My recently finish tree scoop bucket

[sixdogs]

wolc123--What area do you live in and what type of soil do you have?
I live in clay soil now and not sure it would work.

When I lived in gravel-sandy loam of Maine, I very often moved 5-10' evergreens just as the frost left the ground in the spring. I shoved the edge of the bucket in the ground by the tree, wrapped a 3/8" chain around the trunk and lifted with the bucket. I had some damage to the trunk but not much. I just wrapped paper tape around the bruise and it healed in time. Got a better root ball than I did by digging and, surprisingly, less transplant shock.

The clay around here is far less forgiving.

Do you have a phot of your setup?

 

[J_J]

JJ--
Who made the yellow one?

Can't remember. I saw it awhile back, and I saved it for some new ideas. You can make them any size you want. Just use a cad program and lay it out for cutting, and then have them bend it to the shape you want. You can probably bent 1/4 steel plate by driving over the steel on top of a wood frame. Then take a come-a-long and wrap a chain around and bend it to the shape you want. A plasma cutter or torch can shape one fairly quick.

Some more pic.

 

[wolc123]

I live in upstate NY and have about 36" of dark black topsoil over most of my place with clay under that. Sorry I have never tried to post pictures (not real computer savy), but I just measured and updated the dimensions on my previous post using the "edit" feature. I am always digging the trees out of and into sod, so a wide scoop, or "sides" aint really necessary as quite a big ball always comes out with the scoop. The channel iron I used is mounted flat side up, so the sides are actually on the bottom where they dont help hold any dirt, but do add lots of strength. Like you have experienced, I also get less transport shock using a scoop than hand digging, probably because less roots are disturbed, most of them coming out nice, if the soil moisture is good. I will be keeping an eye on the (2) trees I jumped the gun on last fall to test the scoop however. Clay soils would make things tougher for sure, and a wider scoop with sides would help a lot. One other thing that makes my scoop work well on the 4120 JD, is the heavy front end / 4wd axle on that tractor, which could almost push that 12" wide scoop into cured concrete. The only work involved for me makeing the setup was drilling (3) 9/16" diameter x 3/8" long holes thru the channel, and (1) 9/16" dia x aprox 1/4" long hole thru the bottom center of the bucket. I do have a quick attach bucket but the only time I drop it off is for bush-hogging in the summer. I also have a couple 48" lengths of heavy 4" angle iron that I bolt below the bucket in line with the lift arms for moving and loading logs. These also work very well but required the drilling of (2) additional 9/16" holes thru the bottom of the bucket. Them (3) extra holes thru the bottom of the bucket dont hurt anything, and keeps water from collecting when the tractor is parked out in the rain. I dont do a lot of digging with my bucket so I dont really need a toothbar, but as you can see, I use them toothbar-mounting holes a lot. I also attach clevis hooks here which works better than hooks welded to the top of the bucket because you get more lift using "curl". Someday I may put in another small pond however and when and if I do, I will spring for a toothbar.

 

[sixdogs]

Can't remember. I saw it awhile back, and I saved it for some new ideas. You can make them any size you want. Just use a cad program and lay it out for cutting, and then have them bend it to the shape you want. You can probably bent 1/4 steel plate by driving over the steel on top of a wood frame. Then take a come-a-long and wrap a chain around and bend it to the shape you want. A plasma cutter or torch can shape one fairly quick.

Some more pic.

JJ--
I can do lots of things cut cad isn't one if them. My plan is to figure out pretty much what to do by looking at other already engineered items that function correctly.
Then get some starting measurements and take it to a local metal shop that has the correct equipment to roll the steel. I figure 3/8" if they can roll that thick.
Not sure if this is the right idea but it's where I'm at.

 

[J_J]

Try this. Take some large cardboard and draw and cut the shape until you get it to your satisfaction, and then have the steel mill cut and roll the steel. Then you or a local welder can finish the scoop.

36 in wide bent into a half round will let you get an 36 in in root ball. 42 to 48 long should be deep enough. You push it in deep as you can, using the weight of the tractor. Go to the other side and repeat., and then lift. The tip can be pointed flat or concave. Beveled and sharpened.

Do you have torches and welders?

 

[sixdogs]

Try this. Take some large cardboard and draw and cut the shape until you get it to your satisfaction, and then have the steel mill cut and roll the steel. Then you or a local welder can finish the scoop.

36 in wide bent into a half round will let you get an 36 in in root ball. 42 to 48 long should be deep enough. You push it in deep as you can, using the weight of the tractor. Go to the other side and repeat., and then lift. The tip can be pointed flat or concave. Beveled and sharpened.

Do you have torches and welders?

Yes, have both but live near a small but wonderful welding shop that is fully equipped. Thay have everything, are fairly priced and we like each other.
I like the dimensions you gave and 36 inch rootball, maybe a little bigger would work fine for me.

 

[sixdogs]

I need a little help here...should I go with the more pointed tip like the black one in the photo or should I go with the more rounded looking tip like the yellow or red ones? Any thoughts or opinions on this?

The black one is commercially designed so it must(?) be de-bugged but the other ones look like they would work better especially in popping trees out of the groumd.
I took some sketches to the welding shop today and am taking my tractor front loader bracket tomorrow for him to get started. Sure, I could weld this myself but it's 1/2" plate and still winter, here. This is cheap money spent.
I'll post pictures along the way but am having the shovel welded on to a plate and then either having QT loader brackets welded to that plate OR U-bolting the plate to a bracket I have that fits my loader QT brackets.

For now, any thoughts or opinion on the shape of the tip of the shovel itself? More pointed or more rounded on the tip portion ?
Thank you.

 

[Redbug]

I noticed the yellow one does not have a sealed back. You dig stuff out, lift up and dirt will fall out the back.

I use my stump bucket for narrow small hole digging jobs and need to carry dirt around or dump dirt...Even use it to hand mix cement, (using a hoe to get the slurry right), and carrying it to where it needs to be worked.

These stump buckets fill a nitch where a regular bucket would be too wide.

 

[tratliff]

Over the weekend I picked up a stump bucket that I had a local fabricator build. Its base design was the same as pictured below. It was built for my 2007 JD 3120 w/300cx loader. I was so surprised at the ease of operation to transplant a 10' evergreen. Great design and very easy to operate. I have not gotten any pictures. Was to busy moving trees to stop and take pictures.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=200457&stc=1&d=1297724316

 

[PapaPerk]

I need a little help here...should I go with the more pointed tip like the black one in the photo or should I go with the more rounded looking tip like the yellow or red ones? Any thoughts or opinions on this?

The black one is commercially designed so it must(?) be de-bugged but the other ones look like they would work better especially in popping trees out of the groumd.
I took some sketches to the welding shop today and am taking my tractor front loader bracket tomorrow for him to get started. Sure, I could weld this myself but it's 1/2" plate and still winter, here. This is cheap money spent.
I'll post pictures along the way but am having the shovel welded on to a plate and then either having QT loader brackets welded to that plate OR U-bolting the plate to a bracket I have that fits my loader QT brackets.

For now, any thoughts or opinion on the shape of the tip of the shovel itself? More pointed or more rounded on the tip portion ?
Thank you.

The Kubota with the black bucket is my machine. I recommend the slightly flattened tip. This allows the bucket to cut the roots. A sharp tip bucket tends to push the roots to one side or another and not cut. That's my opinion.

 

[sixdogs]

The Kubota with the black bucket is my machine. I recommend the slightly flattened tip. This allows the bucket to cut the roots. A sharp tip bucket tends to push the roots to one side or another and not cut. That's my opinion.

Thanks.
I did decide to go with the flattened tip and a welding shop is working on it now.

 

[PapaPerk]

Thanks.
I did decide to go with the flattened tip and a welding shop is working on it now.

Sounds good! It's always fun to make your own equipment. You'll have to share a picture of it with us. Good luck!

 

[sixdogs]

Sounds good! It's always fun to make your own equipment. You'll have to share a picture of it with us. Good luck!

I thought of building it myself but the weight and difficulty of the steel and size of the job was too much. Plus it's winter and no heat in the shop.
Yes, photos will follow.

 

[PapaPerk]

I thought of building it myself but the weight and difficulty of the steel and size of the job was too much. Plus it's winter and no heat in the shop.
Yes, photos will follow.

I knew that didn't sound right when I submitted it. I meant it's fun to have equipment made or make it yourself. There's nothing wrong with having someone make it. It's still your design and your ideas. I think at least 3 people besides me worked on mine. It's just fun to make or have something made that is custom tailored to your needs. That's what I meant. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[rocknrod]

So where do you get the skid steer blank - to weld the rolled steel to?
Great work gentlemen. I want one:thumbsup:

 

[sixdogs]

So where do you get the skid steer blank - to weld the rolled steel to?
Great work gentlemen. I want one:thumbsup:

You can get the skid steer blank in lots of places.
What I have is a 75 HP JD 5520 tractor with a QT bucket setup. I also have a JD QT round bale spear with a very rugged frame.

Sooo, I'm having the shovel built and mounted to a flat plate that will bolt to my bale spear frame.
This way I can get double use out of my bale frame, not have to convert/adapt to the skid steer format and if I ever want to I have the flat plate to weld the skid steer adaptor on to.

I could even buy--for $245--a set of QT adapters to weld on to the bucket plate if I want to free up my bale spear. But I could weld that myself later.
This shovel idea will or should work. I'm building dimensionally similar to commercial models that already have proven correct. No re-inventing any wheels for me.
It will be 1/2" plate, braced correctly and welded by a guy that has a full shop. I'll post pictures when it gets done.

 

[FarmerCharlie]

So where do you get the skid steer blank - to weld the rolled steel to?
Great work gentlemen. I want one:thumbsup:

One place that has them is here:
http://www.qualityweldingservice.com/mountingplates.html
I bought my tree shovel there, but they also have two different types of skid-steer blanks.

 

[PapaPerk]

So where do you get the skid steer blank - to weld the rolled steel to?
Great work gentlemen. I want one:thumbsup:

EBay!!! Let me see if I can find the company...

I can't find the exact one I have. But it may have been made by this company. I know it was from MN.

Skid Steer Loader Quick Attach Mount Plate,Bobcat 5/16" - eBay (item 170605389276 end time Mar-20-11 14:53:56 PDT)

Mine cost around $90 plus $25 shipping. Can't beat that!

 

[PapaPerk]

You can get the skid steer blank in lots of places.
What I have is a 75 HP JD 5520 tractor with a QT bucket setup. I also have a JD QT round bale spear with a very rugged frame.

Sooo, I'm having the shovel built and mounted to a flat plate that will bolt to my bale spear frame.
This way I can get double use out of my bale frame, not have to convert/adapt to the skid steer format and if I ever want to I have the flat plate to weld the skid steer adaptor on to.

I could even buy--for $245--a set of QT adapters to weld on to the bucket plate if I want to free up my bale spear. But I could weld that myself later.
This shovel idea will or should work. I'm building dimensionally similar to commercial models that already have proven correct. No re-inventing any wheels for me.
It will be 1/2" plate, braced correctly and welded by a guy that has a full shop. I'll post pictures when it gets done.

Sounds like a good plan! I thought about doing a bucket that bolts onto my pallet fork frame. But eventually I decided to just by the quick attach plate.

 

[ovrszd]

Here's a link to a blank thru Northern Tool. Hawkline by Behlen Country Universal Weld-On Mount, Model# 80112725 | Skid-Steers + Attachments | Northern Tool + Equipment


I built my adapter and bucket. I don't have any pics right now but I'll try to add some when I get back home. The bucket is made from 24" pipe, 3/8" wall, cut at an angle very similar to the black bucket mounted on the Kubota pictured above. I just got it done a couple weeks ago and haven't used it yet. I've got a bunch of Eastern Red Cedars that are already nervous.