Bucket Straightening

[Rosher18]

Good morning all! The L185DT has been a great workhorse for my wife and I, and now we're working on its tenth hour running. We're starting to use the front end loader for some horse arena footing work and are noticing that the concave bow on the bottom of the bucket is going to make things difficult.

The question is, how would you recommend we straighten it out?

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[Lil Foot]

Large, stiff steel beam (I-beam, railroad rail, etc.) clamped on top edge of bucket, then use chain & ratchet load binders wrapped around bucket to pull the lower lip straight. Or find someone with a really large hydraulic press.

 

[Hillbilly77]

Disclaimer:
I've never had to straighten a bucket so I have no firsthand experience.


I found this thread and there are some pictures that seem to make sense.
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=73085.0

Good luck with your repair.

 

[gregger]

With a fear of exactly that happening to the bucket on my BX24D, and fact that the factory cutting edge is only approx. 1/4", I proceeded to attach a carbon steel grader blade as a new cutting edge. Around here, they are readily available for next to free from construction companies and Dept. of Transportation depots from their snowplow cutting edges. Even when they are worn down a couple inches, there is still approx. 4" left, more than enough to give me a lifetime of use. They come pre-drilled with flush-fit tapered head holes, just need to clamp it with holes spaced evenly, mark and drill the bucket edge,
done deal.

 

[85Hokie]

Large, stiff steel beam (I-beam, railroad rail, etc.) clamped on top edge of bucket, then use chain & ratchet load binders wrapped around bucket to pull the lower lip straight. Or find someone with a really large hydraulic press.

What he said ^^^^^^^^^^^

To add to that - might need to pull it back past the point of horizontal, the metal will spring back - It will take a couple of compression's to make it get back to normal. WHAT ever you do, don't apply it all at one small spot!

Send pictures after you fix it!

 

[Rosher18]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone. I've had the forestry forum post open on my computer for quite some time, reviewing it while I wait for Excel to do its work on the stuff I'm doing at work.

I am a little more interested in using the bucket as its own support, and bracing it across the top with a rigid piece of steel or railroad tie. The one on the forestry forum with the chains and bottle jacks looked like way too much potential energy for my blood.

I may also use a freestanding post I just installed in one of the pastures as a pushing block, and use the hydraulics and tractor's weight along with my 8 lb sledge to my advantage.

I'll definitely post pictures once I've got it all straight.

 

[Rosher18]

I'm planning on putting some angle iron across the bottom, pointy side out, an inch or two from the blade after it's straight, to keep it from bending again. It'll give me a chance to break in the wire feed welder I got from my grandmother in-law's estate!

If you look closely at the picture in my post, on the left (from the driver's seat) side of the bucket there's a wet spot. That's actually from a hairline crack in the bucket around where the dump bracket attaches, which allows my slowly-leaking hydraulic fluid from my bucket cylinder to seep in.

More welding!

 

[re54drider]

Good luck welding that thick metal with a wire welder. It is not designed for that thickness, more for sheet metal. Go stick if you want it to stay.

 

[Rosher18]

Good luck welding that thick metal with a wire welder. It is not designed for that thickness, more for sheet metal. Go stick if you want it to stay.

Thanks re54drider, I'll have to check my welder to see if it has an arc welder mode. I think it does but I haven't used it yet.

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[D2Cat]

Partner, this post is far from factual, "Good luck welding that thick metal with a wire welder. It is not designed for that thickness, more for sheet metal. Go stick if you want it to stay."

Maybe the wire welder you are familiar with, but wire welders are capable of welding material much much thicker then a Kubota bucket!

Do some homework. Go to Miller's web site and look up a Miller XMT 400.

 

[Lil Foot]

My bucket was bent on the top edge when I got it, so this won't help you, but might help someone else who reads the thread in the future.
My tractor's PO used to get carried away when he mounted the clamp-on forks, and used two oversized ratchet load binders to pull the chains tight, until he bent the top edge down almost 2 inches. I put a large timber (4x6 I think) in the bottom of the bucket & then used a 12 ton bottle jack & blocking to push the top edge back straight. After it was straight, I welded on a piece of 1/4" x 2" angle to stiffen it. It also gives me a great spot to stuff a chain through for lift rigging.
1st pic shows the fork setup, 2nd pic the angle iron stiffener.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Firstly, that bucket was likely manufactured using the mig process. Enough about that.

When i straightened the bota bucket at old place of work i used a hefty steel beam, a couple chains bolted to side of bucket and a 20 ton jack.pushing bucket edge upwards with bottle jack. It doesent take much if you can get a nice square push on it.

 

[Rosher18]

This weekend I'm hopefully going to make an effort to straighten the bucket out. I've got a neighbor who has every tool and piece of equipment under the sun (he's a Veteran and Master Mechanic) and he should be able to help me through this from a "chain and binder" standpoint.

 

[Rosher18]

Haven't had a chance to take a whack at this yet, but I'm visiting said neighbor to borrow his box blade tonight, and I may see if he's got the tools to help me get this sucker straight again.