Building a BX cleanout bucket

[94BULLITT]

I think it turned out nice. I bet it will look mean on your BX. Are the buckets hard to change on a BX?

 

[Scooby074]

I think it turned out nice. I bet it will look mean on your BX. Are the buckets hard to change on a BX?

No theyre very easy to change, they dont weigh anything , lol. I just pick it up and hold it there while I stick the pins in. Once the stick pin is in, the cylinder pin is easy.

The part that takes the longest is removing and installing the locking bolts that hold the pins in place. It takes 5 minutes at most.

 

[Sfrankland]

After using mine to do some work around I am thinking about adding teeth to it and building a 32" bucket. It is so much faster then digging with the stock 16" bucket.

 

[swick1]

After using mine to do some work around I am thinking about adding teeth to it and building a 32" bucket. It is so much faster then digging with the stock 16" bucket.

I think 24" is plenty for a bx. Most minis I rent have a 24-30" bucket and they are waay more powerful.

 

[Scooby074]

I got to play with the bucket for a few minutes and so far its working great! Much, much faster. No sticking clay either! Id say its at least 2x as fast, maybe 3x because the end result is so much better due to the wider bucket. One of the issues with the small bucket is keeping grade, with the wide one, it keeps grade much easier.

I think this will be my go to bucket Ill keep the small one for trenching and when the ground is really hard. The BX has no issues handling a heaped 24 bucket of wet clay over its full range of motion. Would it handle a 32? Im not sure yet.

 

[swick1]

Are you using it for cleaning out ditches or digging in dry ground? Have you tried spreading material with it yet?

 

[Scooby074]

 

[Scooby074]

Are you using it for cleaning out ditches or digging in dry ground? Have you tried spreading material with it yet?

Yes to all the above.

I tried it in "moist" ground and it had no issues penetrating. In the middle of summer, in my hard red clay? I dont know what it will do.

I spread a bit of soil that was dug up a couple weeks ago and semi dry. It spread and smoothed it fine. A wider bucket may be slightly better but no complaints so far for a "universal" bucket.

First big job for it will likely be digging out the foundation for my new paver patio. That will be a good test.

 

[swick1]

Sweet! I've got material to build mine so I guess I should get started

 

[Scooby074]

Sweet! I've got material to build mine so I guess I should get started

I think its a worthwhile upgrade.

Only question is size. I dont know how strong the 1026 is. Could it handle a 30-32? I imagine it would handle the 24 ok. I guess that will depend on what you plan on doing with it. If smoothing and spreading is mostly what you want to do, 30 is likely fine.