HURRICANE DITCHER CO., INC.
THE “SWINGER” BY: HURRICANE
PAGE 6
TRANSPORTATION
If you will be transporting your ditcher on a trailer or in the back of your pickup truck, make sure
the machine is safely secured. It may cause injury to yourself or others, or damage the machine if it is not
securely tied down. You may wish to place boards under each parking stand and the drag plate to
prevent damage to the floor of your pickup or trailer.
UNHITCHING FROM TRACTOR
1)
Park on level ground.
2)
Lower parking stands; insert parking stand lock pins to secure.
3)
Lower ditcher until it is sitting firmly on parking stands and drag plate.
4)
Release hydraulic pressure. This may require shutting off the tractor engine.
5)
Disconnect the quick couplers from the tractor. NOTE: Always clean the quick couplers before
reconnecting them to any hydraulic system.
WARNING!
Always shut tractor engine off before unhooking PTO.
6)
Pull the PTO safety slide lock
(See page 13 item L5)
back on the PTO and remove from tractor
spline.
7)
Place PTO in its holder.
8)
If using a quick hitch, release the quick hitch latches, lower the quick hitch, and slowly pull forward.
9)
If not using a quick hitch, remove the lynch pins, hitch pins, and spacers, and slowly pull forward.
10)
Return lynch pins, hitch pins, and spacers to ditcher hitch.
USING THE
“SWINGER”
Each customer will use their machine for different purposes and in slightly different ways. We
cannot tell you the proper way to use your machine for your particular purpose, but we can make
recommendations for various uses.
The “Swinger” is designed to make surface drainage ditches and can be used to clean small
roadside ditches, as well. (Remember, the soil is thrown out the left side of the machine and may be
distributed over a 50 foot area; rocks and other debris may go farther.) When straddling a roadside ditch
it may be necessary to lengthen the tractor’s top link to give the ditcher’s impeller more pitch (angle). This
will allow the ditcher to operate deeper. The maximum depth of cut is approximately 20 inches depending
on how your tractor is set up (primarily tire size).
BUILDING OR REWORKING A DRAINAGE DITCH
– The ditcher throws soil and debris to the
left side. When possible, it is more efficient if the soil is thrown to both sides of the ditch or waterway. To
do this, make your first pass in the center of your ditch or waterway. After turning around, make your
second pass in the opposite direction with the right wheel of your tractor in the cut you just made.
Operate the machine’s impeller wheel 5-8 inches deep and travel about 2½ miles per hour. If the ditch or
waterway needs to be deeper, start in the center again and work outward. If the ditch needs to be deeper
but the soil is unable to be thrown out due to the steepness of the ditch bank, take an additional pass
cutting soil off the left bank. This will allow you to make an additional pass traveling in the same direction
cutting soil in the bottom of the ditch and make it easier to discharge the soil. Even if you have excess
