Jim, I have to respectfully disagree. My 1989 JD770 had not be used very hard, however the previous owner liked to grade his gravel driveway with the bucket. When I bought the machine, with only 830 hrs on it, the bucket wear plates were almost completely gone, the reinforcing channel split and cutting edge almost dis appeared. Not only that but he used to park the machine with the bucket curled up, outside. So the bottom of the bucket had losts of rust and big pits in it due to water resting in the bottom. The bottom steel was nearly paper thin.
I was going to replace the cutting edge and bottom on my own, but a friend does this for a living and did an incredible job. He also beefed up the sides and added a grab hook to the top of the bucket with a thick steel plate to distribute the forces. It came out great, now it needs a coat of paint with the rest of the machine!