16 inch or 18 inch bucket?

   / 16 inch or 18 inch bucket? #1  

HighLoader

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2007
Messages
49
Location
Aguanga, CA
Tractor
New Holland TC40DA, Kubota K008-3 excavator
I may be moving up from my Kubota K008-3 excavator to a Kubota U25. If I get one bucket I am thinking of either a 16 inch or a 18 inch. I understand 16 is the most common for footings. Is it a big deal to use a 18 for footings? I am sure down the road I will have a few. Just wondering what your most used bucket is and what you recommend?
 
   / 16 inch or 18 inch bucket?
  • Thread Starter
#2  
I decided to go for the 18.:D
 
   / 16 inch or 18 inch bucket?
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Builder, Thanks for the reply. That makes me feel better going with the bigger 18 inch! Your case is a lot more powerful than the U25 so a 24 might be harder to dig with.
 
   / 16 inch or 18 inch bucket?
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#6  
Builder, the largest bucket they sell for the U25 is a 24. Maybe I will go with a larger excavator, the next size up, a U35. The only thing I am worried about is being able to trailer it. The U 35 is 8,025lbs. My new Chevy with the Duramax can handle it. I don't know if there is a legal weight limit to tow equipment.With a trailer the GVW would be up there. Would I need a special licence for over 10K? I will have to look into that.:)
 
   / 16 inch or 18 inch bucket? #7  
HighLoader said:
Builder, the largest bucket they sell for the U25 is a 24. Maybe I will go with a larger excavator, the next size up, a U35. The only thing I am worried about is being able to trailer it. The U 35 is 8,025lbs. My new Chevy with the Duramax can handle it. I don't know if there is a legal weight limit to tow equipment.With a trailer the GVW would be up there. Would I need a special licence for over 10K? I will have to look into that.:)

Nope. Since you're under 26,001 GCWR, you do not need a special license to tow a trailer over 10K. There's a few states that have some whacky requirements, but 98% of them are the same.

You'll need a 12k trailer that weighs under 3,975 lbs...better make it 3,775 lbs so you have some extra payload left (200 lbs) for fuel & chains & binders.
Your chevy HD will need a 12K weight distributing hitch, if you want to go by the book, to handle a 12K trailer. That's the limit on the 2500/3500 SRW's. If you have a dually you can get a gooseneck and go higher.
 
   / 16 inch or 18 inch bucket?
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#8  
builder, my 07 chevy is rated to tow up to 13K! Acording to the trailer place I talked to today, in CA if you tow over 10K you need a class B licence. What a hassel!
 
   / 16 inch or 18 inch bucket? #9  
HighLoader said:
builder, my 07 chevy is rated to tow up to 13K! Acording to the trailer place I talked to today, in CA if you tow over 10K you need a class B licence. What a hassel!

Are you sure?

My '07 trailer chart for a 3500HD 4x4 diesel/auto with weight distribtuting hitch and 16,700 for a 3500HD 4x4 diesel/auto with 5th wheel/gooseneck hitch.

Those are the highest ratings GM allows on my (or any) 3500HD 4x4 diesel/auto.

Maybe you have one of the new-style '07's. I hear they have a little higher rating??? I have a "classic" '07.

Anyway, I can't believe how screwed-up CA laws are. Here in PA, you can tow a trailer over 10K as long as the combination does not exceed 26,001.
In other words, I can tow a 12K trailer off my bumper or a 16,700 lb 5th wheel trailer with no CDL. I do have my CDL, so it's a non-issue with me. Calif is so screwed up. I hear story after story about all the screwed up laws they have out there-it's like a different country from the rest of the USA.

The only thing you gotta watch is exceeding your king-pin ratings....2500lbs on an SRW or 3500lbs on a DRW.

If you load your trailer incorrectly, or have lots of weight in the bed of the truck, it has a profound affect on kingpin ratings. That's why Ford's higher GVWR's help it tow more weight than GM. You can put more kingpin weight on them because they generally have higher rear axle weight ratings.
 
   / 16 inch or 18 inch bucket?
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Builder, Yes my 07 is the new body and is rated to tow 13K. I agree with you on CA and what a hassel it is to roll down the hwy. I have a single rear axel box van that is rated at 9700 gvw. It is basicly a one ton van with a royal box instead of a regular van body. Even though I am under the 10k gvw requrement I still have to go though the truck scales because I have a "modified body" . What a waste of my time to sit in line with the big trucks !
 
 
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