I'm looking for a new bucket for my Cat 307. I'm seeing wide variation in styles, price and weight. Some of the design features interest me: some buckets have a square crossbeam where the ears are; some a custom (?) curved. Some have gussets in the upper corners and some don't. Do you think the gussets are important ? Or the shape of the crossbeam ? The other problem I'm having is that it is rare to see a picture of the bottom of the bucket ( where mine is worn out ...) So I can't tell if there is any armor there. Going to be a pain to write to so many manufacturers and ask for that picture.... I'm also interested in knowing your opinion on which brands are best in the mid price range. I have already got a quote from Cat for an aftermarket one that didn't excite me. Thanks very much
I can get a central fab witch is a woods bucket from my deere dealer for a 310 2 foot bucket for about 1500 brand new it's not what I would call a heavy duty bucket but if your not eating rock or granite every day it would do good I have a 3 foot version with a little under a thousand hours on it holding up pretty good
I've had some good luck with Tag manufacturing buckets, Werk Brau buckets, and Geith buckets. The Geith buckets I had were before they were bought out by Doosan though. You can pretty much spec what you want for a bucket, like a general duty bucket, heavy duty bucket, or severe duty and you can request which style teeth and adapters you want on it. You can also request a high capacity bucket. I've used a company out of Pennsylvania to buy quite a few buckets, called Phoenix equipment sales - Phoenixequipmentsales.com 412-221-6766, they've always had pretty decent pricing for any buckets or couplers I have bought. I have also bought a couple ripper teeth and a couple buckets from USA attachments as well.
Thanks for the good input ! Some of those brands don't make buckets for that small an ex. Have 2 quotes for 30" buckets at about the same price. One says it weighs almost twice the other ?? Do you think it's a mistake ? 354#s vs 688#s
The 354 Must be a mistake. I am getting frustrated. Either I don't like the way the ears are attached to the bucket or the various dealers can't agree on pin spacing....Actual pictures and actual specs are in short supply.
How deep are the buckets? How thick is the steel?
See, that's the thing. VERY few manufacturers or dealers give much for specs. for individual bucket models. Some of the better manufacturers only make up to a 24" bucket for that Cat and I might have to start considering those. Some you can tell by looking at them that the ears are only 3/8" plate.or some other less than robust dimension. Many don't show the bottom.
I have enlisted the help of a local Deere dealer. Also have called a place about 4 hours away that has a new Teran EMAQ bucket wider than I want but cheap. If the Deere place can't find me an American made bucket soon, I'll go get the made in china one.
Did you ever get the Teran bucket? If so, how did it go?
No. I decided to wait until I could afford a much better custom made bucket that would be the same size as I have and probably last longer.
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