Anyone have experience with a rock bucket for a L3901??

ade678

New member
Nov 1, 2021
11
0
1
Boalsburg, PA
Hi All,

Is anyone here using a rock bucket attachment with their L01 series?

I'm considering picking up a Virnig V30-SRV-CT Skeleton Bucket for my L3901, and can't decide whether to go with 60" or 72".

I live on 24 steep acres in central PA. About half the time I expect to use the bucket to move firewood around the property and clean up forest paths (a vote for the bigger 72"), but the other half the time I expect to use it to clear large rocks out of the fields and gardens, and perhaps to dig into (very!) hard packed soil to clear out new paths as well (a vote for the smaller 60").

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 

North Idaho Wolfman

Moderator
Staff member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3450DT-GST, Woods FEL, B7100 HSD, FEL, 60" SB, 743 Bobcat with V2203, and more
Jun 9, 2013
28,306
4,856
113
Sandpoint, ID
72" will very quickly became too much for the loader and tractor to handle!
 

minthral

Active member

Equipment
Kubota L47
Nov 22, 2021
186
89
28
NC
Unless you're planning to load it up fully with large rocks, I'd go with 72 (300lb) or at least 66 (280lb). For reference, the factory 66 bucket is ~350 LB, so these skeleton buckets are 'light weight.' I wouldn't go smaller than 66 as you want it to see the sides from the tractor.

72 would be better for everything, but the risk you'd have is if you dig in too much and pull out too much dirt, the tractor wont lift. Being some of it will always fall through bottom and it's light weight, having a little more capacity wont hurt anything. These types of buckets aren't used to heap material, but rather rake with and for that you want as wide as you can get.
 

Tropical Jack

Active member

Equipment
Kubota L3301 w/ FEL & BH, tilt and trim, chipper, box blade, grading blade
I have an L3301. I live in the mountains, and “pick” a lot of rocks. I have a toothbar mounted on my bucket, and find that this helps a lot in “digging” out the rocks. The obvious advantage of the rock bucket is that you get less dirt. I do not have an “expert” opinion on what size dirt bucket you should have - but for me, a bucket larger than 66” would be too big. Although filling my standard bucket with logs does not overload my FEL, filling it with rocks does. You would also lose a certain amount of maneuverability with a larger bucket. Just my 2 cents.

Jack
 

Vlach7

Active member

Equipment
L47 305DT JD500C
Dec 16, 2021
258
167
43
Frazier Park Ca
I am glad you asked, for my L47 I got the 72" from Titan, 800lbs, way too heavy, lots of metal, made for a skid steer, wish I would have done my homework, trying to sell it now to get a lighter/smaller 60", able to pry the soil and kind of make it work, even with very loose soil it's too much. Learn from my mistake. When I bought it, it cost $1600, then they went to $2300, now I believe they are close to $1800, supply and demand. I also got the 4800lb debris forks for downed trees, $400, work great after some reinforcement arc welding.
 

ade678

New member
Nov 1, 2021
11
0
1
Boalsburg, PA
Thanks for the feedback! The Virnig V30-SRV-CT line is deliberately "light weight" (The "CT" stands for
"compact tractor"): the 60" is approx. 250 lbs, the 72" is approx. 280 lbs, so not much difference. My guess Does this change affect your opinions?

I'm leaning ever so slightly toward the smaller 60", since the l3901 really doesn't have that much weight to dig the tines into the ground. On the other hand, I plan to move ~8 cords of firewood each year, and the extra width would be awfully nice!

Additional thoughts?

Thanks!
 

Vlach7

Active member

Equipment
L47 305DT JD500C
Dec 16, 2021
258
167
43
Frazier Park Ca
Wow, that's light, my regular 72" bucket is 400lbs, hope some L3901 owners with experience pipe up. These buckets really do not move much wood, to small, I lift fallen trees to fit in my dump trailer with my debris forks, to cut and split at home, that is what works for me. Good luck.
 

TheOldHokie

Well-known member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Apr 6, 2021
6,669
3,214
113
Myersville, MD
windyridgefarm.us
Thanks for the feedback! The Virnig V30-SRV-CT line is deliberately "light weight" (The "CT" stands for
"compact tractor"): the 60" is approx. 250 lbs, the 72" is approx. 280 lbs, so not much difference. My guess Does this change affect your opinions?

I'm leaning ever so slightly toward the smaller 60", since the l3901 really doesn't have that much weight to dig the tines into the ground. On the other hand, I plan to move ~8 cords of firewood each year, and the extra width would be awfully nice!

Additional thoughts?

Thanks!
Here is a data point for you. I purchased a MTL 60" root grapple for my L3901. It clocks in at 500# and is a good two hundred pounds more than ideal. I max out at about 800 in payload.

Its also about the same depth as your skeleton bucket so the over hung weight is similar. It does not take many rocks in any of those Virnig buckets to make up the 200 pounds difference in weight. The smaller Virnig bucket will accomodate all the rocks the loader can handle.

Dan