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Loader Bucket Converted To 3-Pt. Mounted Dumper
“I needed to move 30 to 40 cubic yards of topsoil and recycled concrete with my new Kubota 50 hp tractor. I didn’t want to spend the money for a front-end loader, so I bought a new 6-ft. wide bucket and converted it into a 3-pt. mounted dump bucket. It’s really handy to use,” says Stanley Golbow, Austin, Texas.
    The bucket came equipped with a pair of quick-tach mounting brackets designed for a front-end loader. Golbow modified the brackets so they can be hooked up to the lower lift arms on the tractor 3-pt. hitch. Then he made a triangle-shaped steel bracket and welded it to the back side of the bucket. The bracket supports a 33-in. long, 3-in. dia. double action hydraulic cylinder that’s used to tilt the bucket up or down. The cylinder is operated by a 2-way, 12-volt electric-hydraulic pump that operates off the tractor’s battery. A handheld remote control that hooks up to the pump controls it.    
    There are four different holes in the top part of the cylinder mounting bracket that allow Golbow to adjust the dumping angle of the bucket by simply changing the position of a pin.
    “It took a week of welding, burning, grinding, plumbing and drilling, but it was worth it,” says Golbow. “I spent about $1,500 to put it together, including $450 for the bucket and $1,050 for the pump, cylinder, hydraulic hoses, and quick connect fittings. A new front-end loader would have cost about $2,800. I would also have had to buy a new pump kit for $1,000.
    “The bucket is as wide as the tractor’s rear tires and holds about 1 cubic yard of material. The only front-end loaders I’ve seen for this tractor have slip buckets that are 2 1/2 ft. wide and hold only about a wheelbarrow load of dirt. I didn’t want to spend all day making small 30-in. wide cuts at a time, and I didn’t want to leave an uneven digging surface every time I moved over and made a new cut, with one tractor tire higher than the other.”
    The pump Golbow used was originally designed to operate lift gates on back of trucks. It’s operated by a single control but is double pressurized for power up, power down. He made mounting brackets to fasten the pump on back of the tractor.
    “When driving on rough ground I had a problem with oil sloshing around in the pump’s hydraulic reservoir and spilling onto the back of the tractor. So I made a small tank to catch the overflow oil. As the oil in the reservoir settles back down, the overflow oil eventually runs back down into the reservoir,” says Golbow.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stanley Golbow, 3050 Tamarron, Apt. 3111, Austin, Texas 78746 (ph 512 732-9870).


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2012 - Volume #36, Issue #3