Using bucket as work platform.

[rico304]

I would NEVER use my BUCKET for a platform!!!!!

Of course, that is only because I have pallet forks and I use those with a pallet! hahahaha
Probably not the safest, but I feel very comfortable doing it. Gives me a great working area. If I didn't have the pallet forks, then the bucket would do the trick.

 

[Highbeam]

I recently cleaned the fenceline. I drive along with the chainsaw in the bucket and when I see a branch I don't like hanging into the fenceroad I run the bucket up and into the tree, drop the boxblade for an anchor, set the pbrake, and then climb out of the seat, up the loader arms, and into the bucket to saw the offending limb off. The loader bucket jambed into the tree won't let it fall, but it could curl. I curl the bucket pretty much all the way so that my feet are in the back of the bucket.

The first few times I went up there I made sure to bounce up and down to check for fear of the bucket weight flipping the tractor onto its nose. It is very stable.

I worry more about getting into a beehive while up in the bucket. It is not easy to escape real quickly.

 

[scott_vt]

On the light side its hard to climb up the loader arms with the beer in hand.They should put ladders welded on loader arms!!
ALAN

Alan your a Maniac, that is without a doubt classic "Maine"

 

[N80]

I worry more about getting into a beehive while up in the bucket. It is not easy to escape real quickly.

There is one easy way.

 

[Ken_CT]

I am a retired plumbing teacher from our vocational tech high school system. I used to tell my students never, ever use a 5 gallon bucket as a ladder...... but when you do, make sure you turn it over first.

 

[patrick_g]

This is likely to NOT be a universely appreciated commentary!

Bragging about or even commenting about doing something patently dumb and dangerous is about equal to bragging about how many times you tried Russian roulette and didn't get killed or how many times you walked across the street without looking either way and didn't get run down. Just because you got away with something doesn't make it a smart behavior.

The recipients of the Darwin awards didn't start out to win one.

I still recall a thread from a few years back where a poster related how he gives rides to kids in his FEL bucket and even though several kids have been maimed, mutilated, or killed by this practice he insisted it was no big deal and would continue to do so.

FEL buckets are frequently used for man lifts. There are many close calls and worse. It is convenient, easy, a very attractive nuisance.

Palet forks with a good pallet on a FEL are not nearly so hazardous (call me a coward) but are still not OSHA approved.

I have climbed radio towers with just a safety belt with a pair of hooks. I can work high but doing something from a FEL bucket is way more dangerous than going up a couple hundred feet of triangular tower.

Most driving accidents are in intersections so you should always go through intersections as fast as possible to reduce the time you are in jeopardy!

Pat

 

[N80]

This is likely to NOT be a universely appreciated commentary!

I suspect you are right.

Bragging about or even commenting about doing something patently dumb and dangerous is about equal to bragging about how many times you tried Russian roulette and didn't get killed or how many times you walked across the street without looking either way and didn't get run down.

You are right about that too. But using the FEL bucket as a work platform doesn't necessarily meet criteria for "dumb and dangerous."

Just because you got away with something doesn't make it a smart behavior.

Nor does a successful job using the bucket as a work platform mean you "got away with something."

I still recall a thread from a few years back where a poster related how he gives rides to kids in his FEL bucket and even though several kids have been maimed, mutilated, or killed by this practice he insisted it was no big deal and would continue to do so.

I don't think anyone in this thread suggested that carrying kids around in the bucket was acceptable

Palet forks with a good pallet on a FEL are not nearly so hazardous (call me a coward) but are still not OSHA approved.

First, I'm sure you will agree that even though OSHA is a good thing, they are hardly the voice of common sense in the work place. They can take 'safety' to levels that defy common sense and border on the absurd.

Second, are you really saying that those of us who have stood in a bucket are any dumber or more dangerous than someone who has stood on pallet using an FEL? Come on now, that just doesn't make a ton of sense. My FEL goes about 10 feet up in the air. I can jump down. The fall and the footing aren't the real issue. The issue is sudden loss of hydraulic pressure. And those pallet forks will crush you just as effectively as a bucket. So by my calculations anyone who stands on a pallet on a raised FEL is just as dumb and dangerous as someone standing in a bucket.

But don't get me wrong. I'm not condoning or suggesting that people do it. But I'm not going to assume that anyone who does is some sort of moron. Its all about risk assessment (and Americans are positively handicapped in terms of understanding risk. Are you over 40? If so, that cheese burger you're eating is far more dangerous than your tractor). And its all about common sense. There is nothing about common sense that says you can't take a calculated risk.

 

[escavader]

And i sure in heck would rather fall from a 6 ft bucket ,than go up in a 200 foot tower,i dont care if they welded me on.
HECK,I was only joking about the beer.[but not the ladder part]
I dont even drink .ITS called humor,lighten up
Does any one know the stats on ladder injurys last year.It was one of the top wotk place...if i recall correctly.It seems to me[if someone can recall that] your a heck of alot better in a loader bucket ,then on a ladder according to this.I will try to find out from the safety director at work,we just had ladder training,
ALAN

 

[3RRL]

This is likely to NOT be a universely appreciated commentary!

Bragging about or even commenting about doing something patently dumb and dangerous is about equal to bragging about how many times you tried Russian roulette and didn't get killed or how many times you walked across the street without looking either way and didn't get run down. Just because you got away with something doesn't make it a smart behavior.

The recipients of the Darwin awards didn't start out to win one.

I still recall a thread from a few years back where a poster related how he gives rides to kids in his FEL bucket and even though several kids have been maimed, mutilated, or killed by this practice he insisted it was no big deal and would continue to do so.

FEL buckets are frequently used for man lifts. There are many close calls and worse. It is convenient, easy, a very attractive nuisance.

Palet forks with a good pallet on a FEL are not nearly so hazardous (call me a coward) but are still not OSHA approved.

I have climbed radio towers with just a safety belt with a pair of hooks. I can work high but doing something from a FEL bucket is way more dangerous than going up a couple hundred feet of triangular tower.

Most driving accidents are in intersections so you should always go through intersections as fast as possible to reduce the time you are in jeopardy!

Pat

So what's your point?
You sound like we're missing something here?
If you re-read the thread you'll find numerous references made to what you have said, except without the disparaging analogies.

 

[uphill]

I've recently painted my entire house and everything not reached from the ground was from the bucket. You can cover a 6 ft. wide area side to side and even paint sitting down on the bucket back upper lip if you are close enough. Weighing the safety issue, it seems to be better than hanging off the top of a ladder for an extended amount of time. I just feel safer.