Working in the Bucket

[JYH]

I just read the long thread about lifting with chains. Great to digest all views -- from the conservative to the cautious to the confident.

I've got another safety question. Does anyone out there use the bucket of their FEL as a stand for doing work?

The dealer just delivered our M5700 with the LA1002 loader (with chain hooks welded to the bucket by the way...). I read all the labels and warnings in the manual, but I thought I'd ask members of this forum for real-world opinions.

Would working in the bucket (for sawing limbs 10' off the ground, or painting, or cleaning gutters) be safer than working with a ladder? I like the idea of using angle iron cut to the length of the cylinder rod as protection against hose blow-out.

Thanks,
John

[Bird]

John, there's no doubt that working on any ladder, or working while standing in the loader bucket, is dangerous. I think that is something everyone has to decide for himself. I certainly don't recommend using the bucket for this (but my brother and I do it).

Bird

[Thomas]

John,
If you feel safe enough trying be careful,and maybe shut the tractor off also use the parking brake plus chalk a wheel.

Thomas..NH [img]/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Harv]

John -

Now you got me thinking again (I wish people would stop doing that).

The thread you referred to convinced me that the bucket was no place for humans, even when the tractor is powered down. But now that you brought up the subject of ladders, I'm caught in that awkward zone of relativity. That is, how dangerous is a bucket compared to a ladder?

I'm relatively new to the world of tractors, but I can recount (no, not in the electoral sense) at least a dozen horror stories involving ladders from people I have known personally. Have to admit, I've had a few close calls myself.

It seems that the main danger from a raised bucket centers on some kind of hydraulic failure (exploding hoses, etc.). As I think of it now, that seems less likely than having your extension ladder suddenly lose its footing or you missing a rung on the way up or down.

I'm not buying into the bucket-riding idea yet myself, but it seems like the angle-iron or split-pipe idea for bracing the cylinder is a reasonable precaution.

BTW - Maybe I'm just a bit dense here, but if your bucket is 10 feet up and the cylinder is braced, exactly how do you get into the bucket?

I'm drawing no conclusion yet, but I will be following this thread with renewed interest.

[MChalkley]

Harv - I think you're barking up the right tree there. I don't say too much about working from the bucket because I've worked out of the bucket, or worked the tractor while someone else did, many times.

Still, I'd be very reluctant to recommend the practice to others. For one thing, hydraulics are frequently very touchy (though the motion limiter on the joystick can help this a great deal) and, even if there's no malfunction, the operator could still move the lever the wrong way, too quickly, or make some other mistake that could cause a serious accident. The same could happen with the tractor's motion controls.

On the whole, though, potential operator error aside (it's not just an unknown factor, it's an unpredictable variable, and the potential exists with ladders, too), I'd say the bucket is a lot safer than the average ladder as a work platform. Just don't use it that way 'cause I said so. [img]/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif[/img]

MarkC

[RBManufacturing]

JYH,
Up until two yrs. ago, I use to help the small city where
I live hang christmas lights in the park, and wreaths on
all the street light poles, using a FEL. The rough
terrain, and trying to carry a wreath up a ladder made the
FEL method much safer. Plus, I could carry tape, stapler,
hammer, etc. in bucket. My present business partner was
the FEL operator. I trusted her to run FEL as much as I
trusted her to hold ladder on un-even surfaces.
Recommend it? Depends. Done it ? yes. Rick

Rick Hedgecock
R&B Manufacturing

[Billc]

I also work from the bucket and my wife drives the tractor...BUT, I am really, really, really, really, nice to her for at least 4 days before we do this. Lots of flowers, "I love yous", "Gosh, looks like you've lost a little weight, are you o.k.?", "Your hair looks great, what are you doing to it, coconut butter?", "You know, hun, you were terrific in your 30s, but now in your 40s your eyes sparkle like never before!", "Of course I want to go and see (whatever sappy woman movie is playing at the theaters, ususally starring with Barbara Streisand, of course) and let me hold your kleenex...I love it when you tear up at a movie!", "Sweetie, you've worked too hard today, let me make dinner, do the dishes, and give you a back rub!", "[censored] those insurance people, they say my term life insurance was cancelled yesterday. Please be really carful with the bucket, sweetheart, if I get hurt you'll be responsible for all of the bills. As soon as we're done I'll get the insurance mess straightened out."

So people do it, like me, but I wonder about their mental state, like mine, when they do it.

[MarkV]

Bill,

To funny![img]/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[bpence]

Being a safety freak, I'll say up front you really, really, really, really need to think about what you are going to do if/when you get into a FEL bucket and who your on-tractor operator is. Would I recommend you get into a bucket and go up? Never. Have I ever done it? Yep. But I was a lot younger and was indestructible.

If you are going to go up in a bucket, you need to consider safety harnesses and lines to ensure you don't come down out of the bucket using the shortest route. Nothing wrong with saftey harnesses and saftey lines.....remember it's you 8'-10' in the air and a bucket doesn't present much of a platform to stand on and doesn't have a lot of hand holds. Even sitting in the bucket should be done only with safety lines, if done at all.

Just think it over a whole lot before you decide to go up in the bucket.


Bob Pence

[gerard]

I work in the bucket and consider it as safe as any above ground operation. If you look at work platforms, cherry pickers etc there are a lot of hydraulic machines designed for hoisting humans up high. All are prone to a line blowing out and maybe coming down a lot faster than you would like. I guess you have to look at probabilities. I think a line blowing out is a lot less likley than a ladder slipping and when you consider the weight of you in the bucket is only a fraction of the rated capacity it makes a FEL failure even more unlikely. Harv - when by myself I use a ladder leaned gainst the bucket to get up into it.