Hello,
I want to build a snow bucket for my skidsteer. It will be 8.5 feet
wide at the front, 4 deep, and 2 feet tall.

I'm using a local metal shop to help design it. He has only built snow
buckets for giant loaders, and he has always used T1 steel for them.
Now a skidsteer is a little lighter duty then a 40k pound front end
loader.

Specs we are thinking are 3/16 plate for bottom and sides, huge gussets
on the back. We will use abrasion steel straps on cutting edge and on
bottom.

So keep in mind this is for snow, so we will be using it down below 0
degrees farenheit.

Do I really need T1, or will mild steel work? I don't need the T1 for
its abrasion resistance, but I am worried about cracking and strength.

Calcs we come out to are 800 pounds for the bucket. This is ok, as it
leaves 1500 pounds or more for the snow load, but I'd like to keep the
weight down as much as possible.

Thoughts? Opinions? Resources?

On 16 Nov 2005 09:07:10 -0800, "Doug" wrote:

Hello,
I want to build a snow bucket for my skidsteer. It will be 8.5 feet
wide at the front, 4 deep, and 2 feet tall.

I'm using a local metal shop to help design it. He has only built snow
buckets for giant loaders, and he has always used T1 steel for them.
Now a skidsteer is a little lighter duty then a 40k pound front end
loader.

Specs we are thinking are 3/16 plate for bottom and sides, huge gussets
on the back. We will use abrasion steel straps on cutting edge and on
bottom.

So keep in mind this is for snow, so we will be using it down below 0
degrees farenheit.

Do I really need T1, or will mild steel work? I don't need the T1 for
its abrasion resistance, but I am worried about cracking and strength.

Calcs we come out to are 800 pounds for the bucket. This is ok, as it
leaves 1500 pounds or more for the snow load, but I'd like to keep the
weight down as much as possible.

Thoughts? Opinions? Resources?

Actually it sounds like you've got this thought out fairly well to
me. Personally I think that mild steel would be fine (or possibly
better in this case). The weak point is going to be where you attach
it to the loader. You do need to do some reinforcing there but again
mild steel would be my preference.

I just got through rebuilding the lift cylinders on a loader. I made
the bucket that's on it a couple of years ago. It's just 4' wide but
it's used to load fertilizer in trucks and in a mixer and considering
that it's on a small Ford tractor it'll scoop about all the weight
they can handle.

Anyway I did have to do some reinforcing of the dump cylinder mount
about a year ago (it's just got one dump cylinder) but other than that
it's holding up fine (if you ignore the rust). I made it out of 3/16"
mild steel with a cutting edge and straps on the bottom like you're
talking about.


Wayne Cook
Shamrock, TX
http://members.dslextreme.com/users/waynecook/index.htm

Doug wrote:
Hello,
I want to build a snow bucket for my skidsteer. It will be 8.5 feet
wide at the front, 4 deep, and 2 feet tall.

I'm using a local metal shop to help design it. He has only built snow
buckets for giant loaders, and he has always used T1 steel for them.
Now a skidsteer is a little lighter duty then a 40k pound front end
loader.

Specs we are thinking are 3/16 plate for bottom and sides, huge gussets
on the back. We will use abrasion steel straps on cutting edge and on
bottom.

So keep in mind this is for snow, so we will be using it down below 0
degrees farenheit.

Do I really need T1, or will mild steel work? I don't need the T1 for
its abrasion resistance, but I am worried about cracking and strength.

Calcs we come out to are 800 pounds for the bucket. This is ok, as it
leaves 1500 pounds or more for the snow load, but I'd like to keep the
weight down as much as possible.

Thoughts? Opinions? Resources?

3/16" mild steel would be fine. Appropriate bracing and it will be
fine. 4ft deep seems excessive, but that's up to you.

Dad built one a few years ago that is 8.5' x 30" x 2'. It works very
well. Don't know what style skidsteer you have, but if it is the
Bobcat attachment style, make the bracket out of 1/4" and weld to the
back of your bucket.

His was 8.5', as it cleared bank teller lanes in a single pass. Why is
yours? Just curious.

JW

Hey Doug,

Two questions for our readers......

Why so BIG? That's a heck of a bucket!! Too wide to get in lots of
places. Looks like loads from 500 to 1500 pounds of snow if I read
the configuration. Is this for a "Bobcat"?

And what amount of annual use do you expect and for what lifespan, and
what kind of terrain? You going into business, or just doing the ol'
homestead driveway? Seems to me that would determine more what you
want to make it out of.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On 16 Nov 2005 09:07:10 -0800, "Doug" wrote:

Hello,
I want to build a snow bucket for my skidsteer. It will be 8.5 feet
wide at the front, 4 deep, and 2 feet tall.

I'm using a local metal shop to help design it. He has only built snow
buckets for giant loaders, and he has always used T1 steel for them.
Now a skidsteer is a little lighter duty then a 40k pound front end
loader.

Specs we are thinking are 3/16 plate for bottom and sides, huge gussets
on the back. We will use abrasion steel straps on cutting edge and on
bottom.

So keep in mind this is for snow, so we will be using it down below 0
degrees farenheit.

Do I really need T1, or will mild steel work? I don't need the T1 for
its abrasion resistance, but I am worried about cracking and strength.

Calcs we come out to are 800 pounds for the bucket. This is ok, as it
leaves 1500 pounds or more for the snow load, but I'd like to keep the
weight down as much as possible.

Thoughts? Opinions? Resources?

If you lived in southern Ontario you could buy a bucket about that size
(ok a bit smaller) from me for $200. It came off some sort of front end
loader, I bought it at an auction.

stan

Ontario Oregon???? You bet!!!!!

I'm betting Ontario Canada, which is a long ways from McCall Idaho......

Ontario Oregon???? You bet!!!!!

I'm betting Ontario Canada, which is a long ways from McCall Idaho......

great questions. it will be used about 20 days a year, 16 hours a day.
..
We have the dirt bucket for it for tight stuff - it is 73 wide by 30
deep by 2 high.
Terrain is driveways and parking lots. Yes, we will hit the occasional
curb, but in a perfect world there will be very few rocks in it.

A Bobcat is one manufacturer of Skid Steers, obvoiusly the most famous
one. I own this one:
http://www.casece.com/products/produ...?RL=APE&ID=839

Rated tipping is 2200 pounds. They are pretty pessmistic. 3000 to 3500
is doable if you are careful..........

Why so wide? Well, it seems to me that you can ALWAYS take narrower
bites if need be, but my current 6 footer is really annoying. I have
some doubts about anything bigger then 8.5 feet.

Thanks for opinions and advice!

800 pounds sounds like an HEAVY duty bucket. I think I'd be trying to
figure out how to reduce some of th 3/16" plate down to 1/8" and make
some of the mounting brackets do double duty as reinforcement.

I did some quick calcs, if you bite into some compressed old snow
(moving a parking lot pile) you can easily get 1500 pounds of snow in
your bucket.

Doug wrote:
Hello,
I want to build a snow bucket for my skidsteer. It will be 8.5 feet
wide at the front, 4 deep, and 2 feet tall.

I'm using a local metal shop to help design it. He has only built snow
buckets for giant loaders, and he has always used T1 steel for them.
Now a skidsteer is a little lighter duty then a 40k pound front end
loader.

Specs we are thinking are 3/16 plate for bottom and sides, huge gussets
on the back. We will use abrasion steel straps on cutting edge and on
bottom.

So keep in mind this is for snow, so we will be using it down below 0
degrees farenheit.

Do I really need T1, or will mild steel work? I don't need the T1 for
its abrasion resistance, but I am worried about cracking and strength.

Calcs we come out to are 800 pounds for the bucket. This is ok, as it
leaves 1500 pounds or more for the snow load, but I'd like to keep the
weight down as much as possible.

Thoughts? Opinions? Resources?

On Wed, 16 Nov, Doug wrote:
Rated tipping is 2200 pounds. They are pretty pessmistic. 3000 to 3500
is doable if you are careful..........

Interesting. My Cat 226 seems underrated in this area. It's been tipped
over on its front several times by loads that just didn't seem *that* heavy
to me. Hmmph. But I like the controls much better than the Case. :-)

I don't live in a snow area...I'm just curious...do you have to put chains
on it for snow removal? Or tracks? Studded tires? (Can't imagine those
lasting long, but they probably exist...)


--Donnie

--
Donnie Barnes http://www.donniebarnes.com 879. V.

hmmmmm........... caused me to do some some research. from this site,
http://www.loflinfabrication.com/buckets/

smaller buckets weigh 500 pounds. we designed ours with a bunch of
wear bars along the bottom. maybe we need less.

Even if it weighs 800, and holds 1500, it is still right at design spec
with margins build in.....

chains on the back tires. Some guys put chains on the front tires too,
but they are mostly posers........

cat controls are very nice. you don't HAVE to put chains on at all
with the little bucket, but with the bigger bucket we are anticipating
it.

tracks for the most part totally suck. Apparently the cat tracks
actually work in teh snow sort of, which is the huge exception. more
float equals less bite.
some guys back east apparently run auto studded snow tires for the ice.
if it were totally flat, and never had snow build up i would consider
it. big trick to pushing snow is to always have your tires on pretty
much bare ground. To do that, you use the bucket or blower, and mostly
go forward, or backwards in your own cleared path.

just my .02
3/16" is way overkill IMO...I've fabricated snow buckets for farm tractor/loaders out of old oil tanks, which are approx. 1/16"...

4' deep bucket?...are you going to be pushing/piling or loading trucks?
heavy, wet snow may cause some tipping problems...IMO, 3' would be good

"Doug" wrote in message
oups.com...
great questions. it will be used about 20 days a year, 16 hours a day.
.
We have the dirt bucket for it for tight stuff - it is 73 wide by 30
deep by 2 high.
Terrain is driveways and parking lots. Yes, we will hit the occasional
curb, but in a perfect world there will be very few rocks in it.

A Bobcat is one manufacturer of Skid Steers, obvoiusly the most famous
one. I own this one:
http://www.casece.com/products/produ...?RL=APE&ID=839

Rated tipping is 2200 pounds. They are pretty pessmistic. 3000 to 3500
is doable if you are careful..........

Why so wide? Well, it seems to me that you can ALWAYS take narrower
bites if need be, but my current 6 footer is really annoying. I have
some doubts about anything bigger then 8.5 feet.

Thanks for opinions and advice!

More expensive than a bucket, but the high flow Bobcat 74" wide snowblower
is awesome in parking lots. You can clean right up to the curb, the whole
cleanup is way quicker than using a bucket or even a large payloader.

i've got one of those too. unfortunately, my skid is not a high flow.
the combo of high flow blower nad regular skid really does not work
well.

besides, you can't always blow the snow. I'm thinking the big bucket
for in town close work, and the blower for the country lanes, once i
get the right blower.

"Doug" wrote in message
ups.com...
i've got one of those too. unfortunately, my skid is not a high flow.
the combo of high flow blower nad regular skid really does not work
well.

besides, you can't always blow the snow. I'm thinking the big bucket
for in town close work, and the blower for the country lanes, once i
get the right blower.

We went with the low velocity blower for wet snow. It's a Bobcat 873 with a
turbo diesel. Works great with the right operator, if you try to cram it
into the snow you can jam it.

ok, so i built it.
3/16 mild steel bottom and sides and backing plate. 8.5 feet wide at
the front, 4 feet deep, 2 feet tall at the back.. 6 inch wide front
hardened cutting edge. various stiffeners.

WOW. the thing flat frigging moves some SNOW!!!!!!!! With it I can
push probably 4 yards of snow, pick up 1.5 if it is dry enough. For
sure wet snow will put the steer on its nose if you are not careful.
Talk about a time saver though.

All of my ideas worked. So far no flexing or twisting. cleans well.
There is actually a LOT of structure in a bucket.

On 18 Nov 2005 07:19:51 -0800, "Doug" wrote:

i've got one of those too. unfortunately, my skid is not a high flow.
the combo of high flow blower nad regular skid really does not work
well.

besides, you can't always blow the snow. I'm thinking the big bucket
for in town close work, and the blower for the country lanes, once i
get the right blower.

I have a friend who lives in Crested Butte. He used have a King Kong
snow blower; to me anyway.

It was a road grader. Where the blade would normally be, there was a
V-12 diesel engine that drove a 12' blower mounted in front. It would
blow/throw snow 200'.