Yet another bucket-mod thread

[joshuabardwell]

Look up under the lip of your bucket and see if there is a piece of rectangular tubing welded in under the lip.

I appreciate the tip, Gary. As frivolous as it sounds, I really like the idea of maintaining the original look of the bucket! The bucket does not have a piece of rectangular tubing under the lip. It's just curled into a C-channel shape. But it wouldn't be too hard, I think, to find a piece of square tubing and weld it in there. If I understand correctly, the main issue is buckling the top of the bucket, right? There isn't any need for strengthening relative to pulling or torquing forces, right?

[mjncad]

Josh:

Here is how I did mine. https://picasaweb.google.com/1101061...iceAttachment#

[joshuabardwell]

Josh: Here is how I did mine. https://picasaweb.google.com/1101061...iceAttachment#

That's nice work!

[CTMassey]

Josh:

Here is how I did mine. https://picasaweb.google.com/1101061...iceAttachment#

awesome job!!

[scrappy isb67]

You know, you're right. And the kicker here is that I just realized that my bucket is black. I know that sounds dumb, but in my head, it was an off-black gray color that I thought would bug me if there was some different shade of gray just for my work. But I can live with black over black. It never looks too different.

I'm still going back and forth over whether the trouble of cutting out the slits is worth the benefit. Maybe I'll just look at it as fabrication practice and roll with it.

doing the notches are a good thing!, they transferring the load from the plate directly to the brackets and not relying on the 1/8 plate of the bucket to carry all the load.

[SSdoxie]

Joshua, Your bucket probably is 5/16" material. Yours is the Bobcat buillt bucket & loader, the bucket is built in same factory that all the skid-loader "light material" buckets are buillt. It is much easier for them to use the same material for this bucket and maintain the same settings for the press & welder than to change material. This would expalin why your bucket weighs some 25lbs. more than the same Rhino bucket they used first.
If you can get under there to weld it, putting a peice of angle or tubing inside the lip would give all the reinforcing you should ever need.

[Buckgnarly]

I would not worry about the hooks not being in line with the arms if you lift properly, i.e. using both lift points. I spaced mine as far apart as possible for wider more stable lifting, but never use one at a time. I also would not worry about a center point if you again lift smart. My center hook has been used probably more than my others, but only for light and 3pt implement movement.
If the bucket is 5/16 and can lift only 1000, I would not worry about reinforcing or your welds either. Lay a decent bead and the tensile strength will be WAY more than 1k.

I went with metal etching primer (get it at an auto store) and semi gloss black. Matches the Kioti bucket pretty well....and it is a bucket after all, not a show tractor!

Here is mine....

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/k...y-arrives.html

[oldballs]

Although quite a few members add receivers to the bucket, it seems to me that the best place is on the 3 PT with a bar. It seems to me that driving forward with a trailer attached would work better than driving backward at times( or is it 6 of one and half dozen of the other?). It also seems to me that reciever hardware on the bucket might compromise what the bucket is mostly used for. As for painting, the bucket and hooks get all the paint worn off rather quickly....but I painted mine anyway.

[mjncad]

I don't own a trailer; but having a receiver on my bucket came in handy as the picture shows.

[joshuabardwell]

Although quite a few members add receivers to the bucket, it seems to me that the best place is on the 3 PT with a bar. It seems to me that driving forward with a trailer attached would work better than driving backward at times( or is it 6 of one and half dozen of the other?). It also seems to me that reciever hardware on the bucket might compromise what the bucket is mostly used for. As for painting, the bucket and hooks get all the paint worn off rather quickly....but I painted mine anyway.

My neighbor doesn't have a loader, but he has a hitch on the front of his tractor and regularly drives a trailer around going forward with the tractor and backwards with the trailer. I know that backing a trailer is a PITA normally, but maybe it's easier if the vehicle is going forwards.