Quick attach bucket conversion for b7800

ccogg · Jan 25, 2022

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 · Jan 25, 2022

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 · Jan 25, 2022

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 · Jan 25, 2022

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 · Jan 25, 2022

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

ccogg · Jan 25, 2022

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 · Jan 25, 2022

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 · Jan 25, 2022

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 · Jan 26, 2022

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 · Jan 26, 2022

Vigo327 said:
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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Vigo327 · Jan 26, 2022

I think the inner holes you're talking about only work on Bobcat style mini skids. I was talking about the 'toro/dingo' style which i think is the most common.

Here's tractor side: Mini Universal Adapter | Eterra

Here's attachment side:

It's only 24" across. I believe I can fit the adapter mount entirely between the pins of the full size SSQA plates. The mini adapter bolts on and off so i wouldn't be committed to one or the other, just have to run strong enough lateral braces between the SSQA plates at the right vertical spacing to bolt the adapter to. Right now i think 2x2x0.25 square tube would be fine for that. I actually already have the adapter in hand but need the full size SSQA plates and the square tube to build it.

nyone · Jan 28, 2022

Nice job. What latch boxes did you get?

I always wanted to do this but dont own a set of pallet forks yet so never did.

ccogg · Jan 28, 2022

nyone said:
Nice job. What latch boxes did you get?

I always wanted to do this but dont own a set of pallet forks yet so never did.

Thanks. I got mine from Titan. They are ok, but not great. The plates were twisted a bit at the top (maybe a 1/16in) and the pins/bushings were not very smooth. (I don’t know why they had to cut them on a large rather than just buying tubing and cold rolled stock.) I sanded the bushings just a bit and with grease they don’t seem to bind, but they did when they were dry. All-in-all they are probably fine for tractor parts.

Skid Steer Quick Tach Conversion Adapter

Also referred to as Universal Quick Tach, Bobtach, or Latch Boxes; the Titan quick tach brackets are an affordable way to convert your pin-on style loader to the Universal Skid Steer/Tractor style quick tach setup.

www.palletforks.com

The biggest thing is figuring out how it will all fit together without spacers.

prichard · Jan 28, 2022

Carl_NH said:
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.

Agreed nice work.

I was thinking along the same lines. I'd love to get a grapple, but buying the grapple, hydraulics for 3rd function, ssqa conversion and I don't weld = $$$$

davedj1 · Jan 28, 2022

prichard said:
Agreed nice work.

I was thinking along the same lines. I'd love to get a grapple, but buying the grapple, hydraulics for 3rd function, ssqa conversion and I don't weld = $$$$

Trust me it's worth every penny!

Leejohn · Jan 28, 2022

Sure is a nice job. You well love it.

BackRoad · Jan 30, 2022

Good looking welds Mr. CCOGG. The welds on the bucket look better than factory!

terdybukrat · Apr 6, 2022

Wow. Definitely "all in" after cutting the brackets off. VERY nice work by the way.

ccogg · Apr 8, 2022

Thanks for the compliments. Heavy use will come this summer, but so far everything seems to be working.

Just got the wood chip, bark mulch, snow bucket done. Should hold close to a yard if the material is light enough. It’s 60in wide instead of 54in on the factory bucket. And I made it extra tall because I sometimes use it for hauling firewood etc. The sheetmetal is 14g. If I was doing it again I’d probably use heavier material and fewer reinforcements, just to save fabrication time, but I was trying to keep the weight down.