Seeking advice on welding hook to FEL bucket

[PILOON]

Oh shucks I used what I had, 6011, and that was about 10 years ago and my hook is still attached and believe you me I have lifted some heavy stuff.
I ground down a standard 5/16 hook, welded to a 3 x 4 x 1/4 plate and then that plate to my FEL.
OK, I did make several passes on the hook but only one on the plate.

 

[ovrszd]

Not having saw a picture of this application, this is speculation. Aren't the welds only going to be as strong as the material they are bonding?? So, since we are welding to a loader bucket, isn't the bucket material subject to failure before a well laid weld??

 

[Citydude]

Not having saw a picture of this application, this is speculation. Aren't the welds only going to be as strong as the material they are bonding?? So, since we are welding to a loader bucket, isn't the bucket material subject to failure before a well laid weld??

Not my welds. They will fail long before the bucket material does.

 

[ovrszd]

Not my welds. They will fail long before the bucket material does.

I make no claims of any different result here.

I understand the OP is using a plate to give him more welding surface when welding to the FEL bucket. Just curious how would a person determine how much plate is enough??

 

[Citydude]

I make no claims of any different result here. I understand the OP is using a plate to give him more welding surface when welding to the FEL bucket. Just curious how would a person determine how much plate is enough??

Good question. I think Dentist pull teeth one at a time. Pulling more than one would involve more torque. Would more surface plate reduce torque by spreading it over a larger area? Probably. That's my welding knowledge in a nut shell.

 

[Shield Arc]

Just curious how would a person determine how much plate is enough??

I don't really know. Working marine construction all my life. We never welded anything to the deck of a barge without a doubler plate under it. Be it a bit, deck sheave, fairlead, or even deck winches. But an engineer always gave us a blue print to work off of.
This is the company I worked for. General Construction Company

 

[ovrszd]

I was counting on you for an answer Shield Arc.

I guess redneck logic would apply??? Assuming the plate is strong enough for the hook to stay fastened to it and the plate not deflect. If you quadrupled the weld length of the hook to plate weld with your plate are you gaining 4 times the strength or resistance to tearing the FEL bucket material???

I just know enough to know that a plate is probably a good idea. Especially seeing the thickness of most bucket material. :confused3:

 

[Shield Arc]

I don't think I ever welded anything to the deck of a barge, that the doubler plate wasn't at least 4-inches all the way around bigger than the object welded to the doubler plate. Of course, that won't work for hooks welded to a FEL.
The picture in this link, the white object on the left is a deck sheave. The green object on the right is a fair lead.
Fairleads and Deckleads | | Rasmussen

 

[sixdogs]

This is the only photo I can come up with of what I think is the perfect way to do bucket hooks. It's on my 90HP JD 5520 and is way stronger than ever needed.




It's a quarter inch plate bent to the angle of the lip of the bucket and welded on. There are two--one on each side in line with each cylinder and the hooks are welded to that plate. I prefer this type of hook on this tractor because I hook water buckets on for watering seedlings and I can hook the straps better. The nipped corners on the plate give it a "fishplate' style that I figure is stronger. This is not going anywhere.

Anyway, I lift very heavy things with this tractor and it works great. I hook a chain into each hook and then use a shorter chain hooked to the center of that chain to lift things. I figure it distributes the weight better and it must because I've never bent anything and I've sure tried.

 

[sixdogs]

These are the hooks on a tractor I bought. It's an M6800 Kubota and I would have done it differently by adding a 1/4" plate under the hook and bent to the shape of the bucket lip. Then I would have welded the hook to that. I won't bother retro fitting it on this because it's pretty strong as is plus I have another tractor to fall back on. It's not my first choice but it's OK. Hope this helps.


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