HD bucket or Bobcat bucket?

   / HD bucket or Bobcat bucket? #1  

5030tinkerer

Gold Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2005
Messages
432
Location
Iowa
Tractor
Kubota GL3830/GL5030
I am in the process of getting a new to me Kubota L5030. Trouble is, it has a light materials bucket on the 853 loader. I've spoken with my dealer who has confirmed that the tradeup to the HD bucket from the light materials bucket is $400. He also mentioned that with the quik tatch, I should consider getting a 72" Bobcat bucket since they are a few bucks cheaper (a total of $35 - whoo hooo /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif), but also have more capacity with the same basic strength. What are you guys' thoughts? Any drawbacks to this approach outside of the fact that I may just have to paint it orange? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
   / HD bucket or Bobcat bucket? #2  
Here are my thoughts on the two buckets. The BobCat buckets are lower and generally longer, front to back, than the Kubota bucket and that can be good and bad. The good is they make great grading buckets with their flat bottoms and bolt on teeth stay flush with the cutting edge rather than hang below like a tooth bars teeth. The bad is that the longer they are the farther your point of contact is from the pivot point and you have less breakout force. That’s not as good for digging. You also want to look at the weight of each bucket before you decide. Some of the BobCat buckets will weigh much more and reduce your loaders capacities.

MarkV
 
   / HD bucket or Bobcat bucket? #3  
You will want a QT bucket, if you ever plan to remove it or put on forks, ect. I agree with Mark V. I got a QT Kubota bucket but I also bought a skid steer bucket(used) and made a grapple for it, but it is only 5' instead of 6' like the kubota bucket. If the grapple bucket was a foot wider I think I would have problems pickup some stuff because of the add weight & the added lenth of the bucket.
 
   / HD bucket or Bobcat bucket?
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Just to clarify: The loader is Quik Tatch already, and the light materials bucket that I will have is quik tatch compatible already. The question was whether to get the Kubota HD bucket or get a Bobcat HD bucket to save a few bucks and at the same time get a bucket with more capacity. It now seems that the real question is whether I can live with slightly less breakout force by having the longer bucket. Hard to say, really, without trying them side by side. I may end up with the Kubota variety since I already have a Bobcat-type bucket on my old skid steer (even if it is only 5' wide).
 
   / HD bucket or Bobcat bucket? #5  
If I were to do it again. I would go with the Kubota bucket. You can find used buckets around if you really need more volume, then you would have the right one for digging, with out stressing your loader.
 
 
 
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