JD front scoot bucket almost finished

[deere_x475guy]

Well the daughers graduation for college is over and I have her moved to her new city and she is working her new job.....SOOOOO....I got some time this weekend to work on the bucket. Will came over Saturday evening for a few hours and today for about 6 hours. The bucket is all tack welded and I need to build the dump cylinder mounts and hook up the hydraulic lines. You can see in this photo the bucket is fully functional with the exception of the dump cylinder. It worked better than I even expected. Will was brave enough to stand in the bucket as I raised it. With the engine at idle it effortlessly lifted will to the full travel so I am sure it will do what I designed it to do. Hookup and unhook will be effortless and only take a few a minute at the most. It works with the mower deck on if I am to lazy to take it off.

I still have alot of welding left to do and of couse so Rocky doesn't yell at me I plan on welding a plate over the end of the open 2x2..)) . Hopefully I will have it in prime by next weekend that then the finish coat of JD Green by the following weekend. The neighbors are sure looking forwary to me having this thing done..)))

Also I think I will have less than $200 in this project after painting. It sure has been alot of fun. Next project will be a landscape rake that will allow me to switch the 3 point tower and and bracket over to a rear blade.

Anything 3/16" and over will be spray transfer. The 1/8" will all be short circuit.


Bob

[deere_x475guy]

Me getting off the tracktor....I can't quit smiling..))

[deere_x475guy]

This gives a better shot of how the hitch works..

[deere_x475guy]

Here is the bucket pieces cut out and ready for fit up and welding.

[deere_x475guy]

Bucket tack welded and fitting up bracket

[deere_x475guy]

Top angle support tacked in.

[deere_x475guy]

tacking in the cutting edge.

In one of the previous shots you will see a 3" x 5" x 1/4" piece of angle. I took the 5 inch part of this and cut off 4" This gave me the two pieces I needed to the top angle piece I need to stiffen the top plate and the flat 4" piece as a stifffener and cutting edge. Will and I took turns grinding a 1/2" bevel leaving a 1/8" land on the front edge.

[deere_x475guy]

here is a shot showing the bushings and bucket reinforcement I put on this.

[deere_x475guy]

Here is the cylinder I will be using. This evening I hope to fab up the brackets for this. This is a 2 x 8 and uses 3/4" pins.

[cope]

Looks good. I hope your wife fed Will and that you can reciprocate. About the only team welding I ever did was to help[ a co-worker build a trailer. A month later he sold it and said we needed to build another one. Since I saw none of the $$ and had donated my welder and materials, I decided that we did not need to build another one.

[deere_x475guy]

Thanks Cope,

I originally started the design stage back in December using Corel Draw. It came in real handy locating the holes for the pivot point and the holes to use for the cylinder I finally decided on. I wanted to make this a low cost project so I waited till I aquired enough freebie or cheap stuff to do the job. I cut the bucket pieces out of a 52" x 48" flat steel this week using an O/A then doing the final cut on the bandsaw.


I enjoy Wills company and we always have a good time. Once in while we get Aaron to join us. Will was a great help with lining those long pieces up for welding...and yea...he did relieve me from welding while I took a break or two. He has brought his stuff over here on Sundays and we welded it up here. I could really care less if he sells it or not. What we do is never intended for profit anyway. Its always a low key get together and have some fun. My place is alot warmer during the winter.

Bob

[Dave Haak]

Bob, Looking Good!

Dave

[deere_x475guy]

Ok....got the rear cylinder mount fabed up this eve and tacked into place. Here is the pic. Tomorrow I hope to get the front mount completed and welded in place. These holes and welds points are critical. Off just a half and inch and it will make a difference if I get the tilt forward and backward that I want....wish me luck...)

Bob

[deere_x475guy]

Originally posted by Dave Haak
Bob, Looking Good!

Dave

Thanks Dave. This was a blast to design and build. Plus it was cheap..))))...

Hopefully next Sunday we will be taking my tractor and bucket to Wills to play some......

[cope]

Originally posted by deere_x475guy
Thanks Cope,

I originally started the design stage back in December using Corel Draw. It came in real handy locating the holes for the pivot point and the holes to use for the cylinder I finally decided on. I wanted to make this a low cost project so I waited till I aquired enough freebie or cheap stuff to do the job. I cut the bucket pieces out of a 52" x 48" flat steel this week using an O/A then doing the final cut on the bandsaw.


I enjoy Wills company and we always have a good time. Once in while we get Aaron to join us. Will was a great help with lining those long pieces up for welding...and yea...he did relieve me from welding while I took a break or two. He has brought his stuff over here on Sundays and we welded it up here. I could really care less if he sells it or not. What we do is never intended for profit anyway. Its always a low key get together and have some fun. My place is alot warmer during the winter.

Bob

Bob, I hear you. I did what I did in the spirit of helping him out, and if he had come up with the material for another trailer, I would have helped him again. The story became a joke around work. Every time he said he was going to start a project, someone said it looked like WE were going to do it. Its been 28 years since then and if he was back in Houston, I would do it all again. We had some fun together.