3PT Hitch Rear Scoops, How effective?

[wolftree]

kabong,

I was not aware Westendorf made all of the other equipment. Great site.

[dougtrr2]

I had a Vassar Equipment bucket scoop for my JD318. I moved an awful lot of dirt with it. One of my fondest memories was one weekend when my 75+ year old dad came to visit. I had a load of topsoil delivered and we moved it around to fill in low spots and holes in my yard. Dad would get a load of dirt, I would point to where I wanted it and he would back up. I would pull the trip line and he would go and get another load. It was just the right amount of dirt to spread with a garden rake. We got a lot of work done but were not worn out. When I was by myself I used the front blade to smooth out the dirt. FEL are nice but bucket scoops have their place.

Take Care,
Doug in SW IA

[MBTRAC]

While I would love to have a new 30 horse tractor / loader / backhoe and a barn full of implements, my wallet says I will be lucky to afford a 20-30 year old compact with 2 wheel drive and a 3pt finish mower and maybe a few other implements for now.

With that said, How effective is a rear mounted scoop in scooping, picking up and transporting dirt and gravel and dumping it at a new location? I have several projects I would like to begin or continue that I would rather not wait until I can afford the super deluxe all in one tractor and the barn full of implements.

I have no plans to move mountains, maybe just level out a few hills.

A good 'old low tech rear scoop should work just fine, just take your time & if possible loosen up the soil first (with ripper or plough) - in some applications the scoop is still hard to be beat.
Depending on what you're trying to achieve/how far you're moving material from the "cut" you might even want to consider instead a drag scraper/landplane - if you're handy with a welder & have access to scrap all can be built on budget; or even found at clearing sales.
Anyways here's a few photo's which may provide ideas/options to scale down for your "compact" tractor size/application:
1. 3PL Mounted or Trailing Scoop Cost $100 at auction; the wheels carry the weight instead of the tractor/linkage, coupled to the 3PL enables a precision straight cu (but makes carrying to dump a lift only exercise as it doesn't turn), alternatively connecting it to the drawbar enables the unit to swivel/turn for quick cuts/dumping, sure the hyd dump is nice but a "trip" mechanism is an easy substitution.
2. Simple drag scraper/landplane Cost c.under $100 S/H (including the linkage drawbar): basic & could maybe do with a bit of welding/paint but does the job (& for me will serve as cheap basis for a far more complex "project" I have in mind)
3. "JD Green" drag scraper Cost ? Built this out of stuff laying around, for use around the house lawns/garden/driveway infinitely adjustable (the hydraulic's can be removed easily & substituted by simple screw/ratchet adjustments) runs fine behind our JD415 15hp diesel lawn tractor or our Iseki/Kubota c.20hp CUT's
& even SUV's

[bikerdib]

I have a Kubota B3300 with a FEL and my 3pt scoop that I used on my first tractor that didn't have a FEL. When I bought my second tractor, a used B7300 I had a FEL installed on it. I still used the 3pt scoop along with the 3pt scoop to move more dirt in a single trip. Even now with the 5' bucket on the B3300 I still occasionally use the scoop to move more dirt than the FEL alone. The scoop also allows me to take a narrow of dirt when I want to where the FEL takes a 5' wide cut.