What Size Bucket

[bigtiller]

My dealer is working up a price for a 2720 and 200CX loader. What size bucket do you recomend, the 53 or 61 inch?

 

[EdC]

Bigtiller
What are your major uses going to be? If it is handling loose material the 61 inch bucket would work. For digging I would recommend the 53 inch bucket. The reason is the breakout force that the FEL has. Same amount of force over a shorter width means more ability to penetrate tightly packed material (more force per unit width). Also think about getting a toothbar if you will be digging. I have the 53 inch bucket on my 2320 and the toothbar doubled the usefulnes in the clay soil (and rock and more rock) I have here in eastern Washington

 

[RoyJackson]

Good post, EdC!

 

[Runner]

I have been very happy with the 61. Have used it for spreading gravel, moving dirt, mulch and rocks. Also works great for plowing snow. Seems to dig fairly well, but would do better with a tooth bar, I'm sure.

I like the fact that the 61 is wider than the rear track so you can get next to things without rubbing the tires.

 

[EdC]

Why thank you Roy, I appreciate the compliment. I have not posted all that often because most people that post here know more than I do about tractors but sometimes I can add my two cents to the conversation.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I have been very happy with the 61. Have used it for spreading gravel, moving dirt, mulch and rocks. Also works great for plowing snow. Seems to dig fairly well, but would do better with a tooth bar, I'm sure.

I like the fact that the 61 is wider than the rear track so you can get next to things without rubbing the tires.

All things being equal being wider than the rear track is a great option I find too.

 

[bigtiller]

Bigtiller
What are your major uses going to be? If it is handling loose material the 61 inch bucket would work. For digging I would recommend the 53 inch bucket. The reason is the breakout force that the FEL has. Same amount of force over a shorter width means more ability to penetrate tightly packed material (more force per unit width). Also think about getting a toothbar if you will be digging. I have the 53 inch bucket on my 2320 and the toothbar doubled the usefulnes in the clay soil (and rock and more rock) I have here in eastern Washington

My uses will be moving loose soil, spreading new gravel on the driveway and what ever else I can dream up. I think it will come in handy in combination with my tiller. I am a little conserned about twisting the thing out of square when using just the corner of the bucket when digging into a pile of soil, gravel, or what ever I am working with. I doubt if I will move snow with it but moving a wood chip pile made by a stump grinder is in the near future.

 

[EdC]

Bigtiller
It sounds like the 61 inch would work for you then. I still recommend a tooth bar; they really help a lot. It does make sense to go into the pile as square as possible but the loaders are pretty tough, I have harassed the dickens out of mine and it is still square. The tooth bar does reinforce the loader edge which has kept me from bending the cutting edge prying up rocks.

 

[bigtiller]

Bigtiller
It sounds like the 61 inch would work for you then. I still recommend a tooth bar; they really help a lot. It does make sense to go into the pile as square as possible but the loaders are pretty tough, I have harassed the dickens out of mine and it is still square. The tooth bar does reinforce the loader edge which has kept me from bending the cutting edge prying up rocks.

Thanks for your recommendation. I am torn between purchasing a tooth bar or using some of my stock for a heavely reinforced scraper bar. My plans are to till run the tiller over the ground before trying to move any hard stuff.

 

[EdC]

Bigtiller
If you can run a tiller over untouced ground without worry then you probably could put the toothbar on the back burner for awhile, I have to run a 24 inch ripper through the ground making several passes to get 18 inches down then de-rock, then use the ripper at 90 degrees to the first passes and de-rock for any area I want to turn into a lawn. With the FEL and toothbar I just pick up a bucket of dirt and dump it into my homemade sieve to separate the rocks out. I also end up buying dirt by the truckload a lot of times just to speed up the project.