Quick attach bucket conversion for b7800

[ccogg]

Ever since I bought the tractor I’ve been dreaming about making the front loader a quick attach. I finally took the plunge - no more hanging forks off the bucket or bolting on a light material extension! I wanted to keep the bucket as close to the pins as possible and keep the weight down. The plates I got were cheap and a little warped, but should work ok. So far so good…

Got to try oxy propane cutting and liked it a lot. Kept the torch further from the steel so the propane had time to burn and worked great - easier to see what was going on.

I wanted to get rid off all the old hooks so decided to cut the whole back/top out of the bucket and replace it.

Had the new wrap bent at local shop. 1/8in steel. Top lip is 1.5x0.120 tube.

 

[ccogg]

Lots of fussing around to get the new plates all squared up. Probably spent more time than necessary, but when I got it all welded up I could insert and remove the pins by hand so maybe it was worth it.

The connecting tube is 1.5x0.120

Tight fit! But it all worked.

New bucket is about an inch or two taller than the old one.

And the cutting edge was getting a little worn so I took the opportunity to run a little hard facing on the bottom corners.

I haven’t used it much yet and I still need to built the forks and light material bucket, but felt good to get started!

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Looks real good. It cost me about $1400 to covert my old Ford 1715, including a new bucket three years ago, but even though mine isn't as close coupled as yours, I wouldn't go back. Before the conversion I was trying to handle 3x3x8 bales on spears 28 inches from the pins (tippy) but the new spears bring the bales in to about 6 inches, much better.

 

[davedj1]

Very nice job! An ambitious undertaking to say the least.
I've done converted many tractors to quick attach. I cut the mounts off the bucket, weld them to the latch boxes and weld a quick attach plate to the back of the bucket. I just did a couple that were a little tricky and not as simple as the rest.

 

[Smokeydog]

That’s a whole lot of nice work. You will enjoy the conversion.

 

[ccogg]

Thanks! I made the bucket side a little tight, but if I tweek one piece about a 1/16 I think it’ll go on and off a touch easier. Then, on the next one, I’ll keep things a little looser. I planned 1/2in clearance left and right (1in total), but kept the top to bottom really close. With the slight twist in in one of the pin boxes I have to press on the bucket a bit to engage the left pin.

 

[Carl_NH]

Impressive work, great looking welds too.

I've got the B21 TLB similar vintage to the B78000 and have been contemplating a QA conversion, its not the initial bucket cost and conversion ~ $1500, buts it then to add a grapple, third function, QA Forks for another $2K or more.

 

[Smokeydog]

Added ssqa flares to make it easier to align especially on uneven ground. B26 OEM bucket has factory flares. Some attachments the outer sides plates are slightly angled to help alignment. Rounding the edges helps too.

 

[Vigo327]

Wow, this is timely. I was just brainstorming this conversion on my B8200 laying in bed last night. Mine has a BF300 loader but the design of the bucket itself and the attachment points of the loader to bucket are essentially identical.

The strange twist in my plan is that I'd actually be adding SSQA plates with two crossbars which would accept a removable mini-skid ssqa adapter in the middle, and putting a mini-skid ssqa plate on the stock 48" bucket. This is mostly because i have other small machines that are frankly too small for pretty much any full size skid steer attachment and i would still like attachments to be usable by multiple machines.

The possible gotcha im seeing from your pics is that if my BF300 loader arms are even a little bit closer together than yours, they'd overlap with the ssqa pins/levers. I'll have to measure..

Nice work!!

 

[davedj1]

Wow, this is timely. I was just brainstorming this conversion on my B8200 laying in bed last night. Mine has a BF300 loader but the design of the bucket itself and the attachment points of the loader to bucket are essentially identical.

The strange twist in my plan is that I'd actually be adding SSQA plates with two crossbars which would accept a removable mini-skid ssqa adapter in the middle, and putting a mini-skid ssqa plate on the stock 48" bucket. This is mostly because i have other small machines that are frankly too small for pretty much any full size skid steer attachment and i would still like attachments to be usable by multiple machines.

The possible gotcha im seeing from your pics is that if my BF300 loader arms are even a little bit closer together than yours, they'd overlap with the ssqa pins/levers. I'll have to measure..

Nice work!!

All of the quick attach plates I have bought have the mini skid holes in them so maybe you won't need any adapter.

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