Bucket Buddy instead of Weld on Hooks

[ehops]

Great minds must think alike. I saw this hitch receiver in the Harbor Freight rag and had a thought. Also had a couple of iron brackets kicking around for years in the bottom of my "junk box". All three pieces went together like they were made for it. The receiver has a nice plate on the bottom to disperse the force of a center pick. I went with the weld instead of bolt because I don't want to give ANY water a way to get between the double wall of my bucket. Only thing I am thinking of now is to weld a couple of clevis hooks on the top of the brackets on each end of the bucket. I also want to weld a couple pieces of metal on the outside, bottom, leading edge of the bucket to help the chain not slip around to the side at an inopportune moment.

The nice green paint also makes me want to sand down the whole bucket and redo it!!

 

[JB4310]

Great minds must think alike. I saw this hitch receiver in the Harbor Freight rag and had a thought. Also had a couple of iron brackets kicking around for years in the bottom of my "junk box". All three pieces went together like they were made for it. The receiver has a nice plate on the bottom to disperse the force of a center pick. I went with the weld instead of bolt because I don't want to give ANY water a way to get between the double wall of my bucket. Only thing I am thinking of now is to weld a couple of clevis hooks on the top of the brackets on each end of the bucket. I also want to weld a couple pieces of metal on the outside, bottom, leading edge of the bucket to help the chain not slip around to the side at an inopportune moment.

The nice green paint also makes me want to sand down the whole bucket and redo it!!

Looks good, and welcome to TBN, what will you use those brackets for, will they crab chain link?

I wouldn't bother sanding the whole bucket down, maybe just paint the top surface, the first time you put it in dirt it's gonna look the same.

Don't think anything welded on the bottom of the bucket would be a good idea, IMO it would interfere with normal bucket tasks.

JB.

 

[ehops]

Not sure what a crab chain link is, but my 3/8" chain runs through the triangle loops on the ends. It works well, but I am going to weld some clevis hooks on th etop to make it easier/faster to hook up the chain.

 

[sdkubota]

Truckntow.com

 

[stingray1]

Your bucket buddy rocks! Thanks for write up,pics.and all the info.

 

[Agent Blue]

Using a trailer receiver hitch on a bucket is nothing new. I have had them for a decade. Square tube fits inside so it is easy to make a variety of hooks or any other application you need. No sense in buying the expensive pre made add ons.
The one good accessory I liked was welding a section of tubing on to a vice support. Field repairs work great with a vice to hold parts while disassembly for repairs. On and off in five seconds.

 

[MIKE7639]

Thanks for the ideas. I had the dealer reinforce the entire 72" of the bucket top and then weld on three 2" receivers and four weld-on hooks. Took delivery of the tractor yesterday and their work looks good.

 

[causey]

I did the same thing and got the bolt on receiver at Harbor Freight. Works great.