Bucket Hooks negatives

[FTG-05]

A piece of angle iron with a slot in it will allow the chain to go over the front or back. :thumbsup:

Ken needs to make "Bolt On Chain slots"

I have hooks, BOCS and a receiver tube. By far the most useful is the receiver tube.

If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't mess with hooks or the BOCS, I would just weld 2-4 stake pockets to the top of my bucket. Can be hooked from either end and you can pull the chain through and tie it off at any length.

 

[kennyd]

Been thinking about adding to my small B2320. Wanted to know if anyone ran into any problems with them..

Well I just packed an order of 2" Kubota hooks heading to OK, if that was from you I appreciate it! :thumbsup: They will ship out in the morning

 

[ovrszd]

Just a little curious why people mount the hooks so the opening is to the rear.

Is is so the chain can lay over the lip of the bucket and damage it?

Seem to me that a chain connected to hook with opening forward and chain dropping down the backside could lift more weight.

You can still secure a load by wrapping the chain around the bucket.

I would recommend two hooks close to the cyl pin mount.

One welded forward and one welded reversed for each side plus one or two hooks in the center.

JJ, generally you want the chain to go out over the lip of the bucket to place the lifted item farther from the tractor. Very few items that you would chain to the bucket are small enough to swing on the back side of the bucket without hitting the tractor.

You are correct in your calculation that more lift is achieved by having the chain on the back side of the bucket.

I use a "link" hook on each outer end of the bucket with the opening to the rear and slightly angled inward so the chain doesn't slip off the lip of the bucket.

I also use a "loop" hook in the center of the bucket with the opening to the rear.

Everyone has their own ideas of what is best. And very rarely do we see an idea that is totally wrong.

 

[dsmiley]

I have a hook mounted in the center of my BX25 bucket. It is welded on a 1/4" plate which is in turn welded to the front and back of the top of the bucket. Last year I cut down some pretty good size trees and in dragging them out I bent the bucket top down about 3/8". I was able to bend it back into shape (no easy chore) and then I welded a heavy duty D-ring inside the bucket at the site of where the curl ram attaches. No more bent bucket.

 

[Sodo]

One welded forward and one welded reversed for each side plus one or two hooks in the center.

I agree with this.

 

[TomSeller]

I have my hooks opening towards the tractor to keep the loads away from the radiator when lifting. I have a slip hook in the middle and a grab hook on each side. I almost always pull from the slip hook and latch the chain on the grab hook on either side that is convenient to where I am standing.

 

[Sodo]

I have my hooks opening towards the tractor to keep the loads away from the radiator when lifting.

OK that makes sense. I have a pretty small tractor, often need all the lifting power I can get so better to lift from the backside of the bucket. You're right it puts the item close to the radiator guard.

 

[Scrambler82]

The Mahindra has a hook on each side and a Recvr in the middle.
My last tractor had two shackles but when I lifted with it I used a V-Chain setup, hooked on both shackles and came down in the center of the bucket for a center lift point.

 

[Fallon]

If I'm doing a lot of lifting I'll grab my pallet forks. If I needed max capacity I'd dump the forks & keep the fork frame. So bucket hooks are more about utility & convenience.

The only time I ever lifted from the back of the bucket was pulling some stubborn fence posts. No clearance issues & I needed max lift power. The rest of the time lifting from the back just didn't have the clearance.

 

[AStanton]

Here's another version of some serious bucket melt down due to a center hook.