Ditching Bucket

Sfrankland · May 16, 2013

Been wanting to build a 24" ditching bucket for sometime now so last night I started cutting out the parts for one. I used my current factory made bucket as a template and made patterns out of cardboard. The sides are 1/8" plate with a 1/4" tops edge. The bottom of the bucket is also 1/8" and the cutting edge is 3/4". My plan now is to build a quick attach system so I can quickly switch between my regular bucket, ditching bucket and ripper (yet to be built).

Scooby074 · May 16, 2013

Excellent, Ive planned on making a cleanout/ditching bucket since I bought my BX. Just waiting on my new welder.

Im a little surprised at it being 1/8", I thought the metal on my bucket was a bit thicker, 3/16 maybe. Ill have to double check.

Curious to see how well it works.. I was planning on going up to a 30" and was unsure Id have enough power.

Willl · May 17, 2013

Sfrankland said:
so last night I started cutting out the parts for one.

Did you even sleep ?

Very nice.

mjncad · May 17, 2013

Your Newfie compatriot 4shorts would enjoy seeing what you are building.

kevin37b · May 17, 2013

Nice work . How do you do all that welding and not turn it into a pretzel ?

Sfrankland · May 17, 2013

kevin37b said:
Nice work . How do you do all that welding and not turn it into a pretzel ?

Lots of tacks and checking your work as you go. Once it's tacked good stitch weld it so your not putting to much heat into the parts.

Sfrankland · May 17, 2013

Made a quick attach for the backhoe bucket. It should be ready tomorrow once the paint is dried. Need to pick up a few extra 1" pins so I can leave them in the buckets.

Xfaxman · May 18, 2013

Neat! :thumbsup:

Here is a ripper tooth you can put on it, might need an adapter though.

Sfrankland · May 18, 2013

Xfaxman said:
Neat! :thumbsup:

Here is a ripper tooth you can put on it, might need an adapter though.
<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=318195"/>

I think I may have to rebuild the whole backhoe to get it to fit. Very impressive ripper though. What's it used on?

Xfaxman · May 18, 2013

Sfrankland said:
I think I may have to rebuild the whole backhoe to get it to fit. Very impressive ripper though. What's it used on?

A big excavator, I found it on an image search looking for a ripper tooth for my box blade.

This is the Website: Products | PSM

BelarusBulldog · May 19, 2013

Sfrankland said:
Made a quick attach for the backhoe bucket. It should be ready tomorrow once the paint is dried. Need to pick up a few extra 1" pins so I can leave them in the buckets.

Very nice fabrication work, I'd love to have one of those for my BH.

Sfrankland · May 19, 2013

BelarusBulldog said:
Very nice fabrication work, I'd love to have one of those for my BH.

I got a video of it that I am waiting to finish uploading. Had to shoot it in the garage because of this beautiful Victoria Day weekend weather. Beats the 35cm they got in Gander though.

Sfrankland · May 19, 2013

Here is a quick video of the quick coupler. It works perfect. Only thing to do now is to figure out a way to lock and unlock the bucket on without getting off the tractor.

Homemade Backhoe Quick Coupler - YouTube

BelarusBulldog · May 19, 2013

Awesome job on the bucket and Q attach. By the looks of your video, it works spot-on!

mjncad · May 20, 2013

:thumbsup:

204saskman · May 20, 2013

Isnt 1/8" a little thin. My bucket is 3/4" thick. Its heavy as heck.nice build btw. I want a 39" for mine to ditch with but I want to build a tilting bucket. Im sure I can do it, just gonna take time.

Sfrankland · May 20, 2013

204saskman said:
Isnt 1/8" a little thin. My bucket is 3/4" thick. Its heavy as heck.nice build btw. I want a 39" for mine to ditch with but I want to build a tilting bucket. Im sure I can do it, just gonna take time.

My cutting edge is 3/4" thick and the top edge is 1/4". The lower sides and the curved bottom is 1/8". My factory 16" bucket is built the same way and has held up perfectly while digging very rocky dirt with a lot of big rock. With the 1/8" plate being bent in an arc and welded solid it has a huge amount of strength vs just a flat plate. Same idea as a steel culvert.

Having it tilting would be very useful. Looks like another build maybe in the works.

linuxman51 · May 21, 2013

that is really slick. givin' people ideas and stuff

Sfrankland · May 21, 2013

After 204saskman planted the idea of a tilting function I did some reading and found a quick coupler with tilt and rotate functions built in. I won't be building the rotator function but the tilt function would be handy to use on different buckets. I have plans on adding a hydraulic thumb so I could make it so I could use the same hydraulic valve for the tilt or the thumb just not both at the same time.