Getting a full bucket of dirt

Today most people are taught to bog using the ‘Lift /Crowd’ technique this, however has some draw backs such as, getting only half a bucket or less on the first pass. It can take up to three passes to get a full bucket of dirt.

What has this technique done to bogging?

Its cost time to the job and this has cost time spent doing other jobs such as road works and cleaning up headings. This unfortunately has led to a loss of standards in both these areas.

So why is it so important to get a full bucket in one go?

It has now gotten that bad in some places that it’s become a safety issue.

The more times it takes you to get a full bucket of dirt the less time you have for cleaning up after yourself.

The less roadwork’s done the more trip hazards left around the mine and the worse the roads get.

Rocks on roads cause tyres on vehicles to blow out, causing hazardous situations (any tyre change underground is hazardous).

To get a full bucket of dirt you must work the bucket through the dirt to force the dirt into the back of the bucket.

This is done by dropping the leading edge of the bucket back into the dirt by either, Dumping the bucket or Lifting the bucket.

Enter the dirt in first gear full noise until it stops

Lift the bucket and the bogger will move forward again.

Crowd the bucket twice then dump once (the bogger will move forward again) crowd again then lift once(the bogger will move forward again).

These movements will change depending on where you are bogging however the purpose of this technique is to keep weight on the bucket thus keeping the front wheels from spinning. Try not to rush your movements.

The idea is to operate the bogger as smoothly as possible.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

The leading edge of the bucket

The leading edge is the front edge or teeth of the bucket, this is the edge that has contact with the ground. Most buckets now days have teeth, however they used to have solid metal strips welded across the front of the bucket and this was referred to as “the leading edge”.

When the instructions are given it is the leading edge that is being dropped not the whole bucket. The controls in the bogger control the bucket which determines where the leading edge is.

By dropping the leading edge back into the dirt you push that dirt to the back of the bucket