Patent ID: 8371048

Claim:
A method for excavating using an excavation machine, the excavation machine including a chassis supported on propulsion structures that are part of a ground drive system for propelling the chassis over a ground surface, the excavation machine also including an excavation attachment carried by the chassis, the excavation attachment including a digging tool driven by an attachment drive system, the digging tool including a plurality of cutting teeth, the excavation machine also including an actuator for raising and lowering the excavation attachment relative to the chassis, the method comprising: performing an excavation operation by propelling the chassis in a forward direction over the ground with the ground drive system while driving the cutting teeth of the digging tool in a cutting motion with the attachment drive system; detecting an auto reverse trigger condition with an electronic control system of the excavation machine; triggering an auto reverse sequence with the electronic control system when the auto reverse trigger condition is detected, wherein the auto reverse sequence includes an action selected from the group consisting of: a) automatically reversing the ground drive system to move the chassis and the excavation attachment carried by the chassis in a reverse direction; and b) automatically reversing the attachment drive system to reverse the cutting motion of the cutting teeth of the digging tool.