Pond Digging with Miller Ready to Dig Bundles
In conversation with Joe Gilbert
Miller recently took the opportunity to catch up with Joe Gilbert – Product Demonstration Manager – at SANY UK & Ireland to get his thoughts on Miller’s Ready to Dig Bundles.
With almost 25 years’ experience in operating machines, having worked with SANY for three years and other major OEM’s, Joe put Miller’s bundle – comprising a GTS coupler, 1 digging, 1 trench bucket and 1 ditch cleaning bucket – to the test whilst digging and dredging a pond on his farmland in Stafford.
Digging the Pond
Using the bundle on a SY60U machine, Joe fitted and installed the GTS coupler himself, explaining: “The GTS is super easy to install – there’s nothing complicated to it!”
With extensive experience in all aspects of groundworks, he said: “Once I installed the coupler, it was really easy to get started as everything I needed to carry out the pond dig was there, enabling me to get straight on with the general groundworks at hand.”
With the pond area mapped out and site preparation complete, Joe began using the 900mm wide digging bucket which has four teeth. Weighing 192kg, with a 0.15m³ capacity, Joe used a layered approach, digging from the centre outward to create a consistent depth, whilst maintaining the integrity of the shape of the pond itself.
Once muck-shifting from the centre and surrounding was done, Joe switched to Miller’s 1500mm wide ditch cleaning bucket with a bladed edge, weighing 177kg, with a capacity of 0.19m³ to profile the edges, as well as level the ground.
Buckets of Choice
We asked Joe how he found using our buckets to carry out this work. He said: “What I really like about Miller buckets is, due to their geometry, they operate perfectly on each machine with plenty of curl on them, allowing operators to scoop full loads, whilst having plenty of roll out, emptying with ease whilst also not reaching the RAM stopper.
“The bucket fill is really great with very little spill. You can very easily fill the bucket to the top without it catching and scratching the bottom of your dipper arm.”
Joe also noted that the cutting edge on Miller’s buckets are very good, allowing them to move through heavy ground with ease, which in comparison, many other OEM buckets don’t have, which can put pressure on the machines with them struggling to dig.
Digging Summary
To dig out the area spanning 405m2 took Joe approximately 3 ½ hours to complete from start to finish. Once dug up using Miller’s Ready to Dig bundles, Joe finished the bank of the pond using excess topsoil – moved by the machine and buckets – to create a berm around the edge. It was then ready for pod liner to be installed to prevent water from seeping into the ground.
Miller Advocate
Having extensive experience in the industry, Joe has always come across Miller attachments and over the last few years has solely fitted Miller only couplers and buckets to his machines.
We asked Joe quite simply: “would you recommend Miller” and he said. “Yes… every time!”
Watch the timelapse video here to see Joe in action.
