Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild

   / Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild #1  

aczlan

Good Morning
Joined
Mar 7, 2008
Messages
16,985
Location
Northern Fingerlakes region of NY, USA
Tractor
Kubota L3830GST, B7500HST, BX2660. Formerly: Case 480F LL, David Brown 880UE
The bucket on our B7500 has seen just over 1000 hours, many of those were scraping manure, or clearing the driveway. It has also had mud, snow, manure, etc left in it more than a few times.
As a result, the bottom of the bucket has worn out:
IMG_20190126_141514.jpeg
IMG_20190126_141510.jpeg
IMG_20190126_141503.jpeg
As you can kind of sort of see, about two-thirds of the first bend from the bottom to the back of the bucket has rusted and or worn through. The metal around that is very thin and the metal on the cheeks of the bucket near the bottom has also rusted through.
The top of the bucket was also in a smiley shape. I used a bottle jack to straighten it up and then welded on a piece of 2x2 1/8 in angle a few weeks back. I also welded a hook onto the middle while I was at it:
IMG_20190126_164606.jpeg
IMG_20190126_180818.jpeg
IMG_20190126_191147.jpeg

I ordered a new cutting edge as the old one was pretty wavy and I didn't want to try to take it apart. Titan was having a sale and so I got a 60 inch Cutting Edge for $62 shipped to my doorstep:
IMG_20190204_233834.jpeg

As near as I can tell, the entire bucket is made of 1/8 in steel ( aside from the cutting edge which was thicker).
I had a couple of pieces of quarter inch steel that I picked up at at the scrapyard a few years back with intentions of making a workbench with a steel top, but I never got around to them so I'm going to make the new pieces out of that.
The first step was to cut out the old pieces from the bucket. The bottom and the first section of the back were removed, the second section in the back was still plenty solid, so it was left.
IMG_20190204_234204.jpeg

Next, I cut a groove in the quarter inch plates and bent them to roughly match the angle of the transition from the bottom to the first portion of the back of the bucket. I then welded the groove that I had cut back closed so that I would not lose any strength there. I also plan to weld a piece of flat stock to the bottom of the bucket right before the bend as a wear strip.
Here you can see the first piece cut, bent and welded while the second piece is ready to be cut:
IMG_20190204_201924.jpeg

After I had both pieces bent to match, I welded them together to make a single piece. I used a couple pieces from the scrap pile to make braces so that it would be less likely to warp while I was welding it:
IMG_20190204_211937.jpeg

I then welded the back side and set it in place to see how everything looked:
IMG_20190204_234852.jpeg

It looked pretty good, so I took off the last brace and that's where I stopped for the night. Tomorrow (or whenever I get back to it), I need to trim the pieces of the old bottom from the sides of the bucket and see if I can get the new bottom to fit in a little bit better, then weld it in, weld on the new cutting edge and weld on the wear strip at the back:
IMG_20190204_235135.jpeg


Aaron Z
 
   / Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild #2  
It Should be better than when it was new. By the way, I am not sure anything rusts metal better than manure! :) Maybe wet salt.
 
   / Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild
  • Thread Starter
#3  
It Should be better than when it was new. By the way, I am not sure anything rusts metal better than manure! :) Maybe wet salt.
The top is certainly better, I have straightened it several times over the years but never got around to welding the piece of angle to the top to reinforce it. I think that piece of angle has been kicking around the shop for 3 years now, and it was purchased specifically to go on the top of the bucket :D

Aaron Z
 
   / Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild #4  
nb15.jpg


I did the same job on my John Deere 750. I had the steel place roll an entire new body and cut the cheeks out for me. The only thing worth salvaging from the original was the mounting ears.

Details and more pix here
 
   / Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Sorry, I never got back to the thread. Its all done now.
New floor is welded in, cheek plates set in:
IMG_20190205_192543.jpeg

Cheek plates welded in:
IMG_20190205_200324.jpeg

New cutting edge welded in:
IMG_20190206_182229.jpeg
IMG_20190206_182233.jpeg


Aaron Z
 
   / Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild #6  
I did a rebuild on my b7510 (la302 loader) too!
Good luck!
 
   / Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild
  • Thread Starter
#7  
My oldest got to help weld the bottom in, pretty good for a 2nd time welding:
IMG_20190209_105622.jpeg
IMG_20190209_105628.jpeg

Finished back, here you can see the piece that I put on the heel the bucket to act as a wear plate as well as the backside of the cutting edge:
IMG_20190209_210151.jpeg

Inside:
IMG_20190209_210222.jpeg

Front, I picked up two more hooks and weld with them on in line with the bucket curl cylinders:
IMG_20190209_211754.jpeg

Aaron Z
 
   / Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild
  • Thread Starter
#8  
That is all for now, at some point in the spring it's going to get washed off with the pressure washer and painted, but it's a little cold for that now.

Aaron Z
 
   / Kubota B7500 bucket rebuild
  • Thread Starter
#10  
Nice job!!!
Thanks, it was good practice welding. Almost wish I had just gotten the 60" that was on sale for $200 (would have just needed to move the mounting brackets), but this will be sturdier.

Aaron Z
 

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