Bucket Hooks

[JDFANATIC]

Hi all!

Just welded these on my bucket, well that's not quite true -- my neighbor welded these on my bucket for me. I just picked him up a pair for his Bobcat S185 bucket in exchange. For anyone interested, Deere sells these as "weld on bucket hooks" and they are about $7 each. I've got a project in mind and can't wait to use them!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/grf58/BucketHooks_0014.jpg

Cheers

JDFANATIC
JD2210

[draddogs]

JDFANATIC, they look plenty stout... What project are you needing the hooks for?

[USN_ED]

I'd say he's going to use them to drag his new picture sizing software home.

Those hooks will come in handy. I had them on my old Ford tractor.

[JDFANATIC]

draddogs, there are several rocks in my lower 40 that I'm trying to clear and would like to use in the landscaping of the upper 40. One in particular sends the 2210/210 pressure relief valve to its limits, and though I can curl the bucket and get it about an inch above the ground, the darn rock keeps rolling out of the bucket. Anyway, with a chain wrapped around it, I know I can move it to where I want it! :congrats:

ed, you guys just have to get into the 20th century (not even the 21st) and get a bigger monitor... And yes, I did forget to shrink the pic down...

[Archdean]

You will find that is the most useful thing you can imagine!! Reccomend that you use a Y chain to utilize both hooks and/or revist your neighbor to stiffien the space between the two and weld a center hook!

My point is always lift equaly on both cylinders and keep the CG centered on the bucket!!

[Archdean]

Re: Moving the rock, attach chain to either hook , drape around rock, attach to opposite hook and move slowly!You will at least remove most of the drag effect and it will go to it's new home w/o doing damage to your FEL

[slipshod]

I disagree with dean on the center hook, you will bend your bucket if you do that. That is where my clam bucket works so well, I use the banjo to hold the rock in the bucket. That is a nice job JD and when you put pressure on the chains it will pull against the strenth of the weld.

[MowHoward2210]

Nice job! :fing32:

Is there any danger in flexing or bending the bucket in a setup like that?

[chipmaker]

I bet those hooks were not painted JD green, if you got them for $7.00 each.......that green paint alone would have added on an additional 8 or 10 bucks........;-)

While it may not be a bucket hook it does serve the same purpose. The old fella that has the bandsaw mill and old JD300 backhoe that I hope to be getting soon, is pretty darn thrifty. He put two holes in the bottom of his bucket, that would allow him to pass a link from a length of chain up through and then put a clevis pin in the links end. He has the chain in the two holes the same length, and has hooks on the opposite ends. Its mainly used for lifting logs up on his sawmill. He goes up to a log on the ground, and drops the bucket w/ chains hanging from it between the FEL and the log, then drops the bucketdown just above the log, moves forward a bit, lowers bucket cutting edge on the opposite side of the log and rolls it backwards over the chains. Then he gets off the tractor, and hooks the chain hooks into the chain that is coming out of the buckets bottom. He has links painted different colors, so both are hooked in the same general area and off he goes with the log, which is supported by the spread of the chain the full width of his bucket. He can roll his bucket and provide additional lift as well. Pretty neat, as long as you never get into using it for dirt etc, but the chains are eaily removed.

[Archdean]

I disagree with dean on the center hook, you will bend your bucket if you do that. That is where my clam bucket works so well, I use the banjo to hold the rock in the bucket. That is a nice job JD and when you put pressure on the chains it will pull against the strenth of the weld.

Ok and I agree , I SAID reinforce the TOP of the bucket first, he already has the two outside , some common sense has to enter the equation here!!! With the Three welded it is much eaiser to triangulate the force on the Bucket!!!!! :fing20:

[slipshod]

Ok and I agree , I SAID reinforce the TOP of the bucket first, he already has the two outside , some common sense has to enter the equation here!!! With the Three welded it is much eaiser to triangulate the force on the Bucket!!!!! :fing20:
I agree that common sense has to enter into any equation, but experience is also a great teacher. I have seen several fel buckets bent in the middle from a center mounted hook, reinforced or not. Where those hooks are mounted is the weakest place on the bucket, mostly designed that way to keep the contents from falling back onto the tractor or the driver, not intended to be a lift point or I believe John Deere would add them at the factory. Getting three chain to lift evenly, in my most humble opinion, would be very hard to do. If for some reason I was so inclined to add a center hook it would be on the back side of the bucket and the chain would run over the top.

[Archdean]

My main point in even getting into this is:

With just two outside hooks placed directly under the cylinders as JD has, leads most inexperience folks, not that he is, but that your helper on the ground sees a hook and Viola the operator raises the load and you know as well as I do you can find yourself on your side in an instant let alone a very warped bucket!!!!!

Can we at least agree on that??:trink39:

[USN_ED]

I'e got a fine 17" flat screen monitor that works just great. Damned if I'll spend more money just to accomodate great big, gigantic, pictures.

One thing that might help ya lift odd objects with your bucket is to make a set of extension arms about two feet long that you can bolt up to the bucket (kind of like a fork-lift). You could even make up an adapter with four extensions to cover the entire width of the bucket.

[slipshod]

I see a lot of people add hooks to thier buckets and at some time they "WILL" bend it. If it were my machine I would not weld on any. Keyhole chain slots cut into the sideplates of the bucket are much stronger and do not comprimise your bucket if some day you are inclined to add a grapple to it. Sides or center, reinforced or not at some point some immovable object will come up against the irristable force of your tractor and bend your bucket.

[JDFANATIC]

Before I did this, I talked to my dealer. The consensus was that if I welded them where the quick-tach attached and because of that, where it was beefed up the most, I wouldn't have any problems due to the lift capacity of the 210 loader. Only time will tell, but I agree, if it was in the middle, the chances for the bucket to bend are much higher.

Ed, even Oreo has a 22" plasma flat screen. He sends his regards! ROF

[Jim_WV]

JDF, I think they look great, a nice addition and should come in handy for lots of things, well done :fing32:

[Carl]

Where did you get the green welding rod? The hooks look like they are attached well.

In the old days just w***** the chain around the rock. Had a slip hook on the rock end. Hooked the other end of the chain to the drawbar of the tractor via a clevis. Dragged the sucker to where we wanted it to go. Usually pulling, rolling it out of the hole was the hardest part.

Why do you even want to carry them?

[chipmaker]

snip Keyhole chain slots cut into the sideplates of the bucket are much stronger and do not comprimise your bucket if some day you are inclined to add a grapple to it. snip

I like that idea a keyhole chain slot........I need to run that by my friend. Even quicker to remove than the clevis pins which often gets dirt and bark on the threads making them harder to remove......Hey, that loader is gonna be mine one of these days ya know.

[USN_ED]

The truth is I have my monitor on my roll-top desk top and I am restricted as to height. :fing20: It may be possible to get a newer 20" in there but not a 22".

Actually, I'm inclined to go with "Carl" on this. Why not just drag it?

Oh, don't tell "Oreo" the dollars for his 20 pound tuna bonus went into the monitor. He might not understand. ROF

ED

[chipmaker]

Where did you get the green welding rod?

AT the john deere dealer of course......they carry green and also yellow rods to match their equiment :hide:

As much as a rock is worth around this part of the country, I would lift it with a padded sling, lower it into a air ride trailer with padds on the floor, secure it with padded slings and transport slowly with an armed guard.........I swear, the rocks they bring in here are worth their weight in gold. I got a price on a boulder approximately 3 feet or so in size, nothing fancy just a big chunk of what is crushed into the typical 2B limestone aggragate.........I would have to pick it up, but they would load it. They charged 100 for a delivery within 25 miles of their place, and 2 bucks for each additional mile........in addition to $900 for the ^&*%# rock! And they did not even bat an eyte when they told me what it cost...............

[guest]

JDFanatic, nice looking bucket setup! I would caution that you be VERY careful and choosey as to what you pick up the the bucket hooks. Slip is correct. As long as you don't lift too heavy with those hooks you should be fine. I would STRONGLY recommend a reinforcement plate welded in place along the entire length and width of that section of the bucket the hooks are welded to. This area is indeed the weakest part of the bucket with the thinest material. You may want to look into a tooth bar for the cutting edge of the bucket as well.

[draddogs]

[QUOTE=JDFANATIC] One in particular sends the 2210/210 pressure relief valve to its limits, and though I can curl the bucket and get it about an inch above the ground, the darn rock keeps rolling out of the bucket. Anyway, with a chain wrapped around it, I know I can move it to where I want it! :congrats:

JDF, please be careful of you and your tractor. You said it goes into by-pass and barely lifts it then you are way overloaded and could cause damage to the packing and seals of the cyl's.Your tractor is also being excessively loaded... dragging or pulling it on some sort of make shift dray. Its just safer and less of severe weight overload on a few parts. :)

[JDFANATIC]

draddogs,

I hear you. I will be very careful with this rock, but this baby does belong in my landscaping... :fing20:

[mla2ofus]

If the rock's that heavy, make a choker of chain around rock and bring one end of chain around back of bucket with a 4X4 laid across top of bucket and hook ends of chain together with other end around front of bucket. Keep in mind to not leave much slack in chain as the rock will be close to front of tractor. This will take the strain off bucket and lift arms by getting load closer to tractor.
Mike

[horseman1]

JDFANATIC,

Great job! They look really useful. :congrats:

You got those hooks at the Deere dealer huh? I'll have to stop in and see if mine carries them too. I want to do something similar, but I was going to weld onto a plate and then bolt (grade 8) the plate to the bucket. I planned on another plate inside the bucket for more support. Do you all think that will work? I just havent got the kahonies to weld on the bucket. It will bad enough to get out the drill! :hide:

[JDFANATIC]

JDFANATIC,

Great job! They look really useful. :congrats:

You got those hooks at the Deere dealer huh? I'll have to stop in and see if mine carries them too. I want to do something similar, but I was going to weld onto a plate and then bolt (grade 8) the plate to the bucket. I planned on another plate inside the bucket for more support. Do you all think that will work? I just havent got the kahonies to weld on the bucket. It will bad enough to get out the drill! :hide:

horseman1,

The hooks are standard Deere. I have noticed several of the posters with larger tractors have reinforced under the hooks, but with the lifting capacity on the 210 rated at 620 lbs, I, a friend with a 2210 who has only a single hook in the center, and my dealer think this will be sufficient.

Cheers

JDFANATIC
JD2210

[horseman1]

I'm sure you are right. Originally I was going to put a hook in the middle too, but after hearing the discussions about it, I dont think I need one there either.

My question was more about whether or not the bolt idea will cause me any trouble. The main reason for the plate on the top and bottom is to support the bolts and nuts and to keep me from having to weld on the bucket.

I am afraid that the stress on the bolts would cause the bucket to bend without a plate on the bottom. (inside the bucket). Maybe I should just weld on the bucket :).

Thanks

[JDFANATIC]

Horseman,

The one advantage of a hook in the center would be to pick up things. But with the fairly low lift height of the 210 loader, I don't think that would be very practical. My intent was to just secure whatever I had in the bucket -- such as larger bulky items. If you were doing a lot of lifting with chains, then having the hook in the center would help keep the load in the center which would probably be safer.

Cheers

JDFANATIC
JD2210

[horseman1]

I stopped in at Stephens Equipment (JD dealer) in Franktown on my way up to Denver yesterday looking for those weld on hooks. They didnt have them, but pointed me at some standard hooks that were not flat on the bottom. They werent to my liking so I'll check in Colorado Springs as soon as the opportunity arises. Btw, they had a LOT of old tractors and parts!

Thanks for the picture and the help