[Bill Beauregard]

I'd love to know all else being equal, what teeth do to the ability to fill the bucket in non processed material. I never had much experience with bank gravel until I bought my first Tractor backhoe loader, A two wheel drive John Deere 410. It had hydraulic reverser, and took a lot of knocking the bank loose to fill the bucket. Ten years ago I replaced it with a Case 580K 4 wheel drive machine with torque converter. The difference is amazing! Each scoop I'd dig two little holes with the rear tires, meaning the next pass I had to climb out of a hole and fill the bucket simultaneously. Torque converters are even more important than 4 wheel drive. Let us know about teeth.

[Bill Beauregard]

Dry sand is 2900lbs per cubic yard. That's 6525, plus the bucket. Are you sure about the loader lift? That's in the range of a 1 yard backhoe bucket.

[WerkSpace]

Regarding the size of the bucket, I was thinking more about snow removal.
As for moving dirt, it's not necessary to fill the bucket each time.
Page 3 of the following document discusses available bucket sizes.
http://www.antiquefarming.com/PDF/caseloader.pdf

Also, keep in mind that this document is for a 4 cylinder diesel.
My loader uses a 6 cylinder 105hp diesel and is version W9B.

[Bill Beauregard]

For snow, big is good, bigger is better. Do get chains. You have a very heavy hockey puck. My driveway isn't very steep, I rationalized the tractor was so heavy no chains were needed. I was wrong! as soon as it begins to slip a little, it slides wherever the hill wants it to go.

[WerkSpace]

I agree with you on the chains. I've experienced the same problem with other machines.

BTW - I bought three (brand new) 8' grader blades last week. It was my backup plan, if I couldn't find a bucket.
I could always install one of these blades, if I decide that the teeth aren't to my liking. It's nice to have options.

For snow, big is good, bigger is better. Do get chains. You have a very heavy hockey puck. My driveway isn't very steep, I rationalized the tractor was so heavy no chains were needed. I was wrong! as soon as it begins to slip a little, it slides wherever the hill wants it to go.

[Bill Beauregard]

I stumbled on a 9' Meyers blade for $25., I mounted it in the bucket of the 580K. I reasoned it was heavy enough to work. Mounting it with the bucket meant it had an undue influence on steering. It did the steering, not the wheel. I've since abandoned the plow in favor of using the bucket for snow removal. A two, or three yard bucket would improve the experience. I have runners, perhaps three feet long to guide the cutting edge when the ground isn't frozen. A flat bottomed bucket would be best. You will still scalp the road sometimes. I avoid pushing snow beyond the limits of the driveway. After snow melt, it's a simple thing to back drag it back where it belongs.

[WerkSpace]

I've decided to build a quick attach system for the loader.
I looked at a lot of ideas on the internet and I like this one.
The loader will get used more often with more implements.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/buil ... l3400.html

[Rick_H]

That's pretty nice.... I agree if its easy to use you'll use it more.

[Bill Beauregard]

An hour ago I was driving down the road thinking I want a quick tach. Maybe I'd make the suggestion to you. You'd do all the R & D work, I could copy, adapting to mine. My priorities would be that it not be real heavy, and that it not move the bucket forward from its present location. I could then build a bigger firewood bucket, forks I could see from the driver's seat, and a dozer blade. A rock rake with grapple would also be sweet.