FEL owners - what size bucket?

[Mosey]

A question for those of you who have a FEL on your tractor: What size bucket do you have and why did you pick that size? By size, I guess I'm mainly referring to the width. I'm guessing most are the width of the tractor, for example my Boomer is 5' wide (actually 5' 2" from at the outside of the rear tires), so I'm thinking I would want a 5' (or maybe 5' 6") wide bucket.

 

[hazmat]

You want at least as big as the tractor is wide. MY TC18 is 50", I have a 54" bucket. Works great. Sounds like you've been a good boy this Holiday season./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[lblair]

I second Hazmat. I have the TC21D and the 54" bucket
Larry

 

[Mosey]

hazmat - "Sounds like you've been a good boy this Holiday season."

I won't have it by Christmas, but hopefully soon after! My NH dealer has an annual 10% off sale every February, so I'm going to pay him a visit then. I just want to have my ducks in a row before I talk to him. I heard (here on TBN) that NH is phasing out the 7308 and coming out with their new 14LA (whatever that is), so I'm hoping to get a good deal on a 7308 since they may be wanting to clearance them out. If not, I'll go across town to the Case/Kubota dealer who sells Woods loaders and see if I can make a deal with them. That's also where I bought my LandPride finish mower, so I already know they don't mind cashing my checks!

 

[rdbrumfield]

I have to agree. the loader should be the same width as the tractor. Remember, on size, or volume of the bucket, the weight in it is almost double down presure on the front axle.

 

[Bird]

Danny, you may want to consider the width of some of your other implements. When I had a B7100 with a 48" bucket, I also used a 48" box blade, 48" brush hog, etc. However, when I got the B2710, it's overall width was 54" and I got the 54" bucket on the FEL. That was just fine for most uses, BUT since I was using a 60" box blade, 60" brush hog, and 60" finish mower, there were times when I would have been better off with the 60" bucket, especially when using the FEL in combination with the box blade to dig and/or move dirt.

 

[Kodiak]

Danny:

I,m running a 66" bucket on my TC29, of course that is with The Woods 1012 FEL and heavier lift capacity. Most of the 7308's that I have seen are running the 60" buckets. But no matter what width of bucket you go with, make sure you get the heavy duty bucket. That way you will only have to buy one once.

 

[Rick Jay]

Hi,

As others have said, at least as wide as the tractor, and an additional 6"-12" might be handy too.

When I ordered my B2910 I had specified a 54" bucket 'cause I was a bit concerned about maneuverability. A few days after I got my tractor I was sitting in the garage, proudly looking over my new tractor, and I commented to myself "Boy, I'm glad I got the 54" bucket 'cause it just fits in the garage". Then, I took out the tape measure and discovered I had the 60". I quickly realized that this was fine for my purposes.

I've pretty much used the 60" size as a guide for most of my other implements...boxblade & rear snowblower.

A bucket wider than the tractor gives a bit of "maneuvering" room when using the loader for backgrading and clearing snow.

~Rick

 

[em14]

The buckets I have are as wide to a little larger that the width of the normal (the width that I plan to use the tractor at when using the FEL) thread width of the tractor ...
Leo

 

[RedDog]

As others have said, I would go with the width of the tractor.

The 84" on mine works great!!

RedDog