Johnny Bucket vs dirt scoop

[chabat124]

What I have: '52 Freguson TO30. Attachments I have: 5' Rotary cutter and a 5' Howse scraper/grader type blade.

What I want to do:
1. Move dirt to low spots in the yard and the patch, then smooth them over with the blade.
2. Make a few small jumps for the dirt bikes
3. Make a berm for the dirt bikes.

I need something to move dirt with! I am not tractor shopping however. And I am not really looking to build a full on FEL for my TO30. I am mainly buying dirt and then moving dirt from the pile, not digging holes at all. My usage will be light and infrequent as I live only on 1.5 acres or so. I do have another 2 or three acres that are rental property, and need dirt moved to fill low spots, so this would be useful for more than just playing with dirt bikes.

I had considered these three options:
1. Dirt Scoop like from TSC (3 point)
2. Johnny Bucket 3-point attachment
3. Build a homemade Johhny type bucket and attach it to the front bumper, which is pretty heavy duty, and raise the bucket with a 12v winch.

I favor option 3 really, I like to weld and fabricate. But #1 is cheap and easy and fast.

Any opinions to help me out?

[chabat124]

I am thinking something like this... (pics)

[chabat124]

Since part of my question was about building something should I have put this topic in "build it yourself"?

[kwolfe]

If you are good at fabricting things, I would say go for it. This way you can move dirt and then use the rear blade to smoth it over without taking off the scoop/bucket. If after you have smoothed it out you can see if you need more dirt. If you do, no need to switch things out. This will speed things up a lot.

[chabat124]

Kwolfe...
Thanks, I had not even thought of using the blade and bucket at the same time, great idea!

[Nuru]

How much dirt are you talking about moving? If it is a lot more than the dirt scoop can handle then the bucket is the way to go.

[chabat124]

How much dirt are you talking about moving? If it is a lot more than the dirt scoop can handle then the bucket is the way to go.

Probably a dump truck load... 14 cu yds is I THINK what this one carries...

[jinman]

Probably a dump truck load... 14 cu yds is I THINK what this one carries...

If I had only a TO30 and wanted to move and spread dump truck loads, I'd do nothing more than buy a boxblade and dirtscoop. For moving loose dirt up to 200', the boxblade will probably be all you need. I've dragged a lot of dirt with a boxblade. For longer hauls, I'd use the dirtscoop and then hook up the boxblade to spread and smooth the dirt. The "trick" will be to get the dump truck to dump dirt as close to where you need it as you can.

The scoop you are thinking of building will take a long time to get working and then it may put so much pressure on your front end that you'll do damage. As a minimum, the TO30 will be a "bear" to steer.

I just think I could move up to 10 dump truck loads of dirt and have it spread and compacted with a boxblade and dirtscoop before you would even get the plans drawn up for your front scoop. If you want to build something like that, then go for it by all means, but don't underestimate what a 3PH dirtscoop can do in combination with a boxblade. After you finish, you'll also have something you can easily resell if you want as opposed to a "special" tool that only fits your tractor.

By the way...the picture of the dirtscoop full of rocks should not be interpreted to mean that you can scoop those up like that. I'm sure they were manually stacked in the scoop. This is from lots of experience with a rock bucket on my FEL.

[chabat124]

If I had only a TO30 and wanted to move and spread dump truck loads, I'd do nothing more than buy a boxblade and dirtscoop. For moving loose dirt up to 200', the boxblade will probably be all you need. I've dragged a lot of dirt with a boxblade. For longer hauls, I'd use the dirtscoop and then hook up the boxblade to spread and smooth the dirt. The "trick" will be to get the dump truck to dump dirt as close to where you need it as you can.

I have a grader/scraper blade, will that be an adequate substitute for a box blade? I have not used the grader blade much... It just came with my tractor from the guy I bought it from.

[Nuru]

Probably a dump truck load... 14 cu yds is I THINK what this one carries...

If you want it done kinda fast, then the larger tool would be the way to go. if you have the time and want to go the box blade, dirt scoop route, that will definitely work too.