Bending the bucket

[B7500]

I was trying to remove a huge stump with my bucket. By pushing and lifting, pushing and lifting I finally broke the stump free. After I was done I panicked when I thought I might have bent the bottom of the bucket. Fortunately, I didn't but now that has me wondering how easy/hard is it to bend the bottom lip of the bucket with normal use? Should I be careful or not worry? I want to do whatever I please with my beautiful orange machine but I don't want to ruin it either.
-Terry

 

[snowman]

I have a noticable bend in the lip of my bucket - probably close to half an inch as you move towards the center (it curves upward).

I had two large piles of dirt from the house foundation - house was built about eight years ago; I moved in about two years ago, so the dirt piles settlled quite a bit and were pretty solid.

To get rid of these piles, my method was primarily scraping dirt off the pile with the FEL, then pushing forward into the shaved dirt and scooping it up. I had to do it this way because the dirt was just too hard to really get any in the FEL by just driving straight into it.

Doing it this way (including hitting large rocks in the piles) made the bucket bend.

 

[B7500]

Thanks snowman for your reply. That sounds like "normal" work you did. I better be more careful with future jobs or let my backhoe do the harder stuff.
-T

 

[gerard]

I've done some pretty heavy work with my bucket and have always run out of curl pressure before I could bend anything and I have a standard use bucket, not heavy duty. If you really want to be safe either get a bolt on tooth bar (the 1/2 inch bar stock the teeth attach to will brace the bottom lip all the way across), or consider welding some 3/8 bar stock across your lip - pretty easy job if you can weld - probably cost you $10 for the stock.

 

[Harv]

Yeah, Terry, you raise some interesting issues that have trckled through my mind since I bought my tractor.

I've had my L2500DT about 2 years now, and it's been all learning curve for me. Seems like I discover the limits of my machine by challenging it to the point where it just can't respond. Sure, I've read the specs and know that my loader can only lift 883 pounds, but I don't carry a scale around with me, so I generally just go for it and see what happens. When I exceed the capacity of the loader, it simply does nothing. I'll wager I'm not the only guy to do it that way, too.

As for the lower lip of the bucket, I'm amazed that mine is still straight. I've been toodling along, skimming the ground of debris, when one of those stupid, sneaky, low-life, nasty rocks pokes up out of the ground a few inches and jars my tractor to a complete halt. You'd think that would dent, bend or otherwise mutilate the bucket, but nope. Other than removing some paint, it's as if nothing happened.

The worst thing I do to the bucket, stress-wise, is to get the tips of my bucket forks stuck under a root or something while I'm trying an all-out curl or lift. With the added leverage it seems like the bucket lip wouldn't have a chance, but darned if it doesn't match up just fine when I lay a straight edge across it.

Now, I notice that my loader, the LB400, is the same one that's used on the L3000, which has another 5 hp to throw into the hydraulics. Since the limits seem to be set by the loader specs, regardless of what tractor it's on, I assume the real limiting is done by the pressure relief valves on the loader itself. Makes me wonder, though, if having a bigger, heavier tractor (not much, in the case of the 3000) behind the same loader would make things like the bucket more susceptible to damage. Just how well are loaders and buckets matched to the tractors they're attached to?

I'll be listening to what other folks have to say on this thread.

 

[B7500]

Harv,
I think the bucket's override would negate any damage lifting and curling you do. My stupid idea was to ram the stump first. Only after I realize that could have dented the bucket. Luckily it did not.
-Terry

 

[Bird]

I've never bent a loader bucket at all, but figure that's only due to luck in view of some of the things I've done with it. However, my brother ran into a tree with my B7100 (he said) and bent the lip down in the middle a bit (I didn't even ask how fast he was going at the time). We were not able to straighten it, but the oddest thing was that over a period of 3 or 4 months, it gradually straightened itself; I guess just from down pressure on the ground scooping up dirt. A neighbor has an old International tractor and I think the last time I looked at it the bottom, top, and both sides of the loader bucket were so badly bent up that I didn't see how he could hardly use it. And he just told me yesterday that he's left it at a welding shop and they're supposed to straighten it all out and strengthen it for him for $200.

 

[chim]

Terry, I think you are right. The manufacturers have the capability to build in both strengths and limits to help protect us from ourselves....................chim