Kubota B26 light duty front bucket review

[lhansman]

Attached are some photos showing the standard 60" B26 front bucket versus the light duty 66" bucket Kubota offers. I initially purchased the light duty bucket hoping it would reduce my snow clearing time but subsequently purchased a Grattex extendable and reversable blade for snow removal which has been a huge improvement.

I am still happy with the light duty bucket however because it moves a lot more dirt then the standard bucket. I purchased it with the bolt on cutting edge which strengthens the bottom edge and tried it out on dirt. I have moved probably 70 - 80 loads of fill this past summer with it in my 7 ton dumping trailer and am very pleased with it. Filled with a heaping load, the B26 can only lift it about 4' - 5' but that is enough to get me over the side of my trailer. Instead of 17 - 18 trips to the trailer with this bucket I only make 11 - 12 trips and my trailer is at capacity.

As you can see the light duty bucket is not much higher than the standard one but the bottom of the bucket is about 6" longer. This makes it much more like a skid steer bucket with a longer bottom than height which I find handy when picking up rocks and patio stones. It also carries a lot more miscellaneous garbage when cleaing up on job sites. The light duty bucket is now my default choice and I hardly use the standard one anymore. The only advantages to the standard bucket is that it is narrower if you are in tight quarters and you can lift to full height with a full load of dirt which in not possible with the light duty one.

I do not think Kubota has sold many of these as the serial number on mine is 00012 which I purchased in the spring of 2011. I just thought there might be other B26 owners who where curious about this bucket so offer this brief review.

[Herkypilot]

Thanks for the writeup. I was concerned when I purchased the light duty bucket on my MX5100 that it wouldn't hold up, but I've been moving a #1 rip-rap stone pile and the bucket seems to be holding up fine. I've been considering adding a tooth bar to help with digging and beef up the leading edge a bit. I think now the only thing I'd replace it with is a 4-in-1 bucket if ever.

HP

[GILLYS CHILLI FARM AUSTRA]

is a 4 in 1 bucket deeper?

[alchemysa]

is a 4 in 1 bucket deeper?

I think you'll find most 4in1's are considerably shallower and will scoop up a fair bit less dirt than a standard bucket. Its a minor negative for me but if you are often moving a lot of dirt it may be annoying. For me the benefits of a 4in1 far outweigh the negatives.

[GILLYS CHILLI FARM AUSTRA]

Thanks for that info, it would never have occurred to me, thinking the 4 in 1 should be bigger, but as you say it has lots more uses than the standard bucket.

Are you aware of the approx price of a standard bucket and if there are bigger deeper buckets for the MX5100 ?

[rswyan]

We went with the 60" "light material" bucket, rather than the standard 54" bucket when we purchased our B2910 and I've never looked back. It matches the width of our Woods boxblade and has held up very well, despite being worked very hard (used to pry up asphalt)

Similar to the OP's situation, when filled with say, wet heavy clay or rock/gravel, I cannot raise the loader to it's full height .... but then more often than not I'm not trying to load anything either.

[lhansman]

is a 4 in 1 bucket deeper?

As mentioned in one of the other responses I think the 4-in-1 would have less capacity. I recently traded my B26 for an L45 and decided to get the L45 with the 4-in-1 for its other abilities. Clearly it is a heavier bucket so that has an effect on the amount of material that can be carried.

I also found the 4-in-1 had a lower height than the regular bucket so if you check another thread I started titled "New L45 has arrived" you'll see that I had an additional 6" plate welded to the top edge of the 4-in-1 which not only increases capacity but protects the hoses much better. As with the larger B26 bucket a heaped load of moist material can exceed the lift capacity of the L45 to full height but I can always get it high enough to dump in my dumping trailer.

Regards,

Lauren

[lhansman]

Hi Gillys

Attached are a front and side view shots comparing my B26 light duty bucket with the L45 4-in-1. The B26 bucket is 66" wide versus 72" for the L45 but other then that the capacity is almost the same. Keep in mind that I added the 6" plate and 2" pipe accross the top of the 4-in-1 as I thought Kubota left the top of the bucket too low allowing lot's of spoil to spill over the top and into the hoses along the top edge of the bucket. The additional welding gives me a little bit more capacity and really protects the hoses.

Regards,

Lauren

[Deano]

Hi Gillys

Attached are a front and side view shots comparing my B26 light duty bucket with the L45 4-in-1. The B26 bucket is 66" wide versus 72" for the L45 but other then that the capacity is almost the same. Keep in mind that I added the 6" plate and 2" pipe accross the top of the 4-in-1 as I thought Kubota left the top of the bucket too low allowing lot's of spoil to spill over the top and into the hoses along the top edge of the bucket. The additional welding gives me a little bit more capacity and really protects the hoses.

Regards,

Lauren

Great comparison pictures!