Does anyone know of a place that sells a rock bucket for a B series?
Any chance there is a pin-on one available (B2920) or only SSQA? Would it be expensive/difficult if SSQA is all that is available for me to have a local shop make a non pin-on bucket into a pin-on bucket for use with the B1658 quick attack coupler?
Anyone use one, how effective do you find it is?
I have a lot of old stone walls around the edge of my property that I want to work on rebuilding. It looks like when they were building my house (like 15 years ago, I am the second owner) they pushed a lot of topsoil to the edges of the property, maybe leveling it out or something...and in doing so created little 3' high mounds around the perimeter that obscure or bury the stone walls that were there previously. I would like to be able to easily go through that material sorting dirt from rocks so that I can move the dirt and use the rocks to rebuild the walls.....seems to me like being able to pick up loads in a rock bucket, shake out the dirt and then put the rocks somewhere is the best way to go.
Matt, I live in the Rocky Mountains and have build a number of rock walls over the years. It took me 40 years to finally get smart enough to buy a backhoe with a thumb - which is really the right tool for the job. BTW, it was my wife who talked me into betting a backhoe with a thumb. She could see that all the other paths lead inevitably to lower back problems
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But during the years before we figured that out, I made and used a variety of rock handling buckets, dirt sieves, and three point grapples for all of our tractors..... ranging from the little 16hp Yanmar to the big JD ag tractor. Coupled with youth, they all worked for moving dirt and building with stones in the 50 to 200 pound range. Some ideas worked better than others. Hopefully some of what I found out will save you some time.
As far as I know, pretty much the same rock buckets are made in variety of widths and depts. There's probably a selection of the right size to fit your machine. It should be a little bit narrower to maybe even substantially narrower than your dirt bucket, and it should stick out enough farther that you have a clear view of what the tips of the tines are doing while operating the tractor/laoder. The shape of the tine end and the spacing of the times are also important...we will get into that later.....but for now, just what shape and spacing you want depends so much on your soil that you may be best served by trying several styles. I've gone through maybe half a dozen shapes of rock buckets before accidentally stumbling on one that works best.
What is more important by far is that for building stone walls you need to be able to easily swap between the dirt bucket and the rock bucket (or else own multiple tractors). You'll be doing this swap a dozen times a day. So instead of looking for a non-SSQA rock bucket to pin onto your pin-style loader arms, you will be far ahead if you adapt your loader arms right now to accept SSQA implements. SSQA really are that quick and easy to mount and dismount. Going to SSQA opens up a whole world of options. For example, I just bought a SSQA adapter plate for about $245.00 that allows me to mount any Cat I or Cat II implement to the front end loader arms and use the implement in reverse. I haven't done it yet, but there's an answer just waiting for the proper problem to present itself.
There's just no end to what you can do with SSQA.You also get to keep your existing pin-on style dirt bucket because it can be converted to fit your new SSQA by welding or bolting a standard adapter plate to the back of the dirt bucket you already have. Cost of those plates is in the 1 to 2 hundred dollar range and they are cheap,easy to mount.
As for the rock buckets themselves, the shape of the point and width between tines will depend on your soil and rocks. As little as a half inch change of spacing makes a big difference. Basically, the sandier the soil is, then the closer together - and fatter - the individual tines can be. In sticky soil like clay or muddy loam you would want more space between the tines because a problem with rock buckets is that if the tine spacing or shape is just a little wrong for your dirt then the dirt wedges between the tines rather than falling through. I bought several buckets before figuring out the best for my soil. SSQA sure makes experimenting easier. When that happens you might just as well have stayed with the dirt bucket.
Bottom line is that for most soil you want a taller thinner tine rather than a flat or round one. Rock buckets are subtle things. It also helps if there is a small (1/4") step on the tops of the tines almost like a reversed tooth a few inches back from the point of the tine. The weight of the rock against that step helps holds the rock in place in the bucket as you back away from the hillside while allowing trapped dirt to flow around it to be left behind. All this happens as you are slowly backing away and before tilting the bucket. The step is also handy when placing rocks because you can tilt the bucket a tiny bit down before rolling the rock out and into place.
Good luck with the rocks,
Keep your eye out for a backhoe and thumb someday. But even when you find one, you'll still want the rock bucket and SSQA.
rScotty
