4 in 1 bucket opinions please!

[GreatWhitehunter]

I have both the JD 4in1 and a grapple. For brush the grapple wins hands down. It's also less expensive. The 4in1 is very useful to be sure. But for brush get the grapple.

Matt:thumbsup:

 

[DanD78]

I've got the 61" Frontier 4-in-1 on my JD3720, and it's been an absolute lifesaver. But only after considerable practice. But six months later, I can pick up just about anything bigger than a golf ball. I put a toothbar on mine, which extends the versatility even more. With that, I can actually putt the golf ball. A pile of brush? No problem. I can also pick up a bucket full of rip-rap now. Never found an effective way to do that with a 5' standard bucket on a compact tractor. I've grabbed/torn broken limbs outa trees, picked up whole trees and carried them to the brush pile, even grabbed a few rolls of fence wire (one at a time of course).

Seeing as how I bought it new, it was comparatively expensive. But I now truly convinced that it's well worth the money. If you can get one in good condition for a grand, go for it. But understand that your tractor will have to have three pair of remotes (lift-lower/curl-uncurl/open-close) and an extra controller to open/close the jaws.

//greg//

2X on everything Greg said. I have the same bucket on a 3320. When I trim brush I make piles around the yard and just keep moving pile to pile till the bucket won't pinch any more. No more hauling brush on a trailer or chasing that last little pile of rock or dirt around with a standard bucket.

The early 4in1 frontiers were a little on the light weight side if I remember right. I have the current style and it was a little over $2000 a couple of years ago.

DanD.

 

[greg_g]

Yeah, mine was $2600 last March. Just for the bucket. The order started with a 300X loader and standard 61" bucket. Then they did "bucket delete" and added the Frontier 4-in-1. That said, the $2600 might have included the additional hydraulics as well. The invoice was pretty general, so I'm unclear as to how the prices actually broke down.

//greg//

 

[DanD78]

Here is a picture of mine. I was told the diffenence was in the joint and cylinder.

Dan

 

[KML]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

From Dan's pictures the one I'm looking at must be the older one as the hinges don't look as beefy and it's black not green.

From what KubotaToy and others have said it sounds like it's what I was looking for, not the perfect tool for a lot of jobs but there when you need it. I don't have a lot of brush to deal with but am getting tired of getting off of the tractor to push it into the bucket. If I have a lot of dirt work to do I'll take the hoe off and use rear implements ( I have plenty, too many if you ask my wife!) I think I'll go for it if it hasn't been sold yet.

This question did bring up another thing I've been interested in, a thumb for the BH! Hmmmm...I guess that needs to be another thread!

 

[jmc]

You can get a lot more brush in a 4 in 1 bucket (or a grapple) if you roll the pile forward and/or backward, with a little down pressure before you grab it. Depending on the type of brush, this is a lot better than just flattening the pile before grabbing it.

 

[Martian]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

From Dan's pictures the one I'm looking at must be the older one as the hinges don't look as beefy and it's black not green.

From what KubotaToy and others have said it sounds like it's what I was looking for, not the perfect tool for a lot of jobs but there when you need it. I don't have a lot of brush to deal with but am getting tired of getting off of the tractor to push it into the bucket. If I have a lot of dirt work to do I'll take the hoe off and use rear implements ( I have plenty, too many if you ask my wife!) I think I'll go for it if it hasn't been sold yet.

This question did bring up another thing I've been interested in, a thumb for the BH! Hmmmm...I guess that needs to be another thread!

I think you would do well with a 4n1, dirt is a lot easier to move as you can kind of close the dirt into the bucket opposed to pushing as you mention.

As for the thumb, try to get a hydro one hooked up, sure someone makes a hydro thumb for a 448, and if not still look for a mechanical.

 

[KubotaToy]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

From Dan's pictures the one I'm looking at must be the older one as the hinges don't look as beefy and it's black not green.

From what KubotaToy and others have said it sounds like it's what I was looking for, not the perfect tool for a lot of jobs but there when you need it. I don't have a lot of brush to deal with but am getting tired of getting off of the tractor to push it into the bucket. If I have a lot of dirt work to do I'll take the hoe off and use rear implements ( I have plenty, too many if you ask my wife!) I think I'll go for it if it hasn't been sold yet.

This question did bring up another thing I've been interested in, a thumb for the BH! Hmmmm...I guess that needs to be another thread!

For the price you quoted earlier, I do not think you can go wrong. I would get it. Matter of fact, I just purchased a L45 and will more than likely get a 4in1 for it in a few months, although I have a grapple, blade and now a new constuction bucket.:tractor:

 

[EddieWalker]

My neighbor has a full sized backhoe, LB75b with a 4 in 1 bucket on it that he likes, but he has issues with it. Since it is rigid, it does not pick up and hold very much. Just what it clamps onto. One log is fine, but a couple just fall out. He has also run into issues of moving a log and having the end of the log catch on something and twist the 4 in 1 all out of shape. He is a commercial pilot, has good coordination and knowledge of what he's doing, so it's just one of those things that happens from working all day. He and his helper will spend an antire day heating and hammering it back into shap so it will close all the way again.

I have a full sized backhoe too, 555E with a one yard bucket on it. I removed my bucket and created an adapter so I could use Quick Attach attachments that work on skid steers. I can change from one to the other in ten minutes. It's pretty simple and not something that I even think about doing. My grapple has two arms that come down independently of each other. I can pick up ten times the material that my neighbor can with his 4 in 1 bucket. If a tree is angled, I can grip it solid, where my neighbor has a tendancy to have the tree moving around when he has it. I carry my material all the way to my burn pile and rarely lose anything. He brings in a guy with a flat bed trailer and he load the trailer, then drives it to his burn pile, then unloads the trailer. With two people, I've figured that he can do half as much as I can when we're going similar distances.

The big advantage with the 4 in 1 is that it's always on, while I have to go swap bucket or grapple.

Eddie

 

[FELMOW2320]

I have a 4 in 1 bucket on my case loader at work.I could not get my job done without it.I just wished I had one on my Kubota at home