Ditching Bucket

[Sfrankland]

Yep, ideas. I have had these pictures in my Projects File for a long time, waiting for a Roundtuit!
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That was my original plan as well but then I seen the Rototilt design and the idea of being able to use any attachment seemed like the better way to go. Guess I am going to have to pickup some more material this afternoon for another build. The plan is to keep the current quick coupler on the tractor and have the tilt function as something I can take on and off easily so I can still use the thumb.

 

[Scooby074]

Have you had a chance to use the 24" bucket?

If so, how does it dig? Does the tractor have enough power? Would/could you go bigger?

Im trying to figure how big I should make mine, I got to wondering if Id have enough power to dig virgin ground if I made it as big as I was planning (30")

 

[Sfrankland]

Have you had a chance to use the 24" bucket?

If so, how does it dig? Does the tractor have enough power? Would/could you go bigger?

Im trying to figure how big I should make mine, I got to wondering if Id have enough power to dig virgin ground if I made it as big as I was planning (30")

I have used it grub off a 1/4 acre of lawn, level out 4 tandem loads of fill and straighten out a bank along the edge of a driveway. For the lawn and fill it worked better than I hoped. It would be nicer to have a wider bucket for final grading but the 24" width is the perfect size for my tractor. When I get into the hard packed ground it struggles because of the lack of teeth. It does an alright job but the regular bucket is a lot faster. With the quick coupler I built it takes a few seconds to switch them out so I end up losing up the ground with the teeth and doing the clean up with the ditching bucket.

 

[Scooby074]

Thanks for the update.

Ill likely go with 24" myself then. I checked my bucket today and like yours, its 1/8" construction. That will save a bit of weight and money when it comes to buying stock.

 

[jwentz]

Very nice job. I'm just curious how difficult and what did you use for bending the 1/8" plate to conform to the curves.

 

[Renze]

These are pictures of the ditching bucket i made for my Bobcat backhoe (converted for tractor use)

 

[Sfrankland]

Very nice job. I'm just curious how difficult and what did you use for bending the 1/8" plate to conform to the curves.

If you look at the first picture in this thread you can see the 2" ratchet strap that I used to bend the 1/8" plate. I would bend it some and then tack it in place. Then reposition the strap and repeat. Took three repositions to complete it.

 

[Renze]

My bucket was slightly thicker steel (1/8" is 3mm and i used 4mm) but i cheated by cutting 35cm of 5" pipe open over its length, welded the two halves against each other to get 70cm of curved bucket back I wanted a small radius (would prefer 8" but didnt have any pipe) so i could better get in narrow drainage ditches. With a deep and high bucket you cant scoop on the bottom of the ditch, but have to pull the dirt out over the side before the back of the bucket has clearance to curl.

 

[Sfrankland]

My bucket was slightly thicker steel (1/8" is 3mm and i used 4mm) but i cheated by cutting 35cm of 5" pipe open over its length, welded the two halves against each other to get 70cm of curved bucket back I wanted a small radius (would prefer 8" but didnt have any pipe) so i could better get in narrow drainage ditches. With a deep and high bucket you cant scoop on the bottom of the ditch, but have to pull the dirt out over the side before the back of the bucket has clearance to curl.

I actually did some ditching and can see what your saying. I may build another similar to what you have for just that reason.

 

[BFreaky]

I made one of these small buckets few days ago. It's for a JCB mini excavator. Width is 22 cm and they will use it for trenching. I was worried that the wet clay could stick inside so I added a chain ejector, but it doesn't, it could work without it.