Input for my homemade rock bucket design?

[John D]

Jim theres no reason to get so fancy on my rock bucket but if you dont mind.........Can you paint it green for me

 

[jimgerken]

Oh, sorry, I hate painting. hehehe

 

[jimgerken]

Made good progress, have new pics here. Will finish tonight, I believe. Primer and paint this week and it will be ready for action Friday.

 

[jimgerken]

More pics...

 

[jimgerken]

Last two...

 

[spruce Deere]

Nice! Some paint an it will look "factory". Keep us posted on how it does on its maiden voyage.

 

[jinman]

Made good progress, have new pics here. Will finish tonight, I believe. Primer and paint this week and it will be ready for action Friday.

Jim, are you putting any gussets on the siides of your bucket? If you don't, I think the whole bucket will twist. Any rock bucket using round bar like yours needs sides.

 

[jimgerken]

Yea, side plates are in the plan. After last nites' one-hour welding session, some lynch pin gaurds and the bucket side plates are about all that's left to do. Also, I am contemplating cutting off some of the "fingertips". They extend about 6.5 inches after the cross tie hardware, which is probably 3 inches too much, if I want them to stay somewhat straight. I don't think the bucket would not miss the capacity from shortening them. It looks to have a lot of volume considering the density of rocks and the lift capacity of my loader. Weight seems pretty light right now. I am able to roll it around and slide it on the floor for welding. I wouldnt want to lift it off the floor, but I am guessing it is considerably under 300. So that leaves 800-900 lbs payload capacity.

Still time to prime it and maybe paint it before the weekend.

 

[jimgerken]

Had it painted by the weekend, and had a couple hours to use it before the rain moved in. Overall it worked well. I learned to use it to screen thru tall grass (dead from last year), to locate the rocks from the jumping action, then back up and put the teeth downward to scoop up the rock, flip it into the "gullet" of the bucket, re-level and continue screening. I did over an acre this way in about 1.5 hours. I came across one biggg rock and could barely get it dug out. Once out of the ground, I could lift it, alone in the bucket, only one foot. So it must have weighed about 800 pounds. Later I noticed one tooth had bent down maybe 1/4". So I guess when I get a chance I will straighten the tooth, and cut about 2 inches off the tip of each tooth. Here's a shot before I scraped off a lot of the nice paint. Sorry, no action shots yet, maybe next weekend.

 

[spruce Deere]

Nice work! Good lookn bucket! You mentioned a bent finger, well, I managed to bend one of mine too, side-ways from be'n packed with grass, brush and then ramming a 3 in. or so rock between the fingers. Its just slight, didnt notice till after I was done and taking the rock bucket off. Thats the first one for me.

 

[jinman]

That's a very professional-looking bucket, Jim. I have an idea that pretty yellow paint will have some blemishes soon, especially the tips. What did you think about the ability to see the tips and exactly where you put them? Using my rock bucket makes me want to cut a slotted "window" in the back of my normal bucket. It's sure nice to be able to see what you are doing. I guess since you bent that tine, you know why I suggested carrying a 2' long section of 1-1/2" pipe with you. You can put it on a tine and then use the ground or even a tree to straighten bent tines. I'm not strong enough to bend my tips without a cheater pipe. Bent tines is just a common thing. Rocks and roots will make your bucket kinda snaggle-toothed in a hurry.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Another quality build project from Jimgerken! I always look forward to following along when you're fabricating new implements.

Don

 

[jimgerken]

Thanks for the input and feedback guys. Will be using the rock bucket again tomorrow, hopefully get some action shots.

 

[medic1050]

I'm very interested in this design. My father in law is a retired welder I don't know jack about welding, so he is going to help me make a rock bucket.

Do you have any thing you'd change with a future design. It seems to be a great design and I think we can make one very similar to this. My local dealer only carries Houle buckets and while they are very impressive and rated for digging at $2000+ I think I can do much better.

I am running a JD 4410 with a 400 loader. I'm thinking about a 5' Bucket to give me the more lift capacity. I can order the hook and pins for the JD quick attachment system for $35 so I'll likely do that to save a few hours of fabrication. Any action shots of the bucket in action. It looked all pretty with its fresh coat of JD yellow paint. How has it stood up after 2 years of use?

 

[jimgerken]

Progress report: Traded tractors up to the 44Hp 3720 a couple years ago. Actually right after the rock bucket was finished, I traded. Have used the rock bucket a few times now with new tractor. The bucket originally felt a bit heavy when used with the 2520, since it weighed almost a third of the tractor's lift capacity. Now it fits this tractor better. One thing I would like to change to make it slide into the ground better. I would cut off the flat lozenge-like shapes, below the main bar floor, so it was more flat on the bottom. Those shapes drag a lot when trying to push the bucket into the ground. Also, I used flat metal for the side diagonals. That's OK, but there should be at least a heavy bar on the top edge of the top flat metal diagonal, for bending protection. Overall, I also wish it wasn't quite as deep front to back. It is quite heavy when loaded with rock, so wouldn't really need to be quite as big as I made it, even with this larger tractor.
That's it...

 

[deereman75]

That looks great, almost like something you would buy. Great job Jim.:thumbsup:

 

[VroomVroom]

Just wondering if anyone ever made a rock bucket like this but for the 3pt hitch? Something to drag behind and scoop up the rocks?

 

[VroomVroom]

No one?

 

[zing]

Just wondering if anyone ever made a rock bucket like this but for the 3pt hitch? Something to drag behind and scoop up the rocks?

This is not a bucket on the back, but they do make tow behind rock pickers. I understand this is bigger and different from what you are describing though.

 

[Grayson Klassen]

Thanks for the input and feedback guys. Will be using the rock bucket again tomorrow, hopefully get some action shots.

:thumbsup:A fine looking professional build