cutting down 12" BH bucket to 8"

[m3rd]

cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

I have a BX23 with a 12" BH bucket. I plan to trench and believe a narrower bucket than a 10" would be needed for efficiency. I plan to get another 12" bucket and have it narrowed to 8".

Anybody out there agree with this (12 or 10" inadequate for trenching); and has anbody narrowed a bucket?

Thanks

 

[Henro]

Re: cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

For many soils an 8" bucket would be a curse rather than a blessing.

It sounds at first like it would be nice to dig a narrow trench, but if the dirt will not fall out of the bucket you will soon tire of getting of the tractor and cleaning the bucket with a digging bar.

I have a 10" bucket and while it works when the earth here (clay mostly) is on the dry side, it still seems to stick a lot.

Also, a narrow trench is difficult to work in if it is more than maybe 2' deep. I don't think in the end using my 10" bucket or my 16" makes much difference, except that the 16" trench is better to work in.

Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have gotten a 12 and 24, rather than a 10 and a 16...

That is just me and my dirt though. Your situation may be totally different. No way would I want an 8" bucket, unless maybe if it were free, and even then I probably would not use it too much. Except for possibly trying to break roots when digging stumps, or something like that.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Re: cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

Henro, just a thought, but lets say he does cut the bucket down to 8" wide. And lets assume the soil is sticky like yours (and mind). What if the SIDES of the bucket were also cut back on a radius that matches the radius of the back/bottom of the bucket so that the bucket is really only has about 2" of side wall. It would look more like the letter "C" with a cutting edge on the bottom than like a bucket. The bucket MIGHT stay clogged, but it might also be so shallow that it would allow continued trenching??? I expect it might take a while to dig a trench, but it might work. Thoughts?

Personally, I'd rent a trencher.

 

[AndyMA]

Re: cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

Bob

I'd either rent a trencher or stick with the 12" bucket. 12" buckets plug plenty. I wouldn't cut it down as the amount of material it would remove would be so small. I use bot 12 and 24 inch buckets on my Woods 1050 and the 12" plugs plenty in most types of soil. Rocks also get caught in it easily.

Andy

 

[DK35vince]

Re: cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( For many soils an 8" bucket would be a curse rather than a blessing. )</font>

I agree with Henro.
On my last backhoe I had an 8" and a 14" bucket.
The 8" bucket plugged up constantly. I felt it was useless, took it off and never used it again. The 14" was much better..
The backhoe I have now I use an 18" bucket for all my trench's. I like it because it gives me room to work down in the ditch if nessasary and the bucket doesn't constantly plug up..

 

[rswyan]

Re: cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

I have the same size buckets as Henro and I too wish I had 12" and 24" rather a 10" and 16". I've never even used the 10" but in our heavy clay soil here I have plugged the 16" repeatedly more than a few times if the soil is at all damp (that's just damp or slightly moist - not wet)

And it's a PITA if there's no ground crew and you are the only one - have to get off the tractor to clean it (or just wait for it drop)

 

[m3rd]

Re: cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

Thanks for the comments. I'll guess I'll stick with 12". Never considered that the bucket will plug. Must be a volume to surface area thing (weight of dirt cannot overcome stiction forces in small width bucket). I did see a Woods 8" bucket which was very deep. Maybe this design plugs less.

 

[DUMBDOG]

Re: cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

My 24 inch bucket will stick and takes repeated up and down motions to get it to empty sometimes. But the wider bucket is easier to dump.

 

[Banjo]

Re: cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

Everyone's comments have echo'd what I've seen and heard elsewhere too. I've seen pictures of narrow buckets that had a built in "ejector" so that the dirt was pushed out. Not sure if they're worth the effort.

I have a ditching bucket shell that someone (nice guy ... hey Joe) gave me, but I'm still struggling whether to finish it up, or to widen it out.

Andrew

 

[PineRidge]

Re: cutting down 12\" BH bucket to 8\"

I'm agreeing with Henro. We use a 12 inch bucket and even it can be a major pain when digging clay so I would hate to think about the results of digging with anything narrower.

My thoughts gravitate toward a trencher for that application.