Bucket strength?

[daTeacha]

I'm going to have some serious landscaping done, involving removing about 90 feet of timber retaining wall, moving the hillside back about 10 feet, and building a new wall out of barnstone -- the 2 x 2 x 3 or 4 foot sandstone blocks.

The guy who is doing most of the work has a Bobcat with a 6 foot bucket among other fun toys like an excavator and a backhoe.

My DX29 has the 5 foot QA bucket on the LA14 loader. The bucket will fit on the skidsteer. That would enable them to get into places they couldn't work with the larger bucket.

Question -- would this use of my bucket be too much strain on it? It's not as heavy duty as the one on the skidsteer now, but it's a pretty stout looking piece of iron. Mostly it will be used for digging out dirt to make room for the new stone wall, maybe moving some of the timbered wall out.

 

[john_bud]

I'm going to have some serious landscaping done, involving removing about 90 feet of timber retaining wall, moving the hillside back about 10 feet, and building a new wall out of barnstone -- the 2 x 2 x 3 or 4 foot sandstone blocks.

The guy who is doing most of the work has a Bobcat with a 6 foot bucket among other fun toys like an excavator and a backhoe.

My DX29 has the 5 foot QA bucket on the LA14 loader. The bucket will fit on the skidsteer. That would enable them to get into places they couldn't work with the larger bucket.

Question -- would this use of my bucket be too much strain on it? It's not as heavy duty as the one on the skidsteer now, but it's a pretty stout looking piece of iron. Mostly it will be used for digging out dirt to make room for the new stone wall, maybe moving some of the timbered wall out.

It's plenty strong -- for it's intended operation. Not knowing what bobcat he has, it's hard to tell if he will hurt it. At a guess, he probably has 2x the lift you do, 3x the breakout force and the ability to drive into the hillside with 2-3x the force you can. If that guess is correct, then he probably has the ability to bend it into a new and exciting shape pretty quickly by injudicious use.

A better question may be what happens if he does damage your bucket? You cry as he leaves with full payment? He pays bucket rent and buys a new bucket for you? Something in between? (My answer; If you didn't detail it out in writting, its the first one.)


If you are paying a contractor to do a job, he should bring his own toys. If he needs a narrower bucket, he should buy one. Just my opinion.

jb

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon Rich,
I have to agree with John on this ! That Bobcat has a lot more hydraulic power than your tractor. Without some real careful operation on his part, he is at the very least put a smile on your bucket and it aint the kind of smile you want IMHO

 

[N80]

I've put a smile on my bucket just with my tractor. I'd be very hesitant to let him use yours. Besides, you said that he had a backhoe. That should be fine for the tighter spaces that need digging out.

 

[daTeacha]

I think I can trust the guy to pay for it if he hurts it -- the owner and all his hired help are former students and good guys. I was just wondering if it would be highly likely that it would be remodeled. Sounds like it's a good possibility.

As far as room to work, I can just barely get the tractor in there as it stands, which is why I want to get the work done. I've been 2 1/2 years trying to sell an extra house and collecting barnstones when I can find them cheap.

Some guys around sell the things for over $200 per ton, so looking for cheap ones is worth the time involved. If I don't have enough, I may have to buy a stone saw and make some of my own in the quarry over the next ridge.

Anyways, thanks for the opinions, which more or less supported my own.