Ranette Industries replied to my email yesterday within a few hours or my asking them about the bucket. I'm impressed by their willingness to provide information and the timely manner in which they responded. That says a lot about the company.
Here's my email to them .....
"I purchased one of your rock buckets recently from an individual who claimed to have ordered it from you directly. He stated that he only used it for 2 hours on a Skid steer. It’s in good condition and I got it for a fair price so I’m happy with it, but when I got it on the tractor to clean it up I noticed that it’s been modified. Did you modify it, and if so, why? I’m interested as to what was cut off and/or moved. The two plates at either end appear to be unpainted on the inside too which is weird."
... and their response.
"That was modified by us yes, it was custom built for the original customer but his skidsteer didn’t have enough up tilt so we had to modify the mounts for him.
Thanks, Kevin.
Ranette Industries
(208)-267-8633"