good idea with the plate on the backside. much better than washers. i was lucky in that there was a huge reinforced plate on the top of my bucket. i used hardened washers on the inside, nylocks, and grade bolts.
was wondering? as long as the reenforcing plates were already welded on, why did you not just weld the hooks on? that seems like a lot of steel to drill through /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif