I am in need of a large bucket to fit to my 349. I'm guessing the easiest fix will be a front end loader bucket, 988 high capacity I'm thinking? I currently have an 80" 5 yard bucket. The material I'm loading weighs .2 tons per yard... Anywhere from 10-15 yard will work... Anyone ever converted one like this?
Since the material is not dense wouldn't it be easier to just extend the current bucket with some plate on the bottom and sheet on the top and sides...
Have one made. We had several custom made for our 385's and 336. They are only 7.5 yd smooth edges but they were all custom made.
We did have a 930 bucket that was converted for a 330 that worked ok. I would be concerned about power and clearance with a 988 bucket hanging out their. The last two we had made were designed as light as possible, thinner construction most of our material we handle with them is lighter than dirt and not very abrasive.
Yea I'm getting one priced now, my current bucket is 80" 5 yard, that's .75 yards/foot. At 12' wide that's only 9 yards. Trying to keep it 12' or narrower. Loading over size 40 ton off road trucks.
curious what you are loading if you don't mind me asking
I dont know...I operated a 365bl with an 8 yard bucket and it got real ugly when that stick was out. It was swapped out with a 6 yard and even stripping topsoil you still had to use care when swinging and stick out with a loaded bucket...i shudder to think what 12 yards on a 349 would be like
Just re read your post. .2 tons per yard is a lot lighter.
Search for corn loading excavator on youtube and you'll see some to scale up from.
We are loading a by product of sugarcane, putting extra sides on 740B's to equal 75 yards water level
Interested to know if you are using long wheelbase 740s or standard. Generally for very light materials the LWB is the preferred chassis - the SWB tend to have a propensity to turn the rear end over when you load them too high.
Well, I didn't know they made different wheelbases. I have the regular ones I believe. Hope to have it going in a week or two so I can post some pics.
I've seen LWB 740s used for hauling coal, power station ash, and other light materials, always with custom-built bodies on them. The advantage for the loading machine operator is that you have a target that's about 4ft longer. Also when most of the body builders construct a fuel/lube truck body on a 740 they generally use an LWB chassis to get more space for tanks, pumps, & hose reels. We're taking delivery of this unit in July/August this year.
That's awesome.. Bet that's a cheap unit! I Made some d400's into dump trailers that I pull with tractors. This is what we are fitting the bigger bed on now.
How do I post pictures from an IPhone? I have some of the partially fabricated truck.
Get the tapatalk app and you can post pictures with that
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Wow
Hope to have the tailgate installed today and braces and gaps sealed up. Found a 980 bucket I'm going to try to modify to get more yardage out of it
I'd worry about weight with that bucket. It's not gonna be light.
Me too. Unless it was a wood chip bucket or something like that to start with, and not a standard bucket.
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Well if I have a 5yd currently, it weighs 5,000lbs. It will handle it heaped fully extended, so that's at least 6yrds. 18,000lbs of dirt and 5,000lbs of bucket. If this bucket weighs 10,000 lbs. that gives me 13,000lbs of useable load. If this material weighs 400lbs/yard I should be able to lift 32 yards. 12 yards should be easy, the only reason I'm not going bigger is for actual size reasons. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
What the heck are you moving? Wood chips?
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:thumbsup I don't read the articles, I'm just here for the pictures.:tong
I don't blame you! I'm gonna post more when the action starts...
Are you going to put the bucket on like a shovel? Or are you loading out of a pit?
bagasse?
I too would be a bit concerned of the weight of a standard 980 bucket. How long of a stick do you have on the 349?
We are going to put it on conventionally, and sit on top of the stockpile. Yes bagasse.
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12'10" stick
I like it. Good to see people who think outside the box.
Thanks! Tailgate is presenting a challenge.. Going to try to equip it like the regular cat tailgate now.
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^ That looks like quite the load on that little trailer! :thumbsup
The bucket looks good. Looks like a lightweight one, at least relatively for its size. What do you think, maybe 5 passes?
Well, if the bucket is 9 yards, and trailer is 75 yards, might be more than that. I dunno how much will heap over the top. Debating whether to put a thumb or not.
remember an excavator bucket will rate higher than a loader bucket because of the angle you can get with the excavator. A loader will not get the sides anywhere near level. I bet it would rate 12+ with a 2:1 fill, plus if the chips you are loading stack well, you may get a 120% to 130% fill factor, so you may be in the ballpark of 15 cy per pass. When you get going, I would like to see how close I am. 5 passes at 15 cy would fill the 75 cy to water level, then one more to heap it up.
Personally, I don't think the thumb would help hold that much in and everything I've ever heard about thumbs is that they add a tremendous amount of weight, especially on a 12'10" stick.
In order for a thumb to be effective in the situation it would need to be about 6' wide to cover enough of the bucket. That would be one heavy sob if it was built heavy enough to hold up to the machine. I was also thinking which isnt normally a good idea but wont that wide of a bucket put some serious side loads on the stick, boom, and pins. I guess make sure you are digging evenly and dont try and cut or dig with just one side of the bucket
Il Be sure to post some results. I'm thinking about taking the bucket, splitting down the middle, and adding 2' strip down the middle. 2' wide by 4' tall by 10' wide would be an extra 3 yards.
Now you're talking !!!! I think I would add an interior cross gusset or two to the bucket after widening just in case... as for the stick twisting that 1466IH mentions I have seen a few cats with messed up sticks or booms from heavy side loading on buckets usually form prying on logs though, am not sure of amount of breakout force needed to dig in bagasse piles? can't imagine it being too much.
I was concerned about you being able to sit on the pile, but after seeing this picture, I am not as concerned now. Does this look like what you are working in?
Looks exactly like that! Shouldn't be a problem to sit on top. Getting the trucks close enough is gonna be the problem.
Now that's a bucket! Haha
Here is the second trailer with updated tailgate. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Now it all make sense. Sure glad I waited to chime in.
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Looking good !!! just needs some paint with a shark tooth design
Bucket looks good! Let's see a pic of it on the 349.
Hopefully it won't be long!
I think this set up isn't going to work... Any opinions? Welder says he measured off my dirt bucket, but I have my doubts... I'm going to measure how far back and how far below the second pin should be from the main pin when the bucket is sitting flat on ground. Unless someone can tell me??
I would make it work somehow. That is an awful lot of time and money for something to not work
I wonder about applying all that bucket curl force to a portion of the bucket that wasn't designed for any force. I think I would have made longer lugs that tied into the bucket further down. And yes, that pin geometry looks way off. It looks like it will really limit bucket curl which is ok up close but when you reach out to load a truck you may lose material.
Yes, I Agree, there are the 2 plates where the loader would hook up to that he needs to tie into. I think I can explain him more tomorrow, but I will need a pic of my bucket cause he will think he is right til I prove him wrong
He may have measured the pin spacing, and he probably has that right, but the angle is all wrong. Also, as mentioned above, the top of the bucket will buckle trying to transmit the force where it is mounted at now. I would recommend putting the top pin hole just at the top of the loader mount, then the rear pin will be out away from the back some. The plates the pin holes are in will need to wrap a fair ways down the back of the bucket. Putting the holes down low will let the force be transmitted to the leading edge better, but you will need to notch the top rail for clearance at the boom so you can curl far enough to hold a good load. Good luck, custom work is always a trade off.
Jdofemi, that's my thoughts exactly. But I tried convincing him before hand. " I've built hundreds of buckets" was the response I got. I'm in a rush, so I had to take what I could get. Needless today I'm in the market to hire a welder full time!
Looks like you got it to work. How are you liking the 349e?
Judging from the 2nd photo you'll have no problems dumping the bucket but it looks like you could do with a bit more curl angle to keep the material in it. Pretty much confirms the comments that were made when you posted the photos of the new mounting on the previous page. Watch out for over-extending the bucket cylinder. You don't want to be shearing the head bolts on it.
Im thinking that bucket might contact the cab if brought in to close looks good
that material looks like it would be hard to load in bucket like it does not flow across cutting edge very well
It will come wayyyy into the cAb.... It's pretty easy to load... The bucket will curl more than it is in that picture.
Glad to see you got it to come together. Looks like it will get the job done.
Got some video of this oeperation?
Sure do, but don't know how to post it from an iPhone? Any ideas? I could email to someone and let them post it I suppose