boom/extension for backhoe bucket

[tungularafishcamp]

I was thinking about making a boom attachment to put on my backhoe bucket for a taller lift. I searched through old posts, found lotsa good stuff on bent cylinders but nothing about extending the reach of the bucket. Has anyone done this with their bh bucket or know why you could/couldn't do this?
Thanks,
Rick

 

[tungularafishcamp]

Wow, just came in for a warm up and of course pulled up tbn, and much to my surprise no one had an opinion on adding a boom to my bh bucket or is it too much a crack pot idea to get a response. Thats y I wanted it so I can get an extra stack of pots of and on with my bh as I grab another stack with my forks cutting my round trips by half.
Any input is appreciated,
Rick

 

[tungularafishcamp]

So is customization a place to put posts to go to die should this be put somewhere else?
Rick

 

[JoeL4330]

not my thing but, are you trying to build and extendahoe?
How to Use an Extendahoe on a Backhoe: How to Operate a Backhoe | eHow.com

 

[tungularafishcamp]

Hi Joel thanks for the response. If my pockets were deeper I would do an extend a hoe but my budget says no, I just need another 5 ' of reach to load and unload a stack of pots out of the skiff. Was thinking I could just bolt some kind boom onto the backhoe bucket for the extra reach or maybe make it so it hooks into the bucket and then the weight of the pots holds it down. Am just in the thinking about it stage and as I am new to this tractor thing just wanted to run it by the pros to see if it is even feasible or safe. I already have one set up for the forks and it would be nice to carry another stack on the rear to halve my trips.
Thanks,
Rick

 

[Gary Fowler]

For every extra foot that you add, you are going to substantially decrease your lift and force that can be applied. At some point it will become extremely dangerous and susceptible to tip over with full bucket loads especially when swinging to side to dump. That is why when you have a factory extend-a-hoe, the recommended action is to fully retract it prior to swinging.

 

[forester2]

Actually, I'm trying to figure out the same thing for a diiferent use- longer each to drag weeds out of the pond. Let you know of any brainstorms. My conundrom is not wanting to weld anything to the bucket and reducing it's functionality while making it easy to take on and off.

 

[GLyford]

I'm assuming these are empty...? Depending on weight, attaching something to the bucket could work pretty easily, but it will all be applying additional force to the bucket cylinder, pins, and linkages. You might be better off coming up with a way to attach your extension to the boom directly, instead.

How often do you dig with this machine? Could you take the bucket off completely and make up a mounting bracket with the same sort of ears? At the very least, then you'd not be toting the weight of the bucket around while you're trying to lift other things.

So to help us think about this, could you tell us if what you're trying to lift weighs more or less than a bucketfull of dirt?

Also, how long of an extension are you thinking about? 3 feet? 6? 10? The longer it gets, the longer the lever your load has to mess with you. Are you after more horizontal reach or more vertical height (to maybe fit more bulk hanging underneath)?

A few pictures of what you need to deal with might go a long way to help us understand and give useful feedback...

 

[tungularafishcamp]

When it gets light I will take a picture of what I do with the front end. I thought about attaching it to the dipper boom but that would mean I had to have it all the way in the air all the time it was on where if I attached it to the bucket I could carry it lower while moving. A stack of pots is 500 lbs give or take. I am needing both more height and length to the backhoe to do the lifting out of the skiff. I wouldnt want to weld it to the bucket but bolt it on or maybe just clip it into the bucket somehow. I appreciate all the imput as I am new to this tractor stuff but even just doing a stack of 5 with the front end beats the heck out of picking up every pot and putting it on the 4 wheeler trailer.
Rick
5 ft of extension would work 6 would be better and if it is on the bucket, then when transporting I could lower the dipper boom, raise the bucket boom and the pots would rest against the bucket boom and not swing around so much.

 

[20 20]

Actually, I'm trying to figure out the same thing for a diiferent use- longer each to drag weeds out of the pond. .

Same here, I'm in the "start" planing stage of some type of long reach to pull weeds out of the pond. It would only be used for light work, scraping the weeds out. I'd probably only have to use it once or twice a year, so I'd want it to be an easy on/off for the mini ex.