Build a slim trenching BH bucket?

RedDirt · Dec 6, 2007

TBN forums are great! Been here for days; can't get away. I pick a new forum each night and go through all threads of interest I can for 4-5 hours. A vast database of knowledge here. Thanks to all the contributors.

Just got a 2yr old bx23 w/90 hrs on it...good deal, excellent shape, 65% of new cost. Been wanting a BH for (literally) decades!

Projects will be root grubbing, site drainage, running roof rain water leaders underground, tree and shrub planting, irrigation systems, adding a small septic system for my shop, gravel drive maintance, etc.

It came with a 12" hoe bucket. I'll be doing a lot of shallow trenching for irrigation laterals (main lines already in deep) and various underground drain pipes. I see from Kubota a 10" bucket is $350+/- so I figured to build one; I've got the skills, etc.

So here's my first questions:
1. If my goal is to produce shallow, narrow trenches, and I'm building a bucket anyway, why not build a narrower bucket, say 8", instead of the 10"? Minimum bucket width limiting factor is the pin length of the bucket control arms, about 6 3/4".
2. My ground is a digger's delight (except for roots, lots of them); clean clay, hardly any rocks and then only small rocks. So...teeth or no teeth? The clay gets pretty hard packed in the summers (no summer rain in the Sierras) so I'm not sure the bx has the oomph for trenching with just a cutting edge w/o teeth. No teeth would let me dig a nice clean bottomed trench.
3. If teeth are needed I figured on only two since bucket is so narrow. I figured Hensley 156 wrap-around, weld-on shanks and standard 156 teeth. Then I found some bolt on shanks. 3a) 156 "Standard" a good tooth selection? Maybe a flare tooth would be better? 3b) Weld-on or bolt-on shanks. I'm leaning towards the bolt ons since this will be such a light duty bucket and I have the standard 12" for heavier work. Bolt ons would allow me to remove them when conditions warranted.

Thank you for any feedback.

charlz · Dec 6, 2007

Actually I have a thread over in the Build It Yourself forum about the bucket I am currently building. Biggest concern with small buckets is them plugging up. If you have clay I would this could be a real issue for you.

RedDirt · Dec 6, 2007

charlz said:
Actually I have a thread over in the Build It Yourself forum about the bucket I am currently building. Biggest concern with small buckets is them plugging up. If you have clay I would this could be a real issue for you.

You've got a very nice thread going there.
This Sierra clay has enough loam not to be too sticky unless it is saturated and I doubt I'd be digging then. We get a long dry spell May to Oct; normally zero rain then.
My BX 12" bucket has a small taper, back-to-front, ("draft" as pointed out in your thread) and I figured already to copy that although I did not really question why it was built that way but it makes sense. Now I think I'll increase the draft just to be safe.
The "ejector" Pycoed suggested is indeed interesting. I think I'll design an "add-on" option to my bucket and build one later if needed. Can't yet tell from the web photo how the hinge geometry works so I'll research further.

bigkahuna · Dec 7, 2007

What did you pay for the BX if you don't mind me asking?

RedDirt · Dec 7, 2007

bigkahuna said:
What did you pay for the BX if you don't mind me asking?

$11,000 w/FEL, BH & back blade, no manuals (on order, waiting anxiously so I can do the 100 hr service and get more seat time!)
Found at tractorhouse.com and it was within driving distance. Asking price was $13,000. A new one around here is about 16K-17K.
Local dealer has bx24 special now for 16K + tax = 17,200+/-.

Jimmyp5 · Dec 9, 2007

I just went out and measured my small bucket on my BX 24 it is 7 inches (think they call it a 8"). I have the 12 inch too, I use the small one just like your talking about doing. You may find that if you post or ask around you can pick up the small bucket on the secondary market at a reasonable cost.

RedDirt · Dec 9, 2007

Yes. I was at bota dealer yesterday and measured their bx24 8" bucket. The two measurements that are needed to make this bucket interchangeable w/bx23 is the spread of the pins (4 7/8") and the width between the attachment arms (3 13/16"). These are the same on my bx23 12" bucket and the bx24 8" bucket so it seems they are interchangeable. Bota wants $308 for the 8" and $354 for the 10".

Has anyone had trouble getting dirt out of their 8" bucket? I'm told this is sometimes a problem with narrow buckets especially with clay. We've been having some discussion about this on charlz's "Smaller Bucket" thread at the Build it Yourself forum.

crazyal · Dec 9, 2007

I haven't read that thread yet but I would say you should be fine as long as you don't make the bucket too deep. What are your plans as far as depth? If you plan on doing things like drainage where you might only be going down 2 feet you'll just plow the dirt out of the way. if you need to go deep the shallow bucket could mean taking a long time to dig.

Jimmyp5 · Dec 10, 2007

RedDirt said:
Has anyone had trouble getting dirt out of their 8" bucket? I'm told this is sometimes a problem with narrow buckets especially with clay. We've been having some discussion about this on charlz's "Smaller Bucket" thread at the Build it Yourself forum.

I did have a little trouble with some red clay soil with the 8 inch bucket. But not so bad that it stopped me from using. I lucky in most of my soil is loam or sand. Digging in water lines etc, really was not a problem.

RedDirt · Dec 11, 2007

crazyal said:
I haven't read that thread yet but I would say you should be fine as long as you don't make the bucket too deep. What are your plans as far as depth? If you plan on doing things like drainage where you might only be going down 2 feet you'll just plow the dirt out of the way. if you need to go deep the shallow bucket could mean taking a long time to dig.

Both the Kubota 8" and 12" are 9" deep. I was going to copy that dimension for my narrow bucket.

Not sure what you mean (you'll just plow the dirt out of the way". Soil here is typically soft first 6'-12" then firms up and clean, straight sided trenches are possible. Most of my trenchin with the narrow bucket will be 18"-30" deep.