4 in 1 Buckets

[Fullthrottle]

What are the advantages/disadvantages of a 4 in 1? I'm getting a FEL for my TC45 in a couple of months and may be interested in the 4 in 1 if the cons aren't too numerous. Does any one have a picture of one?

 

[ERNIEB]

Somewhere at sometime in the past 4 in 1's have been discussed on this board, and I'm pretty sure someone put up some photos. You might try doing a search.

Ernie

 

[ChrisR]

Hi

I've got a 4 in 1 bucket on my kubota L35, It came with it when I bought it. I can't think of any cons but as I don't use it very much the pros are a bit sparse too. It's handy to have if I'm grading and also if I have to load onto a truck/trailor etc, and I have used it as a grab once or twice, But would I buy one if I did'nt have one ? No I think I'd spend the cash on other more useful implements.

That's just my view of course ......

Regards

Chris

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Chris,

Did you get your JR900 out of dead center? If so what was wrong?

Al

 

[ChrisR]

Hi Al

Yep,finally. The manual says to push the hoe to make it slide across, and after trying for hours, with no success I dug a 3' hole laid the bucket in it, and tied the Tractor and hoe frame to a BIG tree, and tried pulling, 2 minutes later a big "click" and the hoe slide across "Yipee" I think the Hydraulic lock had seized against the sliding rail. anyway it's all been cleaned and greased etc. and now works wonderfully.

Regards

Chris

 

[Fullthrottle]

Lots of info, but the attachments won't open. If anyone has pictures, I'd love to see them.
Thanks, Jeff

 

[Anonymous Poster]

try this one ..http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/35-55816-s_104-0426_img.jpg

I read your other post asking if new holland makes a 4n1, I don't think they do. I've only seen W.R. Long and Bradco 4n1's. I think someone mentioned their Kubota dealer made a 4n1 also.

http://www.bradco.com/prod4_in_1_bucket.htm

 

[richh]

Jeff, Here's your photo's
Rich

 

[Fullthrottle]

Thanks Rich & Shorty1. Looks like a versatile tool.

 

[glennmac]

I, too, am interested in the pros and cons of a 4n1 bucket. I think of two cons right away: very expensive, hence depleting your wallet, and heavy, hence depleting your hydraulic lift capacity.

What are the 4 functions? As I understand it: regular bucket, grabber, bulldozer, backgrader. I can see the grabber as being useful periodically, as a more efficient alternative to loading logs, rock or brush onto forks. Then I ask myself whether there any significant benefits to the bulldozing and backgrading capabilities versus a regular bucket, which can sort of do both, plus other implements I may have.

So far, I can't convince myself that, for my applications, the device is worth the cost or the loss in lift capacity.

 

[MChalkley]

Like most folks who have gotten used to having a 4-in-1 bucket, I'd take pretty much any tractor that has one over pretty much any tractor that doesn't. In fact, a tractor without a 4-in-1 bucket is about as useless to me as "**** on a boar hog", as the farmers around here are fond of saying.

There are so many things you can do with a 4-in-1 that that they ought to come with 20-page instruction manuals, but they usually come with none, unfortunately. Here's a few things they're good for:

Pick up the last bit of a pile of anything
Pull up posts, saplings, etc.
Pick up logs, rocks, etc.
Use the front part of the bucket as a depth gauge for "dozing" to an exact depth with the back part as you push forward.
Use the back part of the bucket as a depth gauge for slicing away an exact amount of material as you pull backward.

Those are a few of the things that come to mind that are almost impossible to do with anything else the average tractor owner is likely to have around.

Now if you could tilt it, too, like you can a rear blade with hydraulic top and tilt, you'd really have something!



MarkC

 

[glennmac]

How do you control the jaws of a 4n1? I assume there is a cylinder that comes with the bucket. Do you install a valve, or can you use the loader's 4 position valve? Where does the hydraulic flow come from if, say, a backhoe is hooked to the fel's power beyond? What the control--a lever or an electrical switch? Are all these necessary hydraulics and controls typically included in the $2-$3K prices that are quoted.

 

[MChalkley]

Glenn - That's right, you're the one who said you never managed to get through my "L4310 enhancements" thread, aren't you? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif I can certainly understand that. I can't get through it myself anymore...

A 4-in-1 bucket has two cylinders, one on each end of the bucket, that open and close it. The best way to control them on a CUT is to plumb two solenoid diverter valves into the loader's bucket dump/rollback circuit and control the solenoid valves via a thumbswitch on the joystick handle. Then you can open and close the bucket by depressing the thumbswitch and "dumping" or "rolling back" the bucket, respectively. When done this way, you can pick up that last little bit of mulch, etc. by opening the bucket, dropping it on the material, moving the joy stick into the roll back position, then depressing and releasing the thumbswitch until the bucket is fully closed. Why you need to do this is a little hard to explain, but you would see why instantly when you used one.

If you're getting a $2k-$3k price on a 4-in-1 for a normal CUT, it had better include these valves. The Long bucket I'm looking at for the Power Trac is 74" wide and built heavy-duty enough to be used on the big Cat TLB's (it weighs 835 lbs) - and it costs $2300. That price does not include the valving, though. Add another $500 or so for that.

MarkC

 

[glennmac]

Mark, I wonder if you could elaborate on how the bucket can work as a "depth gauge" for dozing forward and scraping backward. I cant visualize it. They both would seem to involve leveling applications. What is the depth gauge ability. And when would you level backwards vs. leveling forwards. Can you do either of these if there is a toothbar on the bucket.

 

[MChalkley]

Glenn - See if you can picture this: You open the bucket a little bit and roll it forward a bit, drop the blade to the ground, then push forward with the tractor. Then, the front part of the bucket is sliding on the top of the ground, while the back part of the bucket is digging in the ground. The amount of cut is dependent on the amount you open the bucket and the amount of forward roll. It works the same way, only backwards, in reverse. As with most CUT implements, of course, it's a lot easier, in most situations, to pull it than to push it, so backdragging works best in difficult ground conditions. But, with a tractor as big as the L4310, and with tires as good as the XM27's, you can push in a surprising number of situations.

BTW, the tooth bar is irrelevant to either of these applications, except that the additional weight sometimes helps...

MarkC

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by MChalkley on 09/04/01 06:26 PM (server time).</FONT></P>