Ditching Bucket

[Sfrankland]

Yep, ideas. I have had these pictures in my Projects File for a long time, waiting for a Roundtuit!
View attachment 318582 View attachment 318583 View attachment 318584 View attachment 318585

That was my original plan as well but then I seen the Rototilt design and the idea of being able to use any attachment seemed like the better way to go. Guess I am going to have to pickup some more material this afternoon for another build. The plan is to keep the current quick coupler on the tractor and have the tilt function as something I can take on and off easily so I can still use the thumb.

 

[Scooby074]

Have you had a chance to use the 24" bucket?

If so, how does it dig? Does the tractor have enough power? Would/could you go bigger?

Im trying to figure how big I should make mine, I got to wondering if Id have enough power to dig virgin ground if I made it as big as I was planning (30")

 

[Sfrankland]

Have you had a chance to use the 24" bucket?

If so, how does it dig? Does the tractor have enough power? Would/could you go bigger?

Im trying to figure how big I should make mine, I got to wondering if Id have enough power to dig virgin ground if I made it as big as I was planning (30")

I have used it grub off a 1/4 acre of lawn, level out 4 tandem loads of fill and straighten out a bank along the edge of a driveway. For the lawn and fill it worked better than I hoped. It would be nicer to have a wider bucket for final grading but the 24" width is the perfect size for my tractor. When I get into the hard packed ground it struggles because of the lack of teeth. It does an alright job but the regular bucket is a lot faster. With the quick coupler I built it takes a few seconds to switch them out so I end up losing up the ground with the teeth and doing the clean up with the ditching bucket.

 

[Scooby074]

Thanks for the update.

Ill likely go with 24" myself then. I checked my bucket today and like yours, its 1/8" construction. That will save a bit of weight and money when it comes to buying stock.

 

[jwentz]

Very nice job. I'm just curious how difficult and what did you use for bending the 1/8" plate to conform to the curves.

 

[Renze]

These are pictures of the ditching bucket i made for my Bobcat backhoe (converted for tractor use)

 

[Sfrankland]

Very nice job. I'm just curious how difficult and what did you use for bending the 1/8" plate to conform to the curves.

If you look at the first picture in this thread you can see the 2" ratchet strap that I used to bend the 1/8" plate. I would bend it some and then tack it in place. Then reposition the strap and repeat. Took three repositions to complete it.

 

[Renze]

My bucket was slightly thicker steel (1/8" is 3mm and i used 4mm) but i cheated by cutting 35cm of 5" pipe open over its length, welded the two halves against each other to get 70cm of curved bucket back I wanted a small radius (would prefer 8" but didnt have any pipe) so i could better get in narrow drainage ditches. With a deep and high bucket you cant scoop on the bottom of the ditch, but have to pull the dirt out over the side before the back of the bucket has clearance to curl.

 

[Sfrankland]

My bucket was slightly thicker steel (1/8" is 3mm and i used 4mm) but i cheated by cutting 35cm of 5" pipe open over its length, welded the two halves against each other to get 70cm of curved bucket back I wanted a small radius (would prefer 8" but didnt have any pipe) so i could better get in narrow drainage ditches. With a deep and high bucket you cant scoop on the bottom of the ditch, but have to pull the dirt out over the side before the back of the bucket has clearance to curl.

I actually did some ditching and can see what your saying. I may build another similar to what you have for just that reason.

 

[BFreaky]

I made one of these small buckets few days ago. It's for a JCB mini excavator. Width is 22 cm and they will use it for trenching. I was worried that the wet clay could stick inside so I added a chain ejector, but it doesn't, it could work without it.

 

[jwentz]

Very nice! I'm just curious to know the cost of the materials involved. Here in Florida, I could purchase a good used 24" bucket for US$200 (no teeth) to $400 (welded teeth).
Of course, the satisfaction of building it is priceless...

 

[downsizingnow48]

Nice piece of work!

 

[Renze]

I made one of these small buckets few days ago. It's for a JCB mini excavator. Width is 22 cm and they will use it for trenching. I was worried that the wet clay could stick inside so I added a chain ejector, but it doesn't, it could work without it.

Because i now have a ditching bucket, which will be used for scooping loose dirt, i cut the sides out of my standard bucket to make a so-called banana bucket, its the standard trenching bucket in Holland. When the dirt is pulled out of a trench and the bucket is enclosed in the sides of the trench, you can scoop just as much on it as if it still had sides, but it empties a lot easier. (only when digging a big hole, the dirt boils around the bucket, but thats where the wide ditching bucket comes in) It also makes it easier to wedge it under tree stumps or concrete slabs, so you can use it as a prybar.
I brought back some meat by welding a strip of 40x5mm over the edge of the bucket. Still have to bevel it with the angle grinder to make it cut roots better, but i dont have any stump digging to do yet

 

[Agent Blue]

I bought a 24" bucket. So new the shipping tag was still present with replaceable teeth. The only draw back is the attachment is too narrow for my Bradco. A little cutting and welding will solve this mystery. I was going to build one from scratch but this was only $150 dropped five miles from my door. I believe it is 3/16 shell with 3/8 plated sides. I know I will never wear it out.

 

[Gofast]

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.

How thick was the steel you used on the quick attach? I would like to make one of these.

 

[Sfrankland]

I used 1/2 plate for couplers and 1/4 plate to weld the couplers to. I went 1/2 to make the the couplers as strong as possible to ensure they didn稚 get beat up hitting off the bucket when trying to connect. Been using it for 6 years now and everything still works perfect. I have since bought an excavator so I don稚 use the backhoe nearly as much but it does see use.

 

[Gofast]

Thanks for answering an older post. I have a 10” bucket and I want to make a 16” bucket and maybe a ripper.
But I will have to make a quick attach like yours to make easy to change stuff out.
Yours turned out great.

 

[Renze]

But I will have to make a quick attach like yours to make easy to change stuff out.

For a small bucket thats lifted by one hand, quick attach is hardly worth the loss of breakout force and cost of converting all your buckets.

 

[Gofast]

For a small bucket thats lifted by one hand, quick attach is hardly worth the loss of breakout force and cost of converting all your buckets.

I already made one and I love it.
https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/408685-i-started-my-backhoe-root-3.html
I can switch between my new root ripper and my bucket in less than one min.
Once you have a thumb it is a pain to switch buckets not anymore.