditch where catle can't go. It's more work but yuo save alot of time on the long run when yuo don't have dig that trech every year.

[@jeffandjanebelstra182]

If your going to keep the excavator Find a wider bucket even without teeth Will be easier to clean out and move alot more dirt per swipe I've even dug over tile and could feel the corragations of the tile with out damage the tile

[@Kevin-Oregon]

Great videos Cole and Brian! On the Mini Excavator try “Heavy Metal Learning” KZbin channel. Song of the day: Digging in the dirt, Peter Gabriel. 😂 Brian in his natural habitat was hilarious!

[@jayheiman7388]

You did a good job for first time. I’d say once that drains awhile and the ground firms up more you can get back in and clean it up better if you want. When done leave bucket vertical and that mud will fall out as it drys or freezes

[@benjohnson9011]

Have your tracks parallel to the trench if possible. Also, if you get stuck (or not) clean the tracks. A few times, I didn't for whatever reason and they froze over night. Chipping out small pieces of mud to get them to turn is a nightmare.

[@ullmannone]

If you can't regulate the flow of water from the source, you can bury a large cistern adjacent to the spring and pipe the excess within the ditch you're digging to where it can do some good. (It doesn't look like your soil there is going to hold the volume in your trench and you may end up just spreading it, making a large bog, particularly if you get some heavy rain.)

[@coreyvandyke528]

That's absolutely correct you always want to start at your deepest cut first

[@anthonyhengst2908]

Cole, there's always a first time for everyone for everything.. I would be thinking like you. As long as the trench does what it is what you want it to do, it doesn't matter how pretty or not pretty it is.

[@stanmonk2851]

Kudos Cole for not being afraid to air your learning a new machine.

[@ryaneick8864]

You did a fine job! Like any equipment, the more seat time you get the better you will get!

[@roberttolliver5430]

Cut or drill some holes in the wall of the bucket to keep the suction down worked on shovels also. Nastily sticky ole clay but it makes great dirt tanks.

[@eko.j.TV.Channel]

Very extraordinary, cool friends, heavy equipment, operating well, greetings of respect and friendship, I hope you like it, thank you

[@timrex4138]

Another great vlog!! It's always fun to get to play with the big boys toys, just a bit smaller. Give yourself more credit though because you didn't have to call Brian to bring the chains!! lol

[@mikerieger8964]

Pretty good for the first time! I coated the bucket with old oil to release the load.

[@brianlanseigne8926]

That little excavator has an awesome growl sound to it!

[@miketrowbridge8469]

If you don’t get smooth edge bucket (no teeth) like 24” wide, cut a plate to bolt on lowest edge of teeth & use for leveling. Put all the dirt one side to clean up later. And of course keep eyes open for bucket with “thumb” or grapple as you’ll be using more than you’ll ever believe for trees posts pallets rockstar etc👍

[@davidcarlson162]

Been watching your channel for a long. Time. Case makes fine industrial equip. Never miss your videos!!

[@rdyardie]

Cole, you are a brave person demonstrating your first use of the excavator. Thank you for showing us that you will soon be a "natural". . . . Yes, I was wondering the same thing about a calf falling into the trench.

[@jetegtmeier71]

the bucket you have I would consider to be a trenching bucket, big enough for a pipe and the width of the excavator stick. You need a "Hogging" bucket, something about twice the size that you have :)

[@larrycaughron1321]

What separates the men from the boys is the price of their toys. 👷🇺🇲👍

[@karenfaber7049]

Cole, you did a great job with the excavator. You got this!

[@arthurok327]

Howdy Cole, hope ya'll are doing well, I wasn't gonna point out that you were digging to deep in spots, I'm confident you'll figure it out, I will say, I'm impressed you used your boom to get yourself out of this sticky situations, and you figured it out right away, I guess you remembered my suggestion to you, about using your boom when you first got your wheel loader stuck in the snow 😉 Stay safe, God Bless and Farm on my Friends

[@johnnyhomegrownholmgren9999]

Nicely done, Cole! 👍 But i belive a smoothie faced bucket would work even better... At least in my mind. And also, a nice uppgrade for that excavator would be a quick coupler with a built-in tilt function. It makes life a little bit easier to do a nice job. Steelwrist got them for sale. Have a good one! ☃️

[@williamwomack]

I'm starting to like the mini ex, real neat! even with 25hp. Love the video 😊

[@giles-df9yu]

Fun thing to use

[@torchandbucket4214]

Good effort Cole! I wouldn't know how to turn it on, let alone dig that trench 🚜❤

[@tomodutchy]

Start from the top where the water is as the water will act as a level and show you how deep to dig. Plus it might help with mud not sticking to the bucket.

[@bduncan9724]

If farming doesn't work out you will make a dang fine operator..😊

[@rolandtaken7328]

Cole that's a good place for a tile line

[@thebulldogchefs203]

Looks like you did well your first time operating your excavator. Good job Cole!

[@mollytheda9273]

Good stuff with the new excavator! Seems like a culvert/French drain in that ditch you dug would be a good thing.

[@dwaynekoblitz6032]

Here comes the experts! For your first time I think you did just fine. I certainly wouldn't have been any better.

[@markyoull6744]

you did well cole in wet clay the chain in bucket wont do a thing if i may give you a tip when had to dig from the side of trench theres a control to put your boom 180 to your cab this allows you dig from the side and maintain a staight line with the trench remaining the same width just a tip im not critising well done great video

[@scottkonik3398]

You could run the overflow into a pipe underground to take the water away from the tank and out to the ditch

[@ernopekkala4580]

Yeap, only way the end that mud from coming back is to run drainagepipe from that overflow to a ditch where catle can't go. It's more work but yuo save alot of time on the long run when yuo don't have dig that trech every year.

[@mikekisch5563]

digging at an angle helps me. for instance your 2 foot deep ditch is about 1 scoop. if you dig at an angle you can fill a bucket over a 4 foot bottom. this allows you to layer the dirt in the bucket and it will help midigate it clumping in the bucket.

[@gavinperry7237]

Trench may not be pretty but as long as it works that is all that matters at this time. Final smoothing out can always be done later when things dry up

[@ry-guy_]

Now that is some top notch mud

[@kandilulufarrington912]

That intro was priceless!! 😅

[@steveneal2706]

amazing video Cole. You and dad did good. Great job guys

[@ingamej21994]

Get you a 24 or 30 inch ditching bucket for that thing it’ll make things real easy

[@johnpatton3656]

Hard not to plug up a small bucket in saturated ground. I never ran a hoe with chains in the bucket, seen them, did not seem to help much. Might help if you only put the bucket in the ground 2” and make a full length cut. Going down half your depth then pulling into the face of your cut is compacting the material and forcing all the air out. You can practice by having a short log or stick on the ground at half the reach then pull it in without going over the wood or digging into the ground. The smaller diameter of wood the harder it is. Even a old 2x4 works. Also those hand controls for walking the machine are for mechanics and truck drivers, use your feet to travel.

[@elwinharrison1099]

If I am not mistaken, that is made for the boom to folder 90 degrees toward the cab so that you can dig off to your left or right.

[@johnmarquardt1991]

When I do something new -- I almost always go to youtube and look for several videos on how to do it best. You got out of the mud easy enough so I think you'll do well.

[@boskone]

For the spring, since you've an excavator now would it be worth putting drain pipe from the well overflow to where you want it to go, then cover it? That way there's no trench to level out.

[@bulldawg6259]

My son and I use the mini as a crane as much as a digger. Weld some good rigging to the bucket Very handy