My bucket sucks!

[Dargo]

Is I mentioned, I figured that I must have misunderstood your description as you had typed it. I've welded hundreds of cross hatches on excavator and high lift buckets for strength over the years and, except in huge mine equipment, I almost never see bucket sides thicker than 1/2" plate. Sure it would make for one heck of a strong bucket, but it would tax most CUTS to just be able to lift the empty bucket.

Most Kubota buckets I've welded hooks on have 3/8" plate bracing the leading edges of the buckets and welded on 1/2" wear plate cutting edges. The John Deere HD bucket I mentioned earlier is actually designed for a skid steer and not for a utility tractor. However, for the relative (relative to the investment in the tractor) price difference as compared to the standard bucket, I think it is well worth the money. I absolutely abuse the bucket with no damage so far. Most likely something other than the bucket would break first. I only dislike the way the bolts and nuts stick up into the bucket where the replaceable cutting edge is bolted on. Dirt seems to start sticking right at those bolts.

But, as the OP suggested, I've seen some pretty light weight and somewhat weak buckets that come as standard buckets. On all of the SCUTS and many of the CUTS, I weld a 4"X6" X 1/4" plate to the top of their buckets as a base before welding on hooks. Also, while I'm mentioning hooks, everyone should make sure that they only weld hooks on their buckets in line with their lifting arms. Placing them on the outer edges will assure not only bent buckets, but likely hydraulic damage from stress. One in the middle of the bucket is no problem though as long as it is welded to a good base. It does not exert heavy forces on a single FEL lift arm such as a hook placed outboard of where the lift arm attaches to the bucket would. I've straightened 3 buckets so far this spring for friends and relocated their hooks to be in line with the lift arms. And, no, I was not the person who welded the hooks on the outer edge of the buckets.

 

[dfkrug]

Here is another JD standard bkt, just before I put on a new cutting
edge and sched 40 pipe to replace the top lip. I also had to replace the
1/8" plate on the bottom as the heel was warn thru. At least the 1/8"
sides have a dimple pressed into it at the factory to make it a little stiffer.
The 400cx standard bkt did not even have the dimple. The AFTER photo
is also shown.

As for my CK30 bkt, I re-weighed it and it is now up to 186#, due to the
addition of a chain slot and reinforcement plate on the back center.

 

[browns40]

Hi deerunner,

That is a shame that you got the materials handling bucket & 300X to do a wide variety of work... did the dealer go over with you what your intentions were for your tractor?

I am sure that set-up is perfect for the guy wanting to work in his stalls & move light materials around exclusively, which some people do purchase for... course once a backhoe & canopy go on, that kind of goes out the window...

Is it a bad thing that there are buckets available that don't hold up to heavy-duty use? The applications intended for them are great options to have when you are looking at a single use for the machine... why have HD for snow or manure, just to lose capacity...

There should be a better system of education in place at the dealer to match the product with the application... part of a checklist for purchasing. If a person does not really have one application in mind, they should recommend the heaviest one out there... but probably would default to the standard.

I have a 72" HD bucket with the reversible cutting edge on the 300CX, and it has been great--can't seem to do any worse than scratch it up... I did not have any idea when purchasing the variety of stuff I would do, and was lucky enough that the guys at Peabody's in Houlton are experienced guys and set it up heavy.

The differences I notice to the standard duty are not all that extreme and wouldn't take a decent welder too long to do to stiffen up the sides with brackets and the bottom with skids of 1/4 flat stuff and the top with a strip of C channel the length of it... other option would be to trade it on the HD one.

Sorry about your bucket... there are a few options for you anyway... good luck!

 

[radman1]

Do yourself a favor and add the skid steer attachment option and the appropriate width Worksite Pro Foundry bucket.

IMHO, that is a great bucket for a CUT. I almost bought it but would have to have it shipped and wait. The price of that bucket is close to price of standard JD bucket but much more HD. It is designed for digging up cement and other tough material and is about the same size dimensions (height and depth and length) as JD's standard bucket but more widths available.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

IMHO, that is a great bucket for a CUT. I almost bought it but would have to have it shipped and wait. The price of that bucket is close to price of standard JD bucket but much more HD. It is designed for digging up cement and other tough material and is about the same size dimensions (height and depth and length) as JD's standard bucket but more widths available.

I spent a lot of time looking over specs and debating. I like the 66" width as a nice in between. The black paint ofset looks nice and the machine looks tough. I haven't done any more damage than put a scratch on it so far. The HD green bucket is just the cheap POS std bucket with some gussets. Skid steer attachments are pretty reasonably priced compared to CUT and 10x tougher.


For the guy stating 8yd buckets with 1/2" sides, one needs to remember that those buckets will often use a superior grade (high tensile) steel.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

Here's a pic

 

[KennedyDiesel]

Another:

 

[Dargo]

Here's a pic

I don't know if I'm not seeing them or if your bucket doesn't have the bolts protruding up into the bucket where the cutting edge bolts on. That's about my only complaint about my HD Worksite bucket. When working with somewhat wet dirt, the bolts are where the dirt starts to stick in the bucket. Here is a picture of just the bucket so you can see the bolts I'm talking about. There's not much I can do about them and, fortunately, they don't cause as much of a problem as I thought.

 

[KennedyDiesel]

Mine does not have a bolt on edge. The edge is plenty thick enough that I figure if I wear it out I can either scrap the bucket or weld in a new one. I haven't really put much wear on it that I can see and I'm not afraid to use it.

Is that the green bucket painted black? My bucket has a full reinforcing strip from top top bottom along the leading edge of the side plates. Much heavier than what you show

Worksite Pro # KV11636

http://www.deere.com/en_US/cfd/cons...kidsteer_attachments/media/pdfs/DKABKTCWP.pdf

 

[Dargo]

Mine is the 84" Heavy Duty Utility bucket weighing 563 pounds listed right in the link you show. If yours is "much heavier" than that, you are seriously cutting down your lifting capacity on your tractor. My tractor is considerably larger than your tractor and that bucket is actually a bit big on my tractor.

Yours is the 66" Foundry bucket weighing 394 pounds and holds just over half as much material in a heaping load as the 84" HD Utility bucket. If your tractor is still under warranty I'd be careful about letting the dealer see those hooks on the outer edge of your bucket if you have a bent loader arm or damaged loader cylinder. I know for a fact my JD dealer will void the warranty for that if the loader is bent or a cylinder broken. I've relocated several to be in line with the lift arms as to not put undue force on a loader arm.