My bucket sucks!

[deererunr]

I wish I had known about this site prior to buying my JD. I would have ordered the CX loader and the heavy duty bucket. For those that are shopping, don't buy the standard bucket (see picture) unless you exclusively loading manure! If you plan on picking up a big rock in the standard bucket... it will bow. If you bump a tree stump with the top of your bucket... it will bend. Spend the extra $$ and upgrade to the CX and heavy duty bucket. I'm thinking of drilling holes in the base plate, and ordering/installing the flat heavy duty bar on the bucket. I'll probably have to have some steel welded on the top lip also. Any other ideas are welcomed!

 

[arrow]

This is what JD calls a materials handling bucket. It is stronger than the materials handling bucket they put on their older tractors. You would have to get a real heavy bucket for rock work and almost any bucket that has a top on it will bend with a boulder in it without some reinforcement. That's why you see skid steer buckets open right to their back plate. You may want to consider this type of bucket but be careful of the weight factor. A 60" skidsteer bucket that is heavy duty will approach 500Ibs which uses about half of our loader potential. Right now I'm in the process of asking a couple of skid steer bucket companies if they'll make me a custom 54" bucket that comes in under 325Ibs with a 22" floor. Some of these buckets have a floor of over 32" which is way too big for my tractor. At any rate, for the lifting you're doing rock wise, its my opinion one is better off with an open top bucket such as a skid steer has. A bolt on blade will bolster the bottom lip but you'll also need a pretty thick top plate added if you want to minimize warpage at the top of the bucket

 

[EdC]

deererunr

Have you thought about a toothbar? Not only does it stiffen up the bucket but it helps digging out those pesky rocks.

 

[ScottK]

Add a toothbar. I have the 2320 with the 53" bucket and I beat the snot out of it and it is not bent yet - but I have kept my tooth bar on it the whole time. I certainly have been afraid of bending it. Some people weld kind of a long rectangular box to the top (and then put their hooks on top of that) to keep the top from bending. I use pallet forks for moving large rocks though. I keep wondering why the teeth on my toothbar don't break off. I use them for all sorts if things I shouldn't.

 

[kennyd]

Another vote here for a toothbar...

 

[Egon]

My little Kubota bucket had the cutting edge wore off and the bottom worn thin.

A new much heavier cutting edge was welded on. Several reinforcing plates were welded to the bottom and a full length piece was welded to back edge of the bottom. Cutting edge material was also welded to the front sides of the bucket. It is now very much stiffer.

I'd suggest a much larger welded on cutting edge and a piece of square tubing welded to the top lip of your bucket. Also reinforce the bucket front sides with cutting edge material. It will make a much stiffer bucket for you.

 

[JasonMac]

John Deere Shouldn't even offer the standard bucket in my opinion. As a matter of fact, I think all of the buckets should come beefier than the standard duty's they offer. I often thought of getting a good High Volume Snow Bucket for my tractor, but I know I would have to have somebody beef it up for me. Nothing I hate more is when John Deere pushes the standard buckets, and sells it with a brand new tractor, and it warps within a month of use. And As you all know, by now how I feel about the 300x vs 300cx. The 300x shouldn't be offered either on the new 3000 Twenty Series tractors. What they should offer is the 300cx, and a "300cxSL" Self Leveling. I feel so bad for the guys that got stuck with a 300x instead of the 300cx. The 300cx is such a better loader compared to the 300x, and for what only $400 more.... it's a no-brainer....

 

[Team_Green]

Some people just use thier units to move soil and such. not for digging. why force a heavy bucket on them? If you want to beat on your machine have at it, just buy what you need. I use my units harder then they should be but i also expect some "wear" that most would be unhappy with.

 

[Dargo]

I don't know what size bucket your tractor will take, but I have a John Deere HD 84" skid steer bucket on my tractor. Shown here WORKSITE PRO Attachments : Buckets for Skid Steer Loaders and it seems to be pretty strong. It seems to be pretty heavy though. It's not the easiest thing to scoot around the barn floor when I drop it off the tractor. It is a "Heavy Duty Utility" bucket according to it's label. I think it says it weighs something like 560 pounds or something like that.

 

[deererunr]

Thanks for all the input so far on the bucket. On the 300x loader, is it possible to upgrade the hydraulic pistons and turn it into a 300cx? Are the loader frame dimensions/torque ratings between the 300x & cx the same?

 

[KennedyDiesel]

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

 

[JasonMac]

Some people just use thier units to move soil and such. not for digging. why force a heavy bucket on them? If you want to beat on your machine have at it, just buy what you need. I use my units harder then they should be but i also expect some "wear" that most would be unhappy with.

Yeah, buckets should get some wear and tear, but they shouldn't bend out of plum the one time you need to do something more than move soil or manure with it, It's not a case of forcing a heavy duty bucket on them, it's a case of their shouldn't be a standard duty bucket at all, because all who have them, will soon enough regret them. A lot of customers go to buy a JD for quality and have no idea a better bucket or loader even exists, and then they are stuck with it. When I'm spending what I'm spending on a tractor, $400 more on a far superior loader is nothing, and $300 more is nothing to have a bucket that has the ability of handling everything.... from soil, manure, snow, backdragging, lifting with hooks, to carrying rocks without bending and twisting like the standard duty's always do... check out ebay sometime and look at the used standard buckets, If they've been used like you would expect them to be able to be used, they are always sure to be warped. Also think of resale value...

 

[nightrodjc]

Go buy a section of 2" black pipe about 15.00 at the depot, cut to fit inside side plates. Now weld it to the top plate and top of side plates (kubota style),
slap some green paint on it and go dig.

 

[dirtworksequip]

I think that whenever anyone uses ANY equipment, no matter what it is you have to consider how you are going to do that job and what forces it will exert on the machine and attachments. ANY machine or attachment can be bent from improper use or operating techniques. The mightiest heavy equipment on Earth will bend and break under the hydraulic forces it exert. You just can not just drive up to a rock or stump and pick it up. You have to take it easy and use some common sense. Its just not that the standard bucket is a piece of junk. It does what it was designed to do,nothing more. If push it beyond its design limits.................its going to bend. Yes, just about any stock bucket can be made better by adding steel to reinforce it, but the manufacturers have to draw some line as to cost. After all you may have not bought a Deere if they charged an extra $900 for their loader bucket.
Oh, you can also twist the loader frame pretty easy by not taking into consideration what forces are being exerted on it. You have to know when to back off. I am not saying its just you. I have broke or bent bucket parts myself, it wasn't the buckets fault. It was my fault.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[Leon Wittner]

That was why I bought the Kubota standard bucket loves rocks.

 

[dfkrug]

John Deere Shouldn't even offer the standard bucket in my opinion...

I agree. I was just demoing the 4720 with 400cx loader. That std bkt is
a joke, with only 1/8" unreinforced steel sides and lip. Kubota's std bkts
are not very good either. Both offer HD bkts at least.

My Kioti std (only) bkt OTOH has 1/2" total thickness reinforced sides, the
top lip is double laminated, and the cutting edge is 5/8"x4.75". Total weight
for the 60-in bkt is 180#. Excellent design.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I agree. I was just demoing the 4720 with 400cx loader. That std bkt is
a joke, with only 1/8" unreinforced steel sides and lip. Kubota's std bkts
are not very good either. Both offer HD bkts at least.

My Kioti std (only) bkt OTOH has 1/2" total thickness reinforced sides, the
top lip is double laminated, and the cutting edge is 5/8"x4.75". Total weight
for the 60-in bkt is 180#. Excellent design.

I am skeptical of that weight. My 72" Mahindra bucket is 3/16 body and sides, 1/2 x 6" edge and weighs 400#. It is pretty tuf since it has some contouring on the sides and top for strength as well as three 1/2x 4" pieces of strap metal welded front to back on the bottom. It stands up to the forces applied by my 7520 with loaded AGs fairly well. I am looking toward adding about 40# to strategic locations. Another factor in bucket durability is the stength of the metal they use in construction. Stronger metal yields a lighter bucket but you run the risk of having it break if its bent much.
larry

 

[Dargo]

My Kioti std (only) bkt OTOH has 1/2" total thickness reinforced sides, the
top lip is double laminated, and the cutting edge is 5/8"x4.75". Total weight
for the 60-in bkt is 180#. Excellent design.

I do quite a bit of heavy metal working and I must be misunderstanding your description. I've worked on some huge end loaders that hold over 8 cubic yards of material and the sides on them were only 1/2" and they held up well. If you have much depth and height to the 60" bucket you describe, I come up with a bucket weight of well over 1200 pounds that would be more suited for a really large excavator than a tractor.

 

[plastikosmd]

my dealer pretty much only will sell the HD 61". He only charges like 100$more. Same w/ the backhoe I have on order, 18" HD for 60$ more. Seems like a no brainer at those prices, just what he wants as he says he gets less complaints.

 

[dfkrug]

I do quite a bit of heavy metal working and I must be misunderstanding your description. I've worked on some huge end loaders that hold over 8 cubic yards of material and the sides on them were only 1/2" and they held up well. If you have much depth and height to the 60" bucket you describe, I come up with a bucket weight of well over 1200 pounds that would be more suited for a really large excavator than a tractor.

I said nothing about volume. The CK30 bkt is probably only 6 cf in
volume and the carcass is prob only 1/8" steel, but no 1/8" steel edges
like the std JDs and std Kubs. They added reinforcement wear plates
(3/8") on the sides and added more 1/8 rolled plate on the upper lip.
I weighed the bkt. I have had the std Kubota and std JD bkts and they
were usually higher in volume, but not durable in the key areas.