Buying Advice Need 6"+- bucket for Kubota L3901 w factory BH77 back hoe

[westsail434]

I have a Kubota L3901 w/FEL & BH77 factory back hoe and am looking for a narror bucket for ditching. Currently have a 16" bucket. Does anyone know if a bucket, Kubota or aftermarket, is made and where I might locate it?Kubota says a 10" width bucket is the smallest they offer. Location is southeast Georgia. Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[LD1]

A 6" bucket is likely to be narrower than the bucket linkages and mounts. You want a bucket that has at least an inch of bucket on each side that is past the boom/linkage/pins.

And depending on soil, a 6" bucket is likely to cause more grief if you have to fight it every time to get a load to dump out.

For our full sized backhoes, I have access to 12, 18, 24, and 36" buckets. Really not much difference in ground disturbance and backfilling between the 12, 18, and 24. Hardly use the 12 because of high clay soil that packs in.

If you want something smaller, get the 10" but I dont see a need for anything smaller as I dont think it will work any better

 

[moship]

For what it is worth the 10" Kubota number is BT1950A and is approximately $415.

The smallest bucket I'm aware of is 9" used by Woods on their smaller backhoes. This is not to imply it would fit the Kubota BH.

 

[Grandad4]

What LD1 said! Unless you have very sandy soil, smaller buckets easily get packed with material and need to be cleaned out - by hand - frequently. In moist clay soil, even an 18" bucket can pack up with enough digging. If you need to dig a trench just a few inches wide, it's generally easier to just rent a ditch-witch.

 

[art]

I have many contractors that have buckets that are small for their excavators. They might be a little rusty but the teeth and pin holes look like new. for what you have been told about bucket getting packed in and needing assistance to clean it out for the next bucket they tell me for a littke more stone they can use 16 and 18" and be able to work in the trench if needed to.

 

[rScotty]

What LD1 said! Unless you have very sandy soil, smaller buckets easily get packed with material and need to be cleaned out - by hand - frequently. In moist clay soil, even an 18" bucket can pack up with enough digging. If you need to dig a trench just a few inches wide, it's generally easier to just rent a ditch-witch.

I have a 12" and 24" bucket and found the same problem with the narrow bucket. That being that if the soil itself is sticky enough to stand up when digging a narrow trench, it tends to pack in the bucket. And narrow trenches in sand don't work either because the trench sides slumps back and fill the trench. So it ends up being less extra work to just use the 24" bucket in the first place. When the sides of the 24" sand trench slump down there's still depth in the center and some room to work.
I mostly use the 12" bucket with the hydraulic thumb for moving stones and building stacked rock walls. And for that purpose I probably would prefer a 10".
rScotty