Hey not2old, sorry for not seeing your questions earlier, but let me try give you answers that make sense. Please do not hesitate to let me know if something is not clear.
If you are referring to the lower pins that extend out from the bucket and that the arms go over to secure the bottom of the bucket, they are also pretty tight. The hole is about 1/16 inch bigger than the pins. Again, I was concerned with limiting slop. However, there is a bit of work to get them to slip over easily. Because the top is secured in the pocket first before the adapter is rotated down to go over the pin, there is a bit of grinding or filing to do at the top and bottom of the hole (and pin) so as to allow the hole to go over the pin at the slight angle of approach as it closes on the pin. Once the adapters are fully rotated to be fully seated and flat against the bucket, the pin is very well secured by the hole. The linchpin is the 1/4 inch size with the backside flat and the hole in the pin is just slightly larger than the pin. Again, this assures a relatively slop free attachment. The only time I have had any difficulty inserting the linchpin was when I had a bit of packed snow between the bucket and the arm. Quickly fixed by backing off the tractor, cleaning off the adapters and bucket and then reattaching. Piece of cake!
Again, I encourage you to go ahead with the conversion. You'll be happy you did! :thumbsup:
Good question and one that I thought about for some time before going with what I ended up with. The socket fits the adapter pretty tight (no more than about an 1/8") at the wall of the bucket. However, if you look carefully you can see that the outside edge of the pocket actually angles out about 1/2 inch in order to allow a bit of self aligning should I not hit the pocket dead on. Once both arm adapters are in their respective pockets and the loader arm adapters are rotated down to engage the pins, there is no slop at all! The slop on each pocket is on the outboard side so that the inside wall of each pocket is tight against the loader arm adapters. I didn't want any slop in the bucket (or as little as possible) so I made it tight on the insides and the lower pins are dead on. The self aligning occurs best when I approach the bucket at a slight angle (one arm arriving to its pocket a bit earlier than the other) so that as the leading arm pushes into the pocket it automatically aligns the bucket for the trailing arm as it arrives to its pocket. The angle needed is really slight - the first arm arriving maybe an inch or less before the other. Note also that the toe of the loader arm adapter is tilted forward as I approach the bucket with the heal of the adapter trailing and not rotated down until the toe is inserted and raised into the pocket. As I pick up the bucket with the toe it naturally falls into place over the pins. I've now had plenty of opportunity to detach and attach and I find it works perfectly!
Not really sure what you are referring to here. The pins that connect the front adapters to the loader arms are actually the same pins that were used to attach the originally configured bucket to the loader arms. I actually made new adapters sized to replicate the original ears that were on the bucket. That gave me the right angles, distances, etc. I've read that some merely cut off the bucket ears and then just weld them on to a new plate to make the adapters but I knew that I would not be able to get the clean and consistent cut needed so I went with "new" - and that of course allowed me to fab up the concept before taking the plunge of cutting off the bucket ears.
If you are referring to the lower pins that extend out from the bucket and that the arms go over to secure the bottom of the bucket, they are also pretty tight. The hole is about 1/16 inch bigger than the pins. Again, I was concerned with limiting slop. However, there is a bit of work to get them to slip over easily. Because the top is secured in the pocket first before the adapter is rotated down to go over the pin, there is a bit of grinding or filing to do at the top and bottom of the hole (and pin) so as to allow the hole to go over the pin at the slight angle of approach as it closes on the pin. Once the adapters are fully rotated to be fully seated and flat against the bucket, the pin is very well secured by the hole. The linchpin is the 1/4 inch size with the backside flat and the hole in the pin is just slightly larger than the pin. Again, this assures a relatively slop free attachment. The only time I have had any difficulty inserting the linchpin was when I had a bit of packed snow between the bucket and the arm. Quickly fixed by backing off the tractor, cleaning off the adapters and bucket and then reattaching. Piece of cake!
I think mine must be about the same. I had some warping when I torched the ears off of the bucket but it was pretty easy to pound it back relatively flat with a 4 lb maul. I had the same thought that you had since the original ears on the bucket ran from top to bottom which in effect provided stiffening ribs to strengthen the backside of the bucket. I merely put the pocket and lower pin on plates and then welded the plates to the bucket. They don't run from top to bottom but they do spread the load out across a larger section of the bucket and so far I've not had any problems with the bucket bending - and I beat it pretty good! If I do, I'll just straighten it out again and then add a few ribs on either side of the attachment points. If you are concerned about it (you might have a stronger tractor) you could put the pocket and pin on one plate that runs from top to bottom which would really stiffen things up.
You are welcome! I've learned so much over the years from the hundreds of great ideas that were shared by other members so I thought I'd share my take on an old idea. By the way, it is the single best mod that I've done since I've owned the tractor and I would encourage you to take the plunge! I literally can change from the bucket to the forks in one minute. And, doing it myself was fun and I saved a ton of money. I was fortunate in that I had a bunch of flat stock available as well as a small piece of 1" rod, but even if I'd had to buy, it would have been cheep compared to buying a kit. I did buy one piece of tube from the scrap yard (less than $5) otherwise, the only cost was welding supplies, several 4 1/2" cutoff wheels and electricity. Additionally, the bucket is only extended out 3/8" from the original so I didn't lose any real capacity.
Again, I encourage you to go ahead with the conversion. You'll be happy you did! :thumbsup:
