smaller backhoe bucket?

[2manyrocks]

My backhoe came with two buckets of the same size. Most of the time, I seem to be digging to install 4" french drains or smaller conduit in yards, and the bucket makes a pretty large and messy hole.

I'm thinking about cutting one of the buckets to a smaller size. The mounting ears are about 6 1/2 inches wide and the overall width in the back is roughly 13 1/2 that tapers outwards to about 16" at the front lip. The teeth stick out a bit further beyond that to about 18-20".

I need to leave the mounting ears alone, but where do you think I should make the cuts to reduce the overall side of the bucket? The teeth are pinned in place and are replaceable.

It has been suggested elsewhere on TBN that 10" may be about the smallest one wants to go with a bucket in order for the dirt to dump out more easily.

Assuming 10" is about the right size, is it worth the effort to do this?

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I think you'd be time and money ahead to just build a new one. There are a lot of different styles of homemade bucket here on TBN.

Another option is to sell the one you have and buy a smaller bucket.

 

[2manyrocks]

It's a Terramite. Given their prices for parts, I'm relucant to buy another bucket from them and also am not sure what the market would be for selling one that I already have.

Really, how hard could be it be to cut out part of the bucket on each side with a plasma cutter and then stick weld it back together? I've got the stick welder, but no torch or plasma cutter. So I'd have to get my LWS to do the cutting, but I need to tell them what to cut out if it's worth doing.

 

[J_J]

Take a look at this link.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/112977-ejector-bucket-design.html

 

[billybobjimmyjoejack]

If you really want a narrower bucket and you think that it will work in your soil conditions I would modify the one you have. There probably would not be much of a market for that size bucket since most of those backhoes came with that size bucket. You could use a small end grinder or angle head grinder with a cutting disc and that would take a little bit of time but you could get it done on your own. I use a carbide tipped saw blade that goes into a worm drive skill saw that is designed to cut mild steel that would make pretty quick work of cutting the bucket you have. I have a Woods backhoe and a new 24" bucket is about $850 plus shipping so I will be making my own.

 

[jimgerken]

I made an 8 inch wide one for trenching. Its too narrow and will not clean out when digging clay. Even the 16" that the backhoe came with gets stuck full of clay eventually.

 

[darmstrong2319]

I was having trouble with clay sticking in my 12 inch bucket on my new frame mount backhoe and cut two holes in the bottom so it could get air and stop some of the suction and that helped a lot. I saw that my 3-point back hoe bucket already had two holes in it and i had no problems with it, i think it may be a 13 inch bucket

 

[2manyrocks]

I made an 8 inch wide one for trenching. Its too narrow and will not clean out when digging clay. Even the 16" that the backhoe came with gets stuck full of clay eventually.

We have clay here underneath about a foot of topsoil.

Is your 8" bucket flared outward?

JJ, based on the link you posted, are you suggesting that any smaller bucket needs to be built with something to push the clay out of the bucket as discussed in that link?

 

[ray66v]

We have clay here underneath about a foot of topsoil.

Is your 8" bucket flared outward?

I decided not to listen to the advice of those who had gone before me, and made a small bucket.

I incorporated what is know as a dual taper design in my bucket. Which means it is wider in the front than the back, and wider at the bottom than the top. This is said to be the best design to help with sticking. And, I also put in the recommended hole to break the suction.

So much for that, my bucket needs to be unpacked with a shovel, on nearly every dip if the ground has any kind of moisture in it.

I have found if I wait until August, and don't dig deeper than about 18" it works great. Otherwise, this is exactly why God created rental stores, and 6" trenchers. :thumbsup:

 

[Stimw]

I have a Jinma Hoe that I adapted to my Branson 3510 .
The Hoe came with a 16" bucket and I needed a trenching bucket so I made a template of the sides of the big bucket and copied the profile and made a bucket 6" wide.
I do have a Plasma cutter and MIG so it was pretty easy.
I don't have very much trouble with dirt sticking, I did put a hole in the bottom so water can't stand in it when not in use and our soil is sandy.