Don't ever take the bucket on or off at waist level. I was putting mine on at waist level and it came off the mounts. OUCH !!!! five broken toes and a lot of tissue damage.
I tried greasing the rod a bit but that didn't help. Trying to find some teflon spray to give that a try as well. I've tried pushing the bucket down on the ground to take some pressure off the pins, but that didn't help either. Since there is a recall and they'll be coming to get my tractor at some point, the dealer said they could look at it at that point and see if they can't offer some help getting this resolved. Thanks for all the help here!! When I finally get it working right, i'll post what the solution was. Hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Spraying it with Fluid Film worked great for me.
Doofy - The dealer I bought from is not likely to be the dealer who is handling the recall so he might be let off the hook in the end.
I'll be heading to Lowes to get some of this fluid film and see how that goes. Thanks for the recommendation.
Good Luck. I found Fluid Film at my local NAPA and it was also recommended by other forum members. I plan on using it for keeping my snow blower auger and chute slick for better distance and fewer clogs.