3pt Bucket / Plow Fabrication

[LFEngineering]

Seems every other day I have to pick up or move something heavy. I toyed with the idea of retrofitting my garden tractor with some kind of bucket, but opted to find something with a more robust frame as it would be a better foundation. About 6 months ago I picked up a 1975 IH Lo-Boy 185 w/ 3 point & creeper gear (factory options). My original plan was to fabricate a full FEL setup, but opted to skip the FEL build and utilize the 3 point as it would achieve 90% of what I needed to do with much less fabrication The first step was the multi-hitch http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/new-member-introductions/292182-new-member-hello-everyone.html which got me forks, boom pole & log skidding frame.

Second step was proving the tractor could push snow. I made a prototype blade using a 5' 2x12 with a steel edge pinned on the multi-hitch. It did the job... until the wood broke. The important part was it proved the tractor had enough traction w/o chains to push snow.

Normally I follow the one shop rule: Project's with blueprints = work. Project's with out prints = Relaxation. However the complex design merited bending the rules so I drew up some prints before starting.

The design is primarily a a plow with a bucket attachment. All the sheet material is 5/16 A36 steel plate and the crossmembers are 3/4" and 1" steel pipe.

The IH logo and holes in the side of the bucket along with the 10 3" holes in the top are all for weight reduction. With the bucket itself weights close to 300 lbs and has and can lift 350 lbs before the hydro's limit out.

Currently the bucket / plow joints are tack welded together, but they will be bolted together upon completion.

More pix to come.

 

[motownbrowne]

That does look handy.

If snow removal is on the agenda, I would suggest finding a used back blade also. They're cheap and pretty good at moving snow and grading gravel, etc.

 

[LFEngineering]

Here are a few more pictures of the plow / bucket.

I still need to fabricate the cutting edge for the snow plow, but that will be done closer to winter.

As for it's earth moving capabilities the bucket performed "better then expected". I finished up the fabrication on Friday morning and was at my in-laws helping fill an old pool foundation that afternoon. The original plan was to have 40 yards of clean fill delivered and I would cart it one bucket at at time to the pool site. Of course nobody likes paying for dirt so my FIL decided to use all the fill he could find before capping it off with loam. As soon as the bucket hit the dirt I knew it was going to be an up hill battle. Seems every pile of "fill" was nothign but 3-9" rocks buried in the dirt. I moved 30+ loads of this garbage before we got to any thing good. All in all I was pretty impressed with the bucket performance, digging in all that rock would have been a challenge for any small machine and she took it like a champ.

 

[square1]

Nice set up. but you need two more holes in the top to carry a twelve pack

 

[Kernopelli]

That is slick. Much nicer than a pond scoop for moving material and converts to a blade....brilliant idea and build!

 

[PapaPerk]

That's cool! Now you need a hydrullic top link! (0;

 

[nc redneck]

That is a great idea. You should put a patent on that.

 

[LFEngineering]

Although I'd love to patent it it's just not worth it. Spend 10k so some factory in china can steal the design change one thing and waste my investment. Rather just share it with the world and be the documented "good guy".

PapaPerk - Hydro top-link is KEY to the functionality which is why it's already installed. My wife picked it up for me for x-mas (I may have helped pick it out).

 

[FreshRouteFarm]

Looks great. Certainly will come in handy.

 

[LFEngineering]

Broke it... or should I say "found the weak spots".


Problem 1: Bent Lower Lift Ears (no picture)

- Cause: I designed the lower ears to take forces inline with the direction of travel (forward & reverse). I didn't take into account the spreading action caused by the lift arms when the bucket is pushed into an immovable object.

- Solution: Straighten ears and weld on 2x4 C-channel cross member (you can see the red primer C-Channel from the repair in the picture below)

- Conclusion: Reinforcement has held with no signs of deflection, seems to have fixed the problem.


Problem 2: Bending of upper mast.

- Cause: Backed into pile and used top link cylinder to curl bucket. Roots, large rocks & wet dirt won.

- Operating notes: Since the top link has 1.5 - 2 times the power of the lift cylinder my operating procedure was to scoop dirt until the lift was near max capacity, then curl the bucket. Varying from this procedure is what got me in trouble. I found that by backing into the hill side with the 3 point raised I could curl the bucket and take a much larger scoop. One of those times I must have hit some large rocks or roots and the 5/16 plate lost the battle.

- Solution (pending): Heat & straighten the mast, then reinforce the center 2 x 2 x 1/4 wall box tubing.