high volume bucket

[unreconstructed]

I have a JD 512 FEL on a 5203. Have been looking at the JD website at available buckets for the 512. An 85 inch (.86 yard) bucket is listed as a high volume bucket which I believe is to be used for light weight volume materials such as cotton seed hulls. I plan plan to load it with prickly pear which is heavier but will not be compacted in the bucket to any degree.

Has anyone used one of these high volume buckets on their 512/522?

Thanks for any comments you all might have. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[wushaw]

I can see why you want a big bucket from what I've quail hunted around in west Texas /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gifIf your trying to get rid of your Prickly Pear don't forget the roots or it will just come back. Good Luck /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[unreconstructed]

I have been grubbing by hand--going down about 4 inches is supposed to take care of the root problem. Still going to grub
with a grubbing hoe, but now will throw them in the loader bucket and haul them to a "drying" site. Have been using a large capacity wheelbarrow. At 55 years old that has been taxing me a bit. The mechanical removal is for selected acreage where we are in a little more of a hurry. The rest of it we will use herbicide. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[wushaw]

My "drying site" is a burn pile /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I have been digging up Prickley Pear for four years now and it just seems there is no end...one day no Prickly Pear then a few months later several new plants /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
I have a sharp shooter mounted to the side of my golf cart that is used regularly.
I learned not to mow them quickly, diesel is useless. The only herbicide I've read about can only be used by a lisensed person.
My neighbor is using herbicide of some kind but I think he is loosing and he keeps mowing it /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Good luck It's hard work.

 

[unreconstructed]

Wushaw,

I have read that getting the roots about four inches deep will take care of them "coming back". I use a grubbing hoe and have been monitoring the sites I have cleared and it seems to work. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif At least as of now /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

My son has an applicators license and we starting using Tordon 22k--4ounces in 3 gal of water, 1 pint of diesel, 1 oz of dishwashing soap. Kill time can take up to two years. I may go to the trouble of getting the license myself as I have a 100 acres of the stuff.

A friend of mine saw a loader bucket with tines on it made specifically for scooping up prickly pears-- of course that would not get the roots but would at least get a lot of what I call "runners" from the main root.

A lot of work indeed. No matter how hard I try to stay out the stuff, one or two of the pricklies manage to get in my legs and hands every time I grub. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Anyhow, onward through the fog. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[wushaw]

That's what my neighbor is using (Tordon) But he still mows it /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[unreconstructed]

Wushaw,

Friend of mine saw a bucket at the fair in Abilene Texas that is made for picking up prickly pear. Don't know if you have seen these things or not. Said it had a row of forks on the front and looked to be about a yard capacity.

Anyway, I called Parker Implement in Abilene and talked to a salesman and he said that Parker is a dealer for the bucket and it supposedly can be made to fit any loader with an univeral adapter kit (heard that one before? /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif). Anyhow, the forks vary in diameter and are spring steel and start at 1 1/4 inch and vary in spacing starting at 1 1/8 inches apart on the "light" duty bucket. The forks are spaced all along the cutting edge I gather. The light duty bucket weighs 650 pounds, is 6 foot long, and costs 1900 bucks. The salesman said he has used it and it worked good if there is not a lot of inbedded rock in the ground. Said it even got the root quite often. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyhow, the 1900 is a lot of coins, but I have about 100 acres of the nasty stuff. Problem is, about 20 acres has a LOT of rocks. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I am going to ponder this a while and may drive to Abilene and eyeball the things. I would give 1900 bucks in a hurry if it looked like the thing might work.

Thought you might be interested. Not sure where Bristol is, but anyhow, there you have it.
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[wushaw]

Bristol is south of Dallas.
I don't have the Prickley Pear problem like you do in west Texas, We have the short stuff. I have taken care of most of mine and the new stuff with a sharp shooter and alot of jack **** labor /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I've only got 12 acres nothing like what you have.
My neighbor has 143 acres with a major Prickley Pear problem in several areas but he is too cheap to buy the right tool for the job /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
You can always leave the rocky area for a quail bird hideout, it's tough to grow anything in rock anyway /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[unreconstructed]

I have "stands" of pears that are 6 foot high and probably 10-12 feet across. I am going to leave them for the quail. I am removing rock on my ridgeline so I can mow so will remove the "running" pear also. A lot of it is sick anyway. My bottom part which is probably 80 acres doesn't have the rock problem so I'll remove the pears as I get to them leaving the tall stands for quail. Course the rattlesnakes I guess like to visit the quail there also. Have quite a bit of mesquite so will selectively remove it. Think I will make brush piles for my quail friends.

This is in Menard County which I guess is maybe the end of West Texas and the start of the Hill Country. Is 180 degrees from Midland where I live. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You are right about using the right tools. Even with them, those pricklies will be coming back up after the grave digger kicks dirt in our faces. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

If I get the cash and end up buying one of those buckets I will post my results. If it works, maybe your friend will consider it. Just a few acres of pears will bust a fella's rear end for a lot of weekends. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif