BH bucket droop prevention

[chelydra]

More high-tech innovation from the swamp yankee...

As you can see, the lawn-care corner of my garage is a tad crowded. Pinning the KB2365 for plowing or storage leaves the bucket free to leak down where it could crush either the mower (in winter) or the snowblower (in summer). It only takes about a day to drop in hot weather, perhaps a week or two in the cold.

My favorite accessory after the toothbar is a pair of chains, a short one for pulling up bad shrubs like autumn olive and buckthorn, and a car tow-chain for slinging logs. It occurred to me that it doesn't matter *where* I stow them - voila! Don't know why it took so long to imagine.

Now, a question: for plowing last winter, I took off the BH and stuck a stump in back for a counterweight. This made turning and collision-avoidance a lot easier, but the machine wasn't really heavy enough for traction. (Industrial tires, no chains or weighting.) With the hoe on, the front end is too light, and plowing with the loader bucket is difficult - the front wheels have no grip for steering. I'm thinking that instead of lightening the back, I should add weight in front. Ideal would probably be a 100-200 lb. steel bar clamped across the top of the bucket. But being a cheapskate, I wondered about putting a 1' diameter by 4' long slice of log on top of the loader arms. Question is where to put it w/o harming the hydraulic cylinders, tractor hood or anything else. Has anyone here done something like this?

Thanks-

Chelydra

 

[jimmyj]

Cheap and cheerful. Good idea. I let mine droop down but this would work with a strap or chain.

 

[Gittyup]

I take mine to the other end of the travel so that the cylinder is not exposed. In this position, no need to add anything to hold it there.

I wish my Rhino had the outrigger holders like the Kioti backhoes do. Mine do leak down, after a very long time, meaning I have to tie them up to keep them out of the way during storage while off the tractor.