adapting a WRLong 4-in-1 bucket to my Kioti

[dfkrug]

I have been lusting for a 4-in-1 bucket for my Kioti CK30 loader. I had one
on my B21 and I got a few hours using it, so now I must have one for the
long term. I was pleasantly surprised that you can do a lot with this kind
of bucket, even on light tractors. My CK30 is 50% heavier than the B21, so
it should handle the heavier bucket without a problem.

My main usage will be for grading, picking up rocks, and grabbing buckets of
materials (dirt, gravel, rotting leaves, etc). Having the 4-in-1 will allow me
to avoid using my box blade and to leave the backhoe mounted.

In my search for a bucket, I came across the WRLong HydroJaw2, or HJ2-60.
It is very light at about 350#, according to the manufacturer. Unfortunately,
it is about $2500, plus tax and shipping. Ouch. And that does not include
the hydraulic valve, etc. The manufacturer was very helpful, but the only
nearby dealer would not even get back to me with a quotation.

So I went to Ebay, and I at last found a used one (first photo). It was in
PA, but I won it for $500 and had it shipped to the left coast for $400. The
valve it came with is a lever-operated one-spool valve, used downstream of
the FEL valve, no doubt. I plan to use a solenoid-operated spool valve.

The mfgr plate shows the unit is made to fit a JD 440 loader, and that is
way too wide for my Kioti KL130 FEL. The bkt has seen light use, but it has
been left outside for a while. It has some rust and is a little too light duty
for my taste, so I will rebuild it, as well as adapt it to fit my tractor.

Did I say this was a light duty 4-in-1? Well, the sides are only 3/16", the
lower cylinder pins are 7/8" and NOT greasable, and the lower jaw (dozer half)
has only a 1/8" steel carcass! I weighed it and it is only #326#, only 146#
more than my OEM fixed bucket.

[dfkrug]

Here is the dozer half, just removed. The FEL brackets have very large
verticle pin spacing, compared to the Kioti pin spacing. You can see the
Kioti bucket on the left of the first photo. Ideally, I would like the pin
spacing to be greater than Kioti uses, but less than used here.

2nd photo shows the brackets cut off. That took about 30 seconds each
with the plasma cutter. I am not going to reuse them because I want a
closer pin spacing and the bushings are designed for 1" pins. I plan to use
my Kioti 25mm pins and 1.000 ID bushings.

[tlbuser]

Originally Posted by dfkrug

So I went to Ebay, and I at last found a used one (first photo). It was in
PA, but I won it for $500 and had it shipped to the left coast for $400.

The mfgr plate shows the unit is made to fit a JD 440 loader, and that is
way too wide for my Kioti KL130 FEL. The bkt has seen light use, but it has
been left outside for a while. It has some rust and is a little too light duty
for my taste, so I will rebuild it, as well as adapt it to fit my tractor.

Did I say this was a light duty 4-in-1? Well, the sides are only 3/16", the
lower cylinder pins are 7/8" and NOT greasable, and the lower jaw (dozer half)
has only a 1/8" steel carcass! I weighed it and it is only #326#, only 146#
more than my OEM fixed bucket.

That was a good find for $500.00 compared to $2500.00 new. Is the new HJ-2 made to a different spec.? Interesting how they just drilled the cylinder rod. Look forward to seeing how you beef it up to suit your tastes.

[MarkV]

That was a good deal. If I were you and had your fabricating stills I would not think twice about putting a universal skid steer quick attach system on the tractor. It sure is nice to be able to switch to forks or different buckets in a matter of seconds.

MarkV

[dfkrug]

Originally Posted by MarkV

.....I would not think twice about putting a universal skid steer quick attach system on the tractor. It sure is nice to be able to switch to forks or different buckets in a matter of seconds.

Quick-attach has it value for sure. But at the cost of decreasing your
lift capacity, by adding significant weight and by extending the bucket
out front by several inches. Everything has its tradeoffs, and these 2 are
critical for a loader that can lift only 1155-1500# max.

[dfkrug]

Now to make the bucket brackets.....

First photo shows the cardboard mockup on the far right (paper tracing). I
made a couple of versions to get it just right. Then I traced the paper onto a
piece of MDF laminated flooring (Pergo type), which is about 1/4" thick and
works great as a plasma cutter guide. I then cut out the MDF with a sabre
saw, making the guide about 1/4" smaller all around. This accommodates the
width of the plasma torch tip. Finally, I clamped the guide to some 1/4"
steel plate and made the cut four times (2nd photo). Lining them up, you
can see all 4 brackets are within about 1/16" inch of identical. I did manually
adjust the hose notch a bit to accommodate the new hoses I used.

Not shown is the process of cutting 1.5" holes for the DOM bushings. They
can be seen later.....also cut with the plasma cutter.

Next, I will weld them up.

[dfkrug]

Originally Posted by tlbuser

That was a good find for $500.00 compared to $2500.00 new. Is the new HJ-2 made to a different spec.? Interesting how they just drilled the cylinder rod. Look forward to seeing how you beef it up to suit your tastes.

The heavier duty HydroJaw has greasable lower cyl pins and even rod
protectors. I do not know how old this bkt is....I was hoping someone on
TBN had the same bkt and would post their serial # to compare.

The deal was OK, considering I was looking at $3000 for a new one. Note
that Long includes FEL brackets in their list price, so the hours I spent making
brackets, etc, would have been saved. I did want to make my own pin
spacing, however, and use my nice Kioti 25mm drilled pins.

[dfkrug]

OK, now the welding. But first, I wanted to take the opportunity to
adjust the straightness of the dozer section. It was bowed in about 1/2"
in the center.....not too important, but it is accessible now. The first
photo shows how I bend buckets. I use some chain, an I-beam and my
trusty HF 20T jack. (This cool air-over-hydraulic jack is another HF bargain:
about $60 and VERY useful.) This precedure is hard to do precisely, and
I tried it 4 times before I got it close enough. The steel is very springy
and it springs back to the original bend if you don't over-bend it. Sometimes
you can can hit key parts of what you are trying to bend with a sledge
hammer while under tension. Done correctly, this can cause the steel to
take the bend, without springing back as much. This trick has worked for
me before when straightening m/c frames.

In the 2nd photo, you see my clamping arrangement, with 2 squares
for plumb and true. I cut 2 wood blocks to get the spacing correct. The
pin holes have been cut to 1.5" to allow the DOM bushings to fit loosely.
Alignment is managed by running a chunk of DOM all the way through, and
a temp pin w/ the bushings in the other holes. I don't want to use the
25mm pins here because they are not tight enough for good alignment.
I was running out of DOM tubing, so I used a temp pin that was 1.000, filed
down to barely go inside the DOM.

Heat management is extremely important, if you don't want to ream out
the bushings after welding is done. I used to have to do that before I got
better at managing the inevitable distortion in the steel. Note that the
bushings are not welded in before the brackets.

Once I was happy with the positioning, I tack welded the brackets,
alternating from side-to-side quickly. A tack weld on only one side will pull
the bracket out of plumb as it cools. It helps to tack the top and bottom
first, and hold the bracket in place very firmly.

When all was tack welded and in the proper position, I completed the welds,
but still alternating from side-to-side. While the brackets were nice and hot,
I welded the bushings in, using my temporary pin for alignment. I have had
MUCH better success with alignment of welded-in bushings when the
surrounding metal is very hot. Less distortion that way.

The last photo shows the completed brackets and a chain lift slot and
reinforcement plate I added in the center because every bucket should
have one.

[dfkrug]

Next I reinforced my light duty bucket.

Since the dozer-half carcass is only 1/8" thick, I decided to add a couple
of 1/8" x 10" plates in the middle. Since I handle a lot of rocks around here,
I have seen what they can do to 1/8" plate. More plate would have been
even better, but I don't want to add too much weight. I started by bending
a section of the plate in my hyd press, to a radius smaller that the bucket's
radius. This allowed me to weld one end, then tack both sides progressively
as I used clamps to un-bend the plate. The result is the plate is attached
very tightly to the bucket. The 2nd photo shows the completed welds. I
also attached some 1/4" plow steel at each exposed bucket side....six places.
The OEM 3/16" sides are way too wimpy, IMO.

The 3rd photo shows the completed dozer jaw...with paint, but sans hoses
and cylinders. I dumped the OEM 7/8" lower cylinder pins for some hardened
Kubota pins, but I am going to live with the fact that they have no zerks.

Next up: hydraulics

[dfkrug]

OK, now for the hydraulics.

I used the same strategy that I used with my hydraulic backhoe thumb:
a single solenoid-operated spool valve on one of the two sides of the
4-in-1 cylinders, plumbed in parallel with the bucket curl cylinders. The
only difference is the loader has 2 cylinders for the bkt curl and the hoe
has only one. For those who want to do it this way, I bought the
HydraForce SV08-24-6T-N-12DS, which should be under $50, depending
on where it is shipped from.

This approach has the advantages of less plumbing and lower cost than
a 4-way solenoid diverter, or a separate mechanical spool valve. The
parallel mode action, where the bkt curl and the 4-in-1 jaw are operated
simultaneously seems to work better, vs the mechanical spool valve. This
action is used for grading and grabbing piles of materials off a flat surface.
The disadvantages? For grappling work, the parallel hydraulics make it so
the the dump curl action will have priority over the 4-in-1 jaw opening. This
means that the bkt has to be fully dumped before the jaw opens or the
items grabbed has to be set down before the jaw can open. I have been
able to work within this limitation, no problem.

First photo shows the valve. Any brand should work, as long as it can
handle the flow and uses a spool valve (not a poppet valve). This unit
is rated 4.5 GPM.

Next are the cross-tube FEL mounts, one on each side. The bulkhead
mount will be for the non-valved side QD; the other is for the solenoid valve.

There will be NO hoses added to the FEL arms. The electrical connection
(white wire) goes thru the FEL arms, as do the existing hoses. The dash-
mounted switch (just above the light switch) is a waterproof toggle.