4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please...

   / 4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please... #1  

USMC2531

Bronze Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
60
Location
Upstate New York
Tractor
John Deere 4120
Hello,

I'm in the process of buying a John Deere 4120 tractor and I'm debating getting a 72" Frontier 4 in 1 bucket with it.

I've research many old threads here on these and there appear to be many uses. I would really like to see some pictures of these buckets in use performing various tasks if anyone has any.

Many thanks,
Steve
 
   / 4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please... #2  
Here is a stump and rootball I was able to break loose with the backhoe and then pick up with the 4-n-1.

I don't have pix of other useful functions such as uprooting saplings by catching them between the "jaws" of the 4-n-1, or carrying trees and logs "unicorn style" .

It allows a metered spreading of material, and clamshell pick up, although I usually get a bucket of air when I try that.
 

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   / 4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please... #4  
Very useful if you have a strong enough FEL. Don't know the ratings on your tractor, but should be north of 2000lb lift to my mind to get use out of a 4n1
 
   / 4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please...
  • Thread Starter
#5  
I'm getting a JD 4120 and I believe the lift capcity is 2500 lbs so hopefully enough for a 4in1.

~S
 
   / 4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please...
  • Thread Starter
#6  
Many thanks for the picture. More pics are welcome if people have 'em.

Do these 4 in 1's have enough bite to grasp and pickup large boulders/rocks/tree (butt logs)?
 
   / 4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please... #7  
Many thanks for the picture. More pics are welcome if people have 'em.

Do these 4 in 1's have enough bite to grasp and pickup large boulders/rocks/tree (butt logs)?

THey aren't really suited to any of that - that's grapple work really.

They excel at earth work - pushing it around and dropping it in specific places.

I've tried rocks with it, and found that its pretty eh compared to a cheap grapple.
 
   / 4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please... #8  
Do these 4 in 1's have enough bite to grasp and pickup large boulders/rocks/tree (butt logs)?

I have tried. My experience with rocks is that if I try to clamp them with hydraulic force, they damage the edges of the bucket, and I have done that. It is not serious enough to effect the function in any way, but it is easy to see how a steady diet of this could produce a lot of damage. I have quit doing that.

Now it is also possible to get a rock into the bucket by closing the clamp properly under it. You have to be able to tilt the bucket and close at the same time, my hydraulics are not set up that way, and I can only do one or the other. A little bit of one followed by a little bit of the other should produce a similar result, but it is difficult for me to master.

I can clamp one log hydraulically, and lift that, and I can carry one long log pointing forward, but Charlesaf3 is right, these jobs are better suited to a grapple.
 
   / 4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please... #9  
Now it is also possible to get a rock into the bucket by closing the clamp properly under it. You have to be able to tilt the bucket and close at the same time, my hydraulics are not set up that way, and I can only do one or the other. A little bit of one followed by a little bit of the other should produce a similar result, but it is difficult for me to master.

Yeah, that is the parallel or "true grapple" function, which I have in my
4-in-1. With my setup, I can not operate each jaw independently.

I have grabbed many logs this size, though I cut them to be just shorter
that the width of my bucket (60 in). A grapple (with parallel hydraulis would
work better here. The best advantage of my 4-in-1 is in grabbing loads of
dirt, smaller rocks, or other materials.
 

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   / 4 in 1 / clamshell buckets..pictures please...
  • Thread Starter
#10  
grapple, no 4/1, no grapple, yup 4/1 for sure, well maybe a grapple would be better,.....lolo...anyone else ever been through this?
 
 
 
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