Me and my dad "made" some bucket forks as well. Basically, we took an unused 3pt set of heavy duty hay forks and welded on tabs to the bucket's top reinforced edges and a tab on the buckets floor right at the back wall. You slide the hay forks into the bucket, line up the holes and slide the bolts in. The frame for the hay forks is square with the spears on the bottom corners. IN the bucket the bottom frame of the forks spreads the weight across the bucket. It's attachment points are sort of like an inverted 3pt. To on the top outside edges and one on the bottom.
It can lift a 1500lb bale just fine but I shy away from using it as such because the nature of the attachement points put the bale about 2ft further out and adds stress. Frankly I rather carry the bales in the back so I can see where I'm going. Where I use this is picking up brush piles and for that it is surprisingly good. The framework of the forks sticks above the top of the bucket and keeps things from rolling back and the bucket is 7ft wide, so it keeps the piles from wrapping around when pushed and getting into the wheels. Also, the way we arranged it, it still connects just fine to the 3pt.
Anyhow, cdhd2001, I am a big fan of over engineering, so every opportunity I get to beef something up, I do it. My dad is a "just get it done" kinda guy and so we clash creativily, we always argue as we work about the best way to do something. Amazingly it works for the best because we are critical of each other to the point one of us will usually catch a mistake before it is too late.
Your forks look good and as for some saying they might break, that can be a good thing. I mean, if you are going forward and one fork digs into the ground, I'd rather the fork break over than tweak the front loader or bend the bucket edge.
One last word...don't forget about them forks. With them on you are much longer and you will impale things if you are not careful. I put a 4 inch hole in the side of a boat.... Live and learn
