Hook on back side of front end loader ? ? ?

[Chain Bender]

OK, so I finally got all the logs in the big pile on my trailer and delivered to the mill. All of the 16' logs had to be loaded one end at a time. I hung my tongs over the front edge of the blade on a chain and use the tongs to lft and load.

I understand that the greatest lift capacity is rated at the bottom pins on the bucket. Hanging the tongs off the front of the blade probably made me loose 15-20% lift capacity I would think. Has anyone ever welded a hook (or 2) on the backside of the bucket and used them for full lift capacity? I realize that there won't be much working room between the box and the grill, but if I've already got the log up parallel with the trailer I won't need much room to load a 24-30" log. Ballance will be a trick when I pick up the log, but I'm a pretty good "guestimater" and my son will usually be with me to give some lift or downward pressure on the log for the short time it would take to lift and move forward a couple of feet and lower the log.

The hook(s) would be welded onto a 1/4" X 4" piece of flat stock to lessen the chance of the hook(s) tearing out.

So what do you think? Will it work or is it a waste of time and materials?

tks in advance,
C. Bender

 

[madmax12]

Recently, someone had pics of using slotted angle iron on the bucket. U slip a chain link from either direction, doubling each slots usefulness. I think it was chim that did that. If I find that thread, ill add it here. U may find it be searching for his name. I think I referred to them as chims brackets. Try that in a search.

That design would allow u to hang chain the way u r describing.

 

[Baby Grand]

OK, so I finally got all the logs in the big pile on my trailer and delivered to the mill. All of the 16' logs had to be loaded one end at a time. I hung my tongs over the front edge of the blade on a chain and use the tongs to lft and load.

I understand that the greatest lift capacity is rated at the bottom pins on the bucket. Hanging the tongs off the front of the blade probably made me loose 15-20% lift capacity I would think. Has anyone ever welded a hook (or 2) on the backside of the bucket and used them for full lift capacity? I realize that there won't be much working room between the box and the grill, but if I've already got the log up parallel with the trailer I won't need much room to load a 24-30" log. Ballance will be a trick when I pick up the log, but I'm a pretty good "guestimater" and my son will usually be with me to give some lift or downward pressure on the log for the short time it would take to lift and move forward a couple of feet and lower the log.

The hook(s) would be welded onto a 1/4" X 4" piece of flat stock to lessen the chance of the hook(s) tearing out.

So what do you think? Will it work or is it a waste of time and materials?

tks in advance,
C. Bender

Funny you should mention it - I was just knocking together a rake for our little tractor to make furrows for cover crop seeding and decided to use the receiver part of a 2" receiver hook (that I never use) to attach the rake to our trailer mover:

So I cut the hook part off and used the receiver to finish the rake, which worked out nicely. But it left me with the hook and cap piece that I cut off. I looked at my bucket, looked at the hook and had the same idea about reinforcing with a 1/4" plate:

I like to work with ropes most of the time, and this type of hook is kind to the ropes.
Whenever i need to use chains I use one of these:

In my opinion, not a waste of effort or materials.
As you correctly noted, there is more lifting power at the back of the bucket than at the front.
One thing to pay attention to: your load will now be very close to your radiator - just something to keep in mind.
Having secondary attachment points will help to control the loads tenedency to twirl on a single rope/chain.

 

[BrianDT]

What about using the Clevis mounts Ken Bolt on Hooks sell. Then you could use them in front or behind the bucket?

There is a picture on his home page Ken's Bolt on Grab Hooks

 

[dfkrug]

Has anyone ever welded a hook (or 2) on the backside of the bucket
and used them for full lift capacity?

That's the only way I have done it on all my loaders. I use a chunk of 1/2" steel plate welded
to a 1/4" reinforcement plate, which is then welded to the rear center of the bucket. A slot
or 2 in the 1/2" plate allows very quick and secure attachment of my chains for max lift. I can
also release the unloaded chain from the driver's seat by curling the bucket.

I have never been a fan of using my FEL's max lift from anything but the center.

 

[madmax12]

Here's the post from chim:

Re: grab chain length
I have chains ranging from 4 to 20 feet. It's nice to have a selection plus some things need more than one chain to be used at a time. For instance, to pick an implement it is handy to use one chain as a bridle to hang it level and grab it with a second chain so it can easily be rotated. While working alone, some loads like poles need two points of attachment because they won't balance on their own.

When in doubt, I grab a longer chain than I think I need. With the bucket attachment method I've been using for the last 10 years the extra chain can be kept out of the way easily by dropping it into the slots that aren't used for the load. The attachments are short pieces of angle with slots that accept up to 3/8" chain. They've seen loads heavy enough to get the rear wheels off the ground and were never affected. Here are pictures showing the buckets of the (now gone) B7500 and the L3200:
Attached Thumbnails

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...1346928272t-grab-chain-length-chain-hooks.jpg
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...590d1346928449t-grab-chain-length-level-1.jpg