What size BH bucket to purchase

dfkrug · Jan 16, 2007

dirtworksequip said:
Bucket choice depends on a lot of varibles. Soil type, trench depth, trench use and machine size.

Soil types: If the soil you are going to be excavating is going to be wet or clay. Stay way from the narrower buckets. The material will stick in the narrow bucket so bad that it will make it ineffective and require you to clean it out frequently with a shovel or track spade. A wider bucket in this type of material will be eaiser to keep clean.

Trench depth: If you have the need to dig deeper than 4' the narrow bucket will do the job, but the ditch will be hard to keep open. This also depends on soil type.

Trench use: What are you installing in the ditch? If it requires you to get into the ditch to make connections............forget the narrow bucket.

Machine size: The max bucket size will be limited to the machine capability. Does the machine have the power to handle the larger bucket. Usually there will be a compatible bucket list for your machine.

Ultimately the size you choose will depend on a combination of the above list.You can't get a bucket that will fit every application just one that will serve your needs most of the time. I look at the narrow buckets of more of a speciality application for trenching only. One of the wider buckets will fit more of an all around application.

I'd lean towards one of the bigger buckets that are rated for your machine and it will cover most job task better than a narrower bucket.

One other thing....... if I need a narrow ditch for a certain application I rent a ride on trencher. Faster per foot, makes good fine backfill material and has less impact on the surrounding ground than digging with a hoe.

Good summary, DirtWorks.

I only use my 12-in bkt, despite owning a 9 and an 18. But I have
very hard soil and rocks.

Let me add that if one buys a 9-in bkt, it will be about useless for the
reason you stated. I highly suggest any owner of such a small bkt
drill a hole or holes in it to help the dirt fall out, by releasing the
suction.

ronjhall · Jan 16, 2007

The bucket for my BH is 16". There are times when I wish it was larger. It takes a lot of digging with a 1.3 cubic foot bucket to dig a hole 11' X 16' X 3'. When trenching it will be difficult to get into the trench with anything narrower than 16". I have never purchased a larger or smaller bucket for my BH. But if I get one it will be larger.

john_bud · Jan 16, 2007

dfkrug said:
Good summary, DirtWorks.

I only use my 12-in bkt, despite owning a 9 and an 18. But I have
very hard soil and rocks.

Let me add that if one buys a 9-in bkt, it will be about useless for the
reason you stated. I highly suggest any owner of such a small bkt
drill a hole or holes in it to help the dirt fall out, by releasing the
suction.

I agree completely that smaller buckets can (and do) get stuck where the dirt won't come out. I did a small pond for a buddy, 20' diameter and 5-6' deep. At that time, I only had my small bucket. It is about 12-14 inches wide. Going thru the wet top soil was easy, but it wouldn't release out of the bucket. The top 24" of soil was dug with just the heap on top for the most part. The rest just wouldn't come out! We'd shovel it out, spray oil in to the bucket and it would empty for a bit, but the gooy soil would gum it up quick. Once the sand was hit, it went a LOT faster! If you get a small bucket and have to get off after every scoop to shovel it out, you are better off digging by hand!

As every soil condition is different, have you asked the dealer for some references of folks with that hoe and bucket size? Getting some local information would be great!

jb

GV40U · Jan 16, 2007

I purchased a 12" bucket to go along with the 18" bucket that came with my BH 90 backhoe. Once I installed the smaller bucket I have not switched back to the 18" bucket because most of my "homeowner" type ditching projects were best accomodated by the smaller bucket. However, the 12" bucket is about as small as I would go. Even with that size I find that clay will stick and reduce the capacity of the bucket. In spite of the fact that I own the BH I still rent a trencher to bury long runs of water and electrical lines. The trencher makes less mess and takes less time, especially in landscaped areas. I use the backhoe to put in corners, junctions, dig post holes and drainage ditches. The 12" bucket works well when digging stumps. I would recommend the 12" bucket as an all purpose bucket for your use.

CurlyDave · Jan 17, 2007

I have 12" and 18" buckets.

The 12" easily packs with clay and is hard to use in wet conditions.

I keep the 18" on most of the time, & only swap out for the 12" very occasionally.

Depending on what you are trenching for, a thinner bucket has one advantage. Around here, we have to backfill the bottom 12" of a trench with electrical lines with either 3/4" minus crushed rock, or sand. Less material is needed for the narrow trenches.

One other consideration. I have a hydraulic thumb for my hoe. I got an Addington thumb because of reports of the Deere thumbs being soft. Fortunately, the way it pins on, it is barely compatable with a 12" bucket. The Deere thumb is not compatable with a 12" bucket. They add a longer pin at one of the bucket mounts to mount the thumb, and it appears to be wider than the 12" bucket. Just something to keep in mind if you think you will ever add a thumb -- check on the minimum bucket size for your hoe. I don't think the mechanical thumbs have this limitation, but the hydraulic ones are much easier, and IMHO safer. Every time I can eliminate dismounting to adjust something on the ground, especially right at the work site, I have eliminated a chance for inury.

If I had it to do over, I would have gone with only the 18" bucket and put the extra money toward a hydraulic auger for post holes.

Harvster · Jan 17, 2007

I've always found my 12 incher to be enough for the job

escavader · Jan 17, 2007

I went to visit one of my snowmobiling buddys over the wEekend,and he showed me his new woods hoe for his grand L .It was an awesome looking hoe-thumb combo, with a huge 16 inch bucket.I asked how he liked it,and he said it wouldnt dig for beans because of rocky soil.He has had it now for several months,I was wondering if it was a rookie operator,or a wide bucket doesnt dig well in rocky soil.

My 10 inch on my tiny kubota digs well in rocky soil,do i need to tell him to get a smaller bucket?
ALAN

dfkrug · Jan 17, 2007

escavader said:
.It was an awesome looking hoe-thumb combo, with a huge 16 inch bucket.I asked how he liked it,and he said it wouldnt dig for beans because of rocky soil.He has had it now for several months,I was wondering if it was a rookie operator,or a wide bucket doesnt dig well in rocky soil. My 10 inch on my tiny kubota digs well in rocky soil,do i need to tell him to get a smaller bucket?
ALAN

The 16-incher has 4 teeth and the 12 has 3, most likely. The same
digging force is spread out over larger area with 4 teeth, which makes
it harder to start your hole. The sharpness of your teeth makes a
big diff, too. There are one-piece cast teeth, like Woods uses, and
there are the kind with sharper hardened ends. As a test, tell him to
unbolt 2 of his teeth and see what an improvement he gets. Also,
starting a hole is easier with a heavier tractor as the dipper stick
force tends to just lift up lighter CUTs.