Hooks on Bucket

[Smokeydog]

3ton Indusco hooks, 3/8” chain hooks and 2” receiver welded to top of bucket.


3/4” weld on ring with reinforced gussets.

 

[W8BYA]

View attachment 633988
3ton Indusco hooks, 3/8 chain hooks and 2 receiver welded to top of bucket.

View attachment 633989
3/4 weld on ring with reinforced gussets.

View attachment 633990

 

[shooterdon]

There are times I would like to use the FEL bucket and not have to drop it and hook up the forks or grapple for light lifts. And even with the forks, sometimes it is convenient to have a hook or two. I have been looking for a hook or ring that would clamp onto the bucket or pallet forks...much like the clamps used for clamp on pallet forks. If I had fabrication skills and could weld I would make my own, but has anyone ever seen something like that? Plus a clamp on hook can be positioned to wherever it needs to be.

 

[W8BYA]

There are times I would like to use the FEL bucket and not have to drop it and hook up the forks or grapple for light lifts. And even with the forks, sometimes it is convenient to have a hook or two. I have been looking for a hook or ring that would clamp onto the bucket or pallet forks...much like the clamps used for clamp on pallet forks. If I had fabrication skills and could weld I would make my own, but has anyone ever seen something like that? Plus a clamp on hook can be positioned to wherever it needs to be.

If I understand you right you want to be able to slip over one of your pallet forks a temporary hook or loop etc. I think that would be super simple to make. You know you will NEVER use it for attaching a chain/cable and pulling back with it as that would dork up & bend your forks in a heart beat so the only use I can think of is using them to lift something not real heavy.

Just cut off a 4" length of 1/4" thick rectangular steel tubing just large enough to slip over one of your forks. Drill in a ~5/8" dia hole in the middle of that 4" rectangular tubing and weld a large nut directly over the hole. Then get yourself a 4" long, 5/8" dia bolt and thread it into that nut you just welded on. Weld a ~8" steel rod, maybe 1/2" dia on the head of that bolt. That will allow you to slip over your fork this rectangular tube and by turning that bolt down you can tightly fasten it any where along the length of the fork.

Of course on the bottom of the rectangular tubing section you weld on a nice steel loop or hook etc. Probably a clear as mud description but hope ya get the basic idea of what I would try. Allows you to slip it on and off in seconds and safely let you lift loads up or down. Just don't try pulling backwards with it as it will slide off the pallet fork, even with the bolt tightened down.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

"IF" people used their hooks for JUST lifting a static load, balanced on the loader, there would never be a problem. But something tells me I would win a $5 bet that every single one of us has used our hooks to pull or yank on something, and not always in a perfectly symmetrical manner. I found some really awesome diagrams and charts that show what the real forces end up being on different cables or hooks or clevis loops etc when tension is being applied from different angles. In all cases the ratings go WAY, WAY down, sometimes down to 1/3 of rated working load !

Like if you has a cable coming down, then split in two with each end attached to the ends of an I-beam and the I-beam used to pick up something heavy off it's ends. Depending on the angle of the cables or chains from the split to the I-beam the safe working load of the cables/chains drops like a rock ! Pretty neat learning experience.

You basically always want to pull "straight on"....i.e., 0 degrees.

Well, so far I've only used my hooks for dead lifting static loads. But I won't say "never" to pulling on something with them. It would have to be small and light, whatever it was though. For more "serious" pulling, I'd just use a clevis or similar on my draw bar.

My dealer welded 4 hooks across the top of my bucket when I bought mine. I've used them many times since. Most have been very small, light loads of a few hundred pounds only. I also use them to steady a load I'm picking up with the bucket by wrapping a chain (usually) or sometimes a strap around something I don't want to fall out of the bucket during the lift and transport. Most common thing that comes to mind is when I haul my burn barrel (55 gal drum) over to the spot where I dump my cold ashes on an ash pile. The chain wrapped around the barrel keeps it from falling out of the bucket on the way.

I think this is the only pic I have that reasonably shows the hooks across the top, but you'll have to zoom in to see them well.



(found a better pic than I thought)

 

[WranglerX]

I just fabricated a bracket to fit front chassis cross member to accept a shackle... I have decided it's not really a good idea to use bucket for pulling even with the chain grabs.... Granted I will have to keep bucket up a bit bit its still below sight line over hood....Will still use bucket for odd lifts though, like the 350 pound granite pebble that refuses to move without some brute force... Pictures maybe later if rain stops...

Dale

 

[WranglerX]

There are times I would like to use the FEL bucket and not have to drop it and hook up the forks or grapple for light lifts. And even with the forks, sometimes it is convenient to have a hook or two. I have been looking for a hook or ring that would clamp onto the bucket or pallet forks...much like the clamps used for clamp on pallet forks. If I had fabrication skills and could weld I would make my own, but has anyone ever seen something like that? Plus a clamp on hook can be positioned to wherever it needs to be.

The idea of clamp on and the fact with to much pull on them may allow them to come off, I think I would prefer at least bolt on... Does not take to much fabrication skills to drill a hole....

Dale

 

[WranglerX]

Well, so far I've only used my hooks for dead lifting static loads. But I won't say "never" to pulling on something with them. It would have to be small and light, whatever it was though. For more "serious" pulling, I'd just use a clevis or similar on my draw bar.

My dealer welded 4 hooks across the top of my bucket when I bought mine. I've used them many times since. Most have been very small, light loads of a few hundred pounds only. I also use them to steady a load I'm picking up with the bucket by wrapping a chain (usually) or sometimes a strap around something I don't want to fall out of the bucket during the lift and transport. Most common thing that comes to mind is when I haul my burn barrel (55 gal drum) over to the spot where I dump my cold ashes on an ash pile. The chain wrapped around the barrel keeps it from falling out of the bucket on the way.

I think this is the only pic I have that reasonably shows the hooks across the top, but you'll have to zoom in to see them well.

View attachment 634003

(found a better pic than I thought)

Had a rock like that, that would not go into or stay in bucket.... Old snow tire chain used to form a "basket" [net] and linked to hooks kept it in FEL bucket...

Dale

 

[W8BYA]

So one of the coolest things I used my hooks for on my old TC-25D was when I welded onto a 1/4" steel plate a pair of hooks I got from the local GM dealership. These are the tapered hooks that go under the front bumper and look exactly like the center hook I showed in my images a few posts back. Harbour Fright sells them now but 25 years ago the dealership was the only place I could find large very "open" hooks like this.

What was so cool was I spaced the hooks far enough apart so they would still slip in and under the metal bar on the back-side of these large home trash containers from United Serve-All etc. I have a 1000' gravel driveway and after a year of manually hanging on to a fully loaded 5' tall dumpster while driving up a gravel road with my garden tractor I decided enough was enough.

With the hooks mounted on the bucket I just nosed down the bucket and slipped the tips of the hooks under the metal bar on the back-side of the trash container. Then with just a quick tilt-up of the bucket 300 pounds of trash were safely several feet off the ground. I ran the trash up the road and reversed the process to drop the container on the roadside. I was the envy of EVERY neighbor for miles around that used to see me drop that container on and off.

 

[pmsmechanic]

I went a different route. I like to keep the top of my bucket clean. I welded a 3/8" piece of steel with a hole drilled into it in the inside top center of my bucket. A 3/8" grab hook fits nicely and is adequate for all that I want to do.