Bucket Hooks negatives

man00 · Mar 25, 2015

Been thinking about adding to my small B2320. Wanted to know if anyone ran into any problems with them..

Fallon · Mar 25, 2015

They decrease your lift capacity by 2lbs. That's like .1%. And your bucket might get scratched.

Totally not worth a massive increase in your utility factor.

k0ua · Mar 25, 2015

man00 said:
Been thinking about adding to my small B2320. Wanted to know if anyone ran into any problems with them..

Bucket hook negatives? I have had them on every tractor I have owned. for 20+ years, 5 tractors... cant't think of any negatives.. I can think of a lot of positives.

Get a 5/16 Grade 70 chain and go to work.

Marveltone · Mar 25, 2015

First modification to my bucket? Grapple. Second? Hooks. Regrets? None.

Seriously, hooks are cheap, they can be welded on very quickly, and they really increase the usefulness of your bucket. I can't think of a single reason not to add them.

k0ua · Mar 25, 2015

Ok, once in a while they will catch some leaves or a little stick. And they usually fall out by themselves. Man that is all I can think of..

Heck I have Hills steep enough I cant walk down, I sometimes park the tractor at the top, and grab a chain, and throw it in a hook, and "repel" down and back using the chain.. done it more than once.

Fallon · Mar 25, 2015

Marveltone said:
First modification to my bucket? Grapple. Second? Hooks. Regrets? None.

Seriously, hooks are cheap, they can be welded on very quickly, and they really increase the usefulness of your bucket. I can't think of a single reason not to add them.

You aren't trying very hard. Welding is hard. And if you can't weld, trying to run a drill to make the holes to bolt them is rocket science. Ever see a man use a ratchet to put a nut on a bolt & tighten it down? That's serious voodoo man.

My tractor is seriously ugly now that I have grey hooks on my perfect orange bucket. It makes me cringe every time I'm forced to look at it. If only there were something I could put on them to change their color.

k0ua · Mar 25, 2015

Fallon said:
You aren't trying very hard. Welding is hard. And if you can't weld, trying to run a drill to make the holes to bolt them is rocket science. Ever see a man use a ratchet to put a nut on a bolt & tighten it down? That's serious voodoo man.

My tractor is seriously ugly now that I have grey hooks on my perfect orange bucket. It makes me cringe every time I'm forced to look at it. If only there were something I could put on them to change their color.

Hey! You calling Gray hooks ugly?

I they they look pretty darn good

Tractor Seabee · Mar 25, 2015

If you put hooks on the FEL outside corners on our small SCUTS there is a safety issue you want to be aware of. I noticed when lifting on one corner the front of the tractor gets unstable real fast and the light FEL frame tends to twist a lot. As my BX only has a center curl cylinder it is even more pronounced. I put D rings on the center line of the bucket one above and one below the cylinder attachment. As they are closer to the tractor I can lift a lot more weight than with clamp on forks.

Ron

PILOON · Mar 25, 2015

If safety is a concern, a central hook is best location.
Corners are convenient but call for extreme caution as the center of gravity is rapidly changed.

Fallon · Mar 25, 2015

PILOON said:
If safety is a concern, a central hook is best location.
Corners are convenient but call for extreme caution as the center of gravity is rapidly changed.

In the center then can cause the bucket to bend. The strongest spot is on the loader arms. If you are worried about shifting weight, chain to each.

Fluid · Mar 25, 2015

They are the number one greatest mod on any tractor I have ever owned.

bcp · Mar 26, 2015

If you don't get hooks, this is what your bucket will look like.

Bruce

k0ua · Mar 26, 2015

You do have to evaluate where the hook is to be placed and decide if you need to weld in some extra metal to reinforce that area. A simple L shaped piece going down to the bucket body will often suffice to reinforce the top edge to prevent bending that edge. Many buckets don't need any reinforcement but some do.

Yes the hooks in line with your loader arms is a good idea and use both hooks to center the weight of the load. Or the center of the bucket to prevent twisting of the bucket when lifting very heavy loads. Just use common sense in the placement and usage of hooks or rings. But then again you must really use common sense for everything you do with a tractor now don't you?

Baby Grand · Mar 26, 2015

I get a fair amount of use out of my hooks.
They are great for securing a pile of brush to the FEL for moving if you don't have a grapple - and I don't.
Also great for securing other bulky or awkward objects: logs, pipes, barrels, etc.
I always keep 2 lengths of 12' x 5/8" rope on my tractor and with the hooks they make for a quick tie down.
Try to line your hooks up with the FEL loader arms to reduce bending on the top of the bucket.

Something I learned - to avoid a potential negative:
Before you weld or drill holes, temporarily attach the hooks where you intend them to go with magnets, duct tape, whatever you have on hand.
Cycle the bucket through it's full curl range and check that the bolts don't interfere with anything.
On our L3240 I got very lucky after not doing this check.
I discovering about 3/8" clearance between the top of the hook & the cylinder rod at full rollback after everything was drilled and bolted together. Dodged a bullet - maybe more like a pellet - the point is, it would have been painful, had things been 1/2" different.
"Measure twice, drill once".

Also, a third hook, located on the back of the bucket, can be very helpful in many situations.

J_J · Mar 26, 2015

Just a little curious why people mount the hooks so the opening is to the rear.

Is is so the chain can lay over the lip of the bucket and damage it?

Seem to me that a chain connected to hook with opening forward and chain dropping down the backside could lift more weight.

You can still secure a load by wrapping the chain around the bucket.

I would recommend two hooks close to the cyl pin mount.

One welded forward and one welded reversed for each side plus one or two hooks in the center.

riptides · Mar 26, 2015

The only negatives are poor placement, and poor use. Don't roll your bucket and put stress on the lips.

PILOON · Mar 26, 2015

If you fear distorting your bucket from a center only hook it must be made of tin.
I welded my hook to a 3" X 4" X 1/4" scrap and then that to the backside of the top behind the upper lip.
Now I have tried lift heavy enough things to raise my loader rear clear off of the ground and my upper bucket edge is not distorted.

The hook backer plate was intended to avoid tear out and spread the load.
Another point that I considered was that centered between cylinders would evenly distribute the work load between the cylinders as well as deter any bucket distortion.

OK, occasionally I do lift from a corner from pure necessity but it can get scary real fast at times.

Fallon · Mar 26, 2015

Opening forward means the chain goes behind the bucket. Closer to the tractor & hence more lifting capacity. Unfortunately they are not nearly as handy. Most of my use has been on the front side, so the openings on my hooks point back toward the tractor. Better for pulling, lifting things away from your grill & attaching things to the bucket.

varmint · Mar 26, 2015

I bolted on bucket hooks on my old L3130... found good, stiff attachment points, and used some grade 8 hardware. I put the lifting ring in the center, with backing plates. Soooo handy!