one cubic yard loader bucket

[dfkrug]

Ever wish your loader bucket was WAY bigger, like when you
want to haul trash or firewood? Well I've been there...often.

So I decided to build a replacement bucket for my loader, a bucket
that could carry 1 cubic yard of material (heaped). Of course,
this won't be a cy of rocks or wet dirt, and it lends itself to manual
loading, not driving into a pile.

I needed to make this strong enough, yet not so heavy that I use
up most of my loader lifting capacity empty. If I built this of 1/8" steel
and thicker edges, It would probably weight 600-700lb. Too much.

The result is a bucket that is probably 300+ lb, constructed mostly of
1.5x1.5x1/8 angle and .060 galvanized sheet. It is welded to 2x4
rectangular tubing so I can drive my pallet fork attachment into it
for easy use. The paint job will have to wait for warmer, less humid
weather.

My use of this Kioti CK30's loader is what I call fork-centric. Since my
primary FEL use is lifting stuff, I have custom-built dedicated forks,
built for strength and light weight. They do not adjust side-to-side, but
I have not found that to be a significant limitation. Attachments fit on
the forks, which is opposite to putting attachmnts on the loader bkt.

 

[john_bud]

Nice project! Good photos too.

That looks larger than a yard. What are the dimensions of the bucket? Looks like it's 36" tall, 36" deep and 72" wide. Wouldn't that make the capacity a yard, not heaped? Maybe a yard and a half heaped? So confusing!

jb

 

[SPYDERLK]

Great idea. I have a 275G leaker fuel oil tank that I cut in half years ago and painted. Ill mod half of it for something like that.
Larry

 

[dfkrug]

Nice project! Good photos too.

That looks larger than a yard. What are the dimensions of the bucket? Looks like it's 36" tall, 36" deep and 72" wide. Wouldn't that make the capacity a yard, not heaped? Maybe a yard and a half heaped? So confusing!

jb

Thx.

Dims are 30x36x72 for a volume of 22.5 cf not heaped. That's .83 cy.
Heaping needed to get that last 4.5 cf. Heaping split firewood is
generally what happens.

 

[3RRL]

Hi Dave,
I see you finally got that giant bucket together and all fabbed up. It looks real good and pretty sturdy too. It should work great for what your intended it for. Can't wait to see the paint job on it.
Your tractor looks pretty good too. I'd also like to see more shots of those forks when you get a chance.

 

[dfkrug]

Great idea. I have a 275G leaker fuel oil tank that I cut in half years ago and painted. Ill mod half of it for something like that.
Larry

A tank....I like that idea. Hope it is not too heavy. I have a current
project where I will be able to weigh all my implements. I will report
what I come up with for this bkt.

 

[dfkrug]

Hi Dave,
I see you finally got that giant bucket together and all fabbed up. It looks real good and pretty sturdy too. It should work great for what your intended it for. Can't wait to see the paint job on it.
Your tractor looks pretty good too. I'd also like to see more shots of those forks when you get a chance.

Well, Rob, you embarassed me into getting it posted. You are so ****
productive! Thx for the support.

Still, the paint job is missing, I know. My humidity and low temps make
the oil-based stuff I use not want to harden.

I will dig up more fork attachment shots.

 

[dfkrug]

I'd also like to see more shots of those forks when you get a chance.

Here is the first set of these I did for my earlier main tractor (Kubota).
The fork tines were 1.75x6 originally and were HEAVY. I first adapted
them to hang from my FEL bucket, then decided I do not like bucket
forks (can't see what you are doing!). I paid a steel warehouse to
use their large plasma cutter to cut the forks the long way. Then I
welded up a pin-on frame with lifting hook. Works great!

 

[MadReferee]

Here is a picture of a side by side comparison of a 1 1/8 cu yd dozer bucket and a 60" Kubota bucket. There is a BIG difference.

 

[jinman]

Ever wish your loader bucket was WAY bigger, like when you
want to haul trash or firewood? Well I've been there...often.

So I decided to build a replacement bucket for my loader, a bucket
that could carry 1 cubic yard of material (heaped). Of course,
this won't be a cy of rocks or wet dirt, and it lends itself to manual
loading, not driving into a pile.

My first impression of seeing your new bucket was to think the front should have been a 6" to 1' high lip. Since you are not pushing this into a pile, it doesn't really have to have a thin lip, does it? I think it's a terrific idea for all kinds of carrying jobs, but I think if it is sitting flat on the ground while you are filling it, you may have things falling out the front until you get it curled back. That's my only suggestion on what seems like a great idea to me.

 

[Sully2]

I sure hope you dont intend on picking up anything more than a bucket full of feathers!

 

[3RRL]

Here is the first set of these I did for my earlier main tractor (Kubota).
The fork tines were 1.75x6 originally and were HEAVY. I first adapted
them to hang from my FEL bucket, then decided I do not like bucket
forks (can't see what you are doing!). I paid a steel warehouse to
use their large plasma cutter to cut the forks the long way. Then I
welded up a pin-on frame with lifting hook. Works great!

Dave,
Thanks for posting the extra picture of the forks. I thought they looked like solid steel forks but when you said you made them, I thought they might have been square tube like many of these guys make/use for the home made jobs. Those are really thick at 1-¾". What is the width of them now, cut long ways? Looks like 3" or so?

 

[dfkrug]

My first impression of seeing your new bucket was to think the front should have been a 6" to 1' high lip. Since you are not pushing this into a pile, it doesn't really have to have a thin lip, does it? I think it's a terrific idea for all kinds of carrying jobs, but I think if it is sitting flat on the ground while you are filling it, you may have things falling out the front until you get it curled back. That's my only suggestion on what seems like a great idea to me.

You still want to be able to easily dump your load using your bkt curl
function. A lip on the bkt would require MANUAL unloading. :-(
There is no reason that the bkt has to be flat on the ground when you
are loading it.

MAD: Good visual comparison of bkts. I see your dump trailer is in the
photo, too. It looks about a cy, too. Indeed my large bkt is designed
to fill the need of such a dump trailer. Very similar function.

 

[MadReferee]

I see your dump trailer is in the
photo, too. It looks about a cy, too. Indeed my large bkt is designed
to fill the need of such a dump trailer. Very similar function.

It's a Country Mfg dump wagon. Dimensions are 4' x 8' x 18". That comes out to about 48 cu ft or 1.8 cu yds. That's about a bucket and a half from the dozer.

 

[jinman]

You still want to be able to easily dump your load using your bkt curl
function. A lip on the bkt would require MANUAL unloading. :-(
There is no reason that the bkt has to be flat on the ground when you
are loading it.

Hmm... I was actually thinking about a hinged "tailgate," but that would add complexity to what is already a very useful tool.

When my house was built, the framers built a big box for scraps and trash. They just put it on a piece of plywood for a bottom. I used my forks to lift it and carry it to a burn pile in a gully. I've often thought of how handy it would be to have a box built on top of a wooden pallet to use for similar hauling. Your solution is far better than that.

 

[dfkrug]

When my house was built, the framers built a big box for scraps and trash. They just put it on a piece of plywood for a bottom. I used my forks to lift it and carry it to a burn pile in a gully. I've often thought of how handy it would be to have a box built on top of a wooden pallet to use for similar hauling. Your solution is far better than that.

Funny you should mention that. Years ago, I built a wooden box on a
pallet that I could haul around on the tractor forks, carrying gravel. I would
take the box in my truck to the materials yard and they would fill it.
When I got it home I would use the tractor to take it off the truck with
its 1000# load of gravel. I would then use the gravel for concrete. The
box kept the gravel clean, but required a shovel for unloading. I had
another box for clean sand.

 

[dfkrug]

I sure hope you dont intend on picking up anything more than a bucket full of feathers!

The combination of my large bkt and the fork frame is less than the weight
of the 4n1 bkt I installed on my old L2550. I am limited to about 500-600 lb
remaining capacity, depending on how high I want to lift it. That is still
a lot of feathers.

 

[Sully2]

The combination of my large bkt and the fork frame is less than the weight
of the 4n1 bkt I installed on my old L2550. I am limited to about 500-600 lb
remaining capacity, depending on how high I want to lift it. That is still
a lot of feathers.

LOL!! Thats what I was thinking for sure.. You load that bucket up with packed gravel or ??..and you might find yourself with the rear end of the tractor up in the air....

My std bucket is real close to 9 cu ft..and normally when Im moving dirt and such I dont grab a heaping bucketfull...but the dirt pile was damp once and I got a "super load" that was heaped. BOY..I sure could feel the rear end being light and Im running right at 275 lbs of weight in my ballast box.!!!

 

[kwolfe]

Sully,
I would think that your 3030 would require a good bit more that 275lbs hanging off the rear. I put that on my bx1500 to make it feel solid. I wouuld think that 500lbs or so would make that FEL feel better. I don't have a ballast box, so I am not quite sure if it will fit that weight.

 

[Sully2]

Sully,
I would think that your 3030 would require a good bit more that 275lbs hanging off the rear. I put that on my bx1500 to make it feel solid. I would think that 500lbs or so would make that FEL feel better. I don't have a ballast box, so I am not quite sure if it will fit that weight.

Dont think I could get 500 lbs in it?..maybe..??..solid concrete but I didnt want to go that route( makes it tought to back up on that "street")

And as I said I usually dont get a HEAPING bucket full of anything...except mulch and it doesnt weight doodlie squat in comparison. Except for its greater weight ( over a BX)...which helps A LOT in pushing over trees..etc.. I use mine like it was a "jumbo" BX.