To LD1
I built the bucket because back then I could not afford a FEL so I bought a bucket for $100.00 The design was to shuttle cement into the pole barn for the floor and it worked very well. When I redid my patio several years ago I had to remove all the top soil for the entire lenght of the house. The down pressure is not an issue because I angle the cutting edge down just a touch and push backwards and it will self load until the bucket is full.
A wood working plane only has the blade sticking down a little bit but as long as it is travelling forward the wood is planed off. I helpd a friend who has a motor scraper and the cutting edge is only down 6" but you know the amount of horsepower that they need to peel dirt.A motor scraper can not pile dirt but they make piles 50' high. I did the same with my rear bucket in that I dropped the first dump then one beside it for 2 lenghts of the tractor. On the next layer I dropped the next pile and made layer 2. By the time I had the excavation done I had a tappered ramp 6' at the peak.
In Nov I needed the dirt for my gate project and I started and relocated half of the pile.
I will have to post pics, The advantage with the rear bucket is the weight is right behind the rear wheels, It is hard on the neck when loading.
Craig Clayton
