converting WR Long 4 in 1 bucket to SSQA. revisting

joea99 · Sep 28, 2024

I have a Kubota B21 for which I purchased an ATI SSQA adapter. Pricey, but very well built, to my amateur eyes.

Put it on and tested it with a SSQA attachment I had and loved it.

But when it came time to being cutting and welding the WRlong bucket, which has a curved back, for whatever that's worth, I suddenly got cold feet. So cold they froze me in place. So to speak.

Most, no, all, the conversions I have seen, cut off the pin on "ears" flush with the back of the bucket. As I recall, some did post pictures for me of him doing a WR long and even he cut them off "flush" with the bucket. More or less, as it is curved. Then weld the adapter plates right on "flat" with the remaining ribs. Good. So far.

But I then realized (not too swift anymore) that he also used the "ears" he cut off to weld on to some "universal SSQA adapters" that did not have pin holes in them to bolt up to the FEL arms.

That's when I realized the angles and distances, in my case, might not work properly.

That is, the ATI has the pin mounts already installed and they fit perfectly to my FEL. So now need to work out where and at what angle to cut off the ears on the bucket. Some pictures will follow that show how far they stick out and are "not square" to the bucket. I already feel the bucket does not "curl back" far as I would like, so would not be happy if I lost any of that "back curl".

See, I feel that I need to cut and weld so that the "angle", of a line "drawn through" the center line of both pin holes should be the angle of the adapter plates I weld on. Otherwise, I will "lose curl".

Wisdom?

Edited to add pic of the (unmounted) ATI adapter, side view.

Xfaxman · Sep 29, 2024

Need pictures of the ATI SSQA adapter mounted and close to the back of the bucket.

joea99 · Sep 29, 2024

Xfaxman said:
Need pictures of the ATI SSQA adapter mounted and close to the back of the bucket.

Given the weather, not likely for days yet. Mean time, fill me in on why you think that.

Edit - What I can do is supply a side view picture of the ATI adapter,

dfkrug · Sep 29, 2024

joea99 said:
See, I feel that I need to cut and weld so that the "angle", of a line "drawn through" the center line of both pin holes should be the angle of the adapter plates I weld on. Otherwise, I will "lose curl".

So, now is your chance to get the angle right, and tilt the adapter plate away at the bottom of the bucket to get more curl. You may have to cut some steel to do that.

In a case like this, it may make sense to do some wood or cardboard mock-ups and make some measurements first. Measure 17 times, and cut once. Isn't that how the old saying goes?

I bought a WRLong 4n1 years ago, chopped off the pin-on ears, and welded on new ones to fit my Kioti. I modified my vertical pin spacing to achieve the best compromise between curl angle and curl force. You can also shorten the upper kidney link to get more curl.

BTW, my B21 also had a 4n1 on it, and it convinced me I did not want to do without.

joea99 · Sep 29, 2024

dfkrug said:
So, now is your chance to get the angle right, and tilt the adapter plate away at the bottom of the bucket to get more curl. You may have to cut some steel to do that.

In a case like this, it may make sense to do some wood or cardboard mock-ups and make some measurements first. Measure 17 times, and cut once. Isn't that how the old saying goes?

I bought a WRLong 4n1 years ago, chopped off the pin-on ears, and welded on new one to fit my Kioti. I modified my vertical pin spacing to achieve the best compromise between curl angle and curl force. You can also shorten the upper kidney link to get more curl.

BTW, my B21 also had a 4n1 on it, and it convinced me I did not want to do without.

I was thinking I could cut the ears off along the same plane as a line through the center of the pin holes, as close to the bucket as possible.

With the offset of the pins on the ATI it would add an inch or so to the bottom.

Your idea of making mock-ups had not occurred to me. Getting slow I guess. Don't want to over do it and risk "back dumping" on myself.