New Bucket for the CAT

[Stepside]

Well guys, Arioch looked a little bored at the Fall show running the excavator, so I figured I'd spruce it up for him! haha!!!

I worked the better part of today on a larger bucket. I am pretty happy with the results and am now in search of someone to tig it together... any takers?







I was considering during fab to keep it a 5 tooth bucket, but I think I am going to go w/ 9... opinions?

[Snochaser]

I would split the difference between the two 5 and 9, normally the bigger the bucket - the bigger the teeth too. Looks real nice though.

Ben

[Lil Giants]

Xllnt fab skills on the larger bucket Rod.

That will certainly make a difference to keep the many dump trks at your meets on the move.

[pugs]

Looks great. I agree I would go with 7 teeth

Are you going to do any wear plates on the sides and all that? Should look pretty sharp when done.

[SmallHaul]

Nice work Rod.

[RCLogger]

Very nice Rod. I would go with the five tooth. You could try welding it up with the alunumim rods, thats what I use with my buckets. I seems to hold them together alright...

greg

[9W Monighan]

I could tig that together. If it was steel,it would be a little easier for me. Drop it off some time.

[Roadmasters]

Im having fun already! Id go with 5 larger teeth, that way there are less for me to break and i cant wear them down as fast! Looks great bud!

[Stepside]

tks for the comments fellahs!

I dropped it off @ the welders today to get welded up and can't wait to get it back!

I drilled the 5 teeth that have screws in them, so I'm bound to those holes, unless I want to refab!!! I am going to stick w/ 5, I may see about getting larger stock to make larger teeth...

I can't wait to get it painted up too!

[JAMMER]

Rod give it to me and I'll put it on the deere and give it a workout, got some driveway to try it out on. Ed

[td9clyde]

looks great nice job i think i would make bolt on side bits for it then you can always take them off if you look at real one to one bucket they either have holes in them for them or they are bolted on keep up the great work

[Stuff]

it looks great. just wondering if the bucket's back wall will be strong enough? noticed the original had a little S at the very top.

[Espeefan]

That is a great looking bucket! Personally, I like the 9 teeth, even if it's not 100% accurate to the 1:1 machines. Rod, did you buy the Wedico Cat excavator? Any impressions on it at all? I don't think I'll be in the market for one anytime soon, but just curious to see what you think about it.

[sparkycuda]

Really nice job on the bucket. I agree that adding sidecutters would look great, and most buckets have unused holes on the sides and/or lip, so don't worry about them not all having bolts in them. For fun, you could weld a chain hook on the backside for lifting pipe or drill water drain holes in the back-bottom portion - both are prototypical.

Ken

[vmilnik]

Looks great i like the 5 teeth look

[Stepside]

Thanks guys for the props!!! I am hoping to get this thing back from being welded today... we'll see...

Originally Posted by Stuff

it looks great. just wondering if the bucket's back wall will be strong enough? noticed the original had a little S at the very top.

I think the bucket will hold up well, time will tell. It will be used almost exclusively with the krum rubber @ shows... I doubt it will ever be used try to break ground!

Originally Posted by Espeefan

That is a great looking bucket! Personally, I like the 9 teeth, even if it's 100% accurate to the 1:1 machines. Rod, did you buy the Wedico Cat excavator? Any impressions on it at all? I don't think I'll be in the market for one anytime soon, but just curious to see what you think about it.

Nate, I have a Leimbach machine that was purchased from Germany and I got it from Ed. The machine is a TON of fun! I took it to my fathers over Christmas and we put 7-8 hours on it moving rubber from one bin to the other and back... It was fun to run it and let my dad and in-laws on it too. It was funny because on Christmas Eve, all the women of the family were upstairs and all the guys were downstairs huddled around the machine!

The hydraulic system on it has served me very well. I had some issue with the drive motors on the tracks, but got it figured out. After this bucket project gets wrapped up, I am going to tear it down some and change the oil in it. The best thing I did for it was to get an external power supply for it which enables it to be run as long as the battery in the radio holds up. Prior, I could only get 30-45 mins on a battery pack inside the machine.

[Snochaser]

Rod, did you get your bucket back?

[Stepside]

I did not

When I dropped it off Monday am, they said, "we'll get it done tomorrow, no problem." Well, that has come and gone.

I've stopped by twice today with no luck. I'm going to leave it be tomorrow and stop in Friday am and see how long they'll be in Friday, and done or not, I'll pick it up Friday...

I DID get some 5/16" aluminum bar that I will make some larger teeth out of... and stay w/ only 5, I think it'll add to the look!

[9W Monighan]

Refer to post #7 if you have any problems.

[Stuff]

Originally Posted by Stepside

I think the bucket will hold up well, time will tell. It will be used almost exclusively with the krum rubber @ shows... I doubt it will ever be used try to break ground!

so no basements? lol