Re: rear mounted "scoop"
I gave the scoop away when I bought a 4wd tractor with a front loader a few years ago. I certainly got my moneys worth out if it while I had it. I even used it to dig a 1/4 acre pond (took quite a while but got it done). The lift attachment was very simple, and took me less than (2) hrs to make. This is how I did it: Place the scoop on level ground. Hitch a 3 pt lift boom to the tractor (available at TSC). Back up to the scoop and attach the boom through the end hook to the top link position of the scoop. Measure the distance from the lower links of the boom to the lower links of the scoop and cut a couple pieces of 3" x 1/4", or heavier angle iron 4 inches or so longer than this dimension and drill a couple holes in each to slide over the pins and make the connections. You may have to install longer pins on the implements to make room for the angle extenders. You will also want to have stabilizer bars on your tractor's lower links. Attach a long rope to the scoop release mechanism, loop it up over the frame and bring it to your tractor's roll bar. That is all there is to it, cut (2) pieces of angle to the right length and drill (4) holes. You need to have a tractor with fairly good hydraulic lift capacity to make this work. My old Ford 8n could just barely lift the empty scoop but my Ford 2000 would easily lift a heaping scoop of any material. I did have a couple suitcase weights up front to add stability. With a little practice, I got real good with this contraption and could load a manure spreader quite fast. I even used it to load dump trucks with topsoil, although I had to back the truck's rear axle into a ditch to get enough height. I have to say that it worked better than most 2wds with front loaders I have operated because of the vastly improved traction situation, although sometimes you would get a stiff neck from looking backwards so much.
