KentT
Elite Member
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2005
- Messages
- 2,838
- Location
- Sevierville, TN
- Tractor
- 1993 Power Trac 1430 w/Kubota diesel engine
I like the idea of the light bucket with a aftermarket bar sounds great. Is there any reason for the smaller bucket? Will the light bucket not handle a load of soil or other material? The mini hoe with a set of forks sounds like what I need to plant a few 6-8 foot spruces as well.
The problem I anticipate is not finding a decent machine...
Thank you all again for your time and advice.
Mark
Without a toothbar on it, to make it easier to penetrate the soil or a pile of dirt, it is hard to fill the LMB. A toothbar changes that whole equation, and you should be able to fill the bucket almost as easily as filling the smaller bucket. It is made of the same materials as the smaller buckets but has essentially twice the capacilty. It's also 48" wide instead of 42" wide...
I have a rock bucket that I never use, and the grapple bucket is used mostly for brush, though it is handy for moving other things.
I agree with the idea of the mini-hoe with one caveat -- make sure you put a thumb on it. I have an aftermarket thumb welded onto mine, and PT now offers a bolt-on one. They didn't offer a thumb when I bought mine... I THINK I still like the idea of a welded on thumb, with adjustable pin positions, better than a bolt-on. It just seems stronger. With a thumb on the mini-hoe, you can use it as a grapple to pick up and move brush or other things. I used mine to build a set of stone stairs, where some of the rocks weighed well over 200 lbs -- perhaps 300 or more. You can place things much more precisely with the mini-hoe/thumb, in comparison to the grapple bucket, which is more of a dump and let it drop kinda thing...