Mounting a ball on my bucket?

[Olympus]

I'm debating the idea of mounting a gooseneck ball on the top of my bucket on my 2023. My grandpa has one on his tractor and it's handy for moving gooseneck trailers around the property. You can pick the trailer up just a little without messing with the jacks and then set them back down.

The problem is, I don't know if I want to let my grandpa get after my shiny new tractor with a grinder and welder (he would be doing the install). I looked at those 3pt hitch trailer movers which are essentially the same thing just on the back of the tractor. Grandpa says one on the bucket works better in case you have something on the 3pt you don't want to take off just to move a trailer real quick.

I guess my question is whether I can get some factory black spray paint that would match the color of my bucket if I decided to go this route.

 

[k0ua]

Trust in your Grandpa. You don't mention a tractor in your profile, so we cant advise about paint. The advantage of the bucket ball is you can have something on the 3pt and you NEED something on the 3pt for weight to offset what you are picking up and most people think that the ability to back a trailer in from the front is easier.

 

[ruffdog]

It seems the OP has a LS 2023 tractor. My opinion is your tractor is too small to move large gooseneck trailers with a bucket ball. When you turn, you will be pulling sideways on the bucket. I would recommend the 3pt setup and still stay away from BIG trailers. I would want at least a 50hp tractor to move my neighbors triple horse RV trailer around.(or a heavy old tractor)

 

[George2615]

Go with the 3 pt. hitch for moving your gooseneck. The 2023 loader can only lift 1270 lb.
You could mount a reciever on the bucket for moving smaller trailers around.
Paint is matte black or satin black.

 

[Olympus]

I've got a small gooseneck trailer and a 27ft camper. Neither of which are anywhere close to being 1200lbs of weight at the hitch.

Yes, I have a J2023. I use the mobile app so I can't make changes to my profile to show what tractor I have.

 

[2458n]

The small trailer now may turn into a large boat trailer. or your six place snowmobile trailer,or your six cords of firewood. Bad to get into a tipping condition. I have a 64 horse tractor that the previous owner torched a hole on the buckets floor for a 2and5/16 inch ball. Never would have done that but it has it's uses.

 

[Walkin Horse]

I have tried the bucket ball and it is cumbersome to use. It doesn't turn well easy to put in a bind. And most bumper pulls are to low to get under. Then you get lazy and don't raise the jack. The next thing you know the corner of the bucket has ripped the jack off. And I really don't find pushing a trailer any easier. I guess i coud sit backwards though.

I built a tph mover for my new tractor out of 2" tube with a receiver on the bottom in the middle and a gooseneck ball at the top. It works great and is worth changing. I will post a pic from the app. I have a 40' horse trailer and it is too much for my tractor. It will pick it up no problem. But it sure jerks the tractor around.

 

[Walkin Horse]

The one in the middle takes the spear.

Sent from my iPhone using TractorByNet

 

[Olympus]

My grandpa has a JD 4200 and I've used it to regularly move his 40ft horse trailer and 36ft steel flat bed trailer. Nothing cumbersome about it that I noticed.

I'm talking about only moving trailers around from where they're stored behind the shop to up closer to the house for loading/unloading and then using the tractor to put the trailer back in its place behind the shop out of the way and out of sight.

 

[ruffdog]

A tractor isn't wide enough and doesn't have mirrors to see down the side of the trailer if parking close to something. After seeing the neighbors triple horse and RV trailer squat the F250 that had 2 extra leaf springs on each side, no way to even the JD4200 with a bucket ball!