Front-End Loader Rock & debris bucket

Code54 · Jan 20, 2012

On your 5100 the quick attach is a standard so any bucket that is the "SSQA" will fit it without a problem. My stump bucket is something like 42" wide at the top and fits perfect so once you find one you like just make sure it is SSQA and you are set. The way the buckets mounts is the female 1/2 of the mounts is to the outside center of the rock grapple so no matter the size it will work well.
I have also found that on my rock bucket it has the "pin on teeth" and this is the part that really helps pull the rocks out and allows me to get under them a bit easier. I then roll them back into the bucket and as I drive the bouncing sort of shakes the dirt off and it falls through the back of the bucket and I am set.
As for brush work with a rock bucket - no problem. The sides are really not a problem for some reason, it seems that the brush sort of bends and squishes around the sides but I do have the grapple on the top to "help" it fit. I personally love having the grapple on it as it makes the bucket MUCH more useful. I don't know if you have the rear hydro's on your 5100 but if you do it is easy to run lines to the front for a grapple. I can supply you photos and some info on how I did mine if it would help you at all.
I am also looking forward to the up coming show. I have never been to one but it sounds like it will be really interesting! Looks like it will be a great place for you to compare products and quality. Hopefully the vendors will have some knowledgable sales staff there to help with your questions and offer their advice.

jinman · Jan 21, 2012

The tines on the rock bucket stick out far enough that I can roll a log onto the bucket and hold it with the grapple so that the sides don't limit me too much. Sometimes cleaning up building debris/lumber, the material would fit better with no sides, but the grapple just holds stuff in place. I was hauling some poles for a neighbor and ran into a problem. His trail went between trees that were too narrow for me to haul the poles side-to-side, so I had to get creative. The photo below shows my solution that worked perfectly.

KYDan · Jan 21, 2012

Code54 said:
On your 5100 the quick attach is a standard so any bucket that is the "SSQA" will fit it without a problem. My stump bucket is something like 42" wide at the top and fits perfect so once you find one you like just make sure it is SSQA and you are set. The way the buckets mounts is the female 1/2 of the mounts is to the outside center of the rock grapple so no matter the size it will work well.
I have also found that on my rock bucket it has the "pin on teeth" and this is the part that really helps pull the rocks out and allows me to get under them a bit easier. I then roll them back into the bucket and as I drive the bouncing sort of shakes the dirt off and it falls through the back of the bucket and I am set.
As for brush work with a rock bucket - no problem. The sides are really not a problem for some reason, it seems that the brush sort of bends and squishes around the sides but I do have the grapple on the top to "help" it fit. I personally love having the grapple on it as it makes the bucket MUCH more useful. I don't know if you have the rear hydro's on your 5100 but if you do it is easy to run lines to the front for a grapple. I can supply you photos and some info on how I did mine if it would help you at all.
I am also looking forward to the up coming show. I have never been to one but it sounds like it will be really interesting! Looks like it will be a great place for you to compare products and quality. Hopefully the vendors will have some knowledgable sales staff there to help with your questions and offer their advice.

I like the idea of the pin on teeth. What brand is your rock bucket?

Code54 · Jan 21, 2012

I bought mine from WildKat in Denton NC. They are real reasonable and ship quick! I ordered one day before lunch and had it the next day before dinner!
Adding front remotes (running everything from the rear of the 5100 to the front so I can use my existing rear remotes) took one easy evening. I also plumbed in a disconnect so I can easily pull the loader off if I would want to.

KYDan · Jan 21, 2012

Thanks,

How well does the rock bucket work without the grapple? I didn't order my 5100 with rear remotes (big mistake) and it is not in my budget for awhile. If it works pretty good like the Bradco I will consider it on my shopping list and maybe add the grapple later. Since, I am adding a new box blade, rotary mower, rock bucket, and disc harrows this spring it pretty well shoots my budget for tractor stuff for this year! I already added the Tarter fence unrolier stretcher (not expensive) and a lot of field fence (expensive) and I have to buy the posts yet. I am considering RR ties as I can get them for $9 apiece from RJ Corman's lot. I will check the condition on them first to see how they are. He has been replacing a lot of RR ties and rails.

KYDan · Jan 21, 2012

I checked out the Wildkat and like it, however, the Bradco seems to suit my needs better. I really do like the pin on teeth though. It saves wear on the tines and will dig better. I have pin on teeth on both of my tooth bars and it is a simple, cheap fix to replace them. I keep spares on hand to minimize down time. I did the same thing when I had my Kubota backhoe attachment on my L2900. I think I have exhausted my brain with all of this and really want to express my gratitude for everyone that has helped my with this thread. Now, it's a matter of shopping the show next month. Heck, I need to look at, touch, sit on, drool over so much stuff that I may need two or three days there!

Thanks,

Dan

jenkinsph · Jan 21, 2012

Dan,
My rock bucket is a Frontier R66" which is a ssqa setup, I use it with my Deere 110tlb. You can get even smaller ssqa buckets than this.

Code54 · Jan 21, 2012

May want to ask around - a lot of the companies will make some changes to the bucket for a very reasonable cost. They maybe able to add the teeth to the one you like and you can get exactly what you want

KYDan · Jan 22, 2012

Thanks for all the information and images. I am leaning towards the Bradco 66" rock bucket and the Dirt Dog 72" rollover box blade. I am also going to replace my rotary mower this spring. My old Fred Cain has seen better days and is too small for the 5100. I am probably going to get a 72" HD mower. I am not sure what brand yet, but most likely Land Pride or Bush Hog. The Farm Show will help with all of this. Not much of a tractor type day here. 30 degrees, foggy (visibility is 1.5 miles and the ceiling is 300 ft). It supposed to get up around sixty and then major storms tonight. Sounds like a good day to watch football.

Of course none of this is set in stone yet. The show always has some surprises.

muddstopper · Jan 22, 2012

A few years back I had a rock bucket made for my TN75 New Holland. The bucket was 72" wide. The standard had 3inch spacing. I was doing a lot of lawn work at the time and thought I wanted a bucket that would pick up rock smaller than 3 inches so I had them make it with 2in spacing instead of the standard 3in. I found this to be a big mistake on my part. The smaller spacing would pickup the rocks, but in order to fill the bucket, I also got a lot of dirt. Lifting and shaking the bucket to sift the dirt I found to be very hard on the loader. As someone else has already said, the cutting blade on the front of the bucket would push a mound of dirt before the bucket would slip under the rocks to pick them up. I had several ripper teeth on the cutting edge and would use them to pry larger rocks out of the ground before trying to load, but found the bucket would just push the larger rocks in front of the bucket until enough dirt built up in front of the large rock to force it into the bucket. I found my best success with removeing the rocks was to first use my harley rake to rake the rocks into winrows before trying to pick them up with the rake. I also used a landscape rake to rake the rocks into piles for picking up and found that to work pretty well also. Personally, I think anybody buying a rock bucket thinking thats all they need and its going to make life easier is just fooling themselfs. Some sort of landscape or harely rake to pile stones first is the only way to go. Did I use my rock bucket only on some jobs, certainly, but it didnt take long for me to figure out work became much faster and easier, with less stress on my FEL, if I would use the harley or landscape rake first.