Ok folks thanks for the help so far with my new machine. It came with a 24" bucket on the hoe. For digging water and electric lines, I was thinking a 12" bucket would be nice to have. I have looked around at buckets and realized the SE series backhoe has a beefed up bucket connection with a 55mm top pin, and a 50mm lower pin. I have found lots of different sized buckets, but not with the same size pin diameter for an SE model. What are your thoughts on buckets size and their purpose? I talked to a nice guy at a bucket sale place in Oregon online, but they didn't have any used 12" buckets in stock. Their is a supplier on ebay who sells a new 12" AIMS bucket made of 400AR steel for around $650. I found out not all buckets are the same on size and application. Here is a side view of my bucket and coupler set up.
Hi Fred, Your setup looks a lot like the one on my 310SE. I was wondering how people get the "slack" out of the hooks on the inside top of the bucket connection. (you can see jus the tip above the gas can in the bucket) Mine doesn't appear to have a lot of wear on the pin but the hooks are pretty beat up and it wobbles some. Thinking I may have to weld them up and grind them back down again, doesn't appear to be any kind of a "bushing" replacement type of fix. Mine has 5550 hours, lots of use. It was municipally owned so I have records of all service all the way back to original bill of sale. I was wondering if anyone has used the "jackhammer" plumbing for a hydraulic post hole auger attachment. I've never seen one but seems like it would be handy.
You can see the gap between the inner face of the hook and the pin that it "hooks" up with. Almost an 1/8".
Great Picture! You have the same set up as mine. I see what you mean by the gap on the hook. I put mine in the barn last night (didn't want to get it dirty!-LOL!) so my picture was not as great. I most likely will get mine out tomorrow and take a picture of the hook area on mine for comparison purposes. I would guess the only option would be to weld that up or buy new linkage. I see some on ebay? Aims makes one I believe, but not sure if that would be the best option or welding? I say try it out and if its really sloppy, then you can decide?
It sounds like a good Saturday project The wiggling of the bucket doesn't bother me that much, I'm guessing if I let it wobble though it will continue to wear faster. I was going to look into the other linkages above the bucket on the end of the dipper (pictured ) to see if there's replaceable bushings in there to tighten things up a little. Maybe I'm thinking too much about the play, there is over 5000 hours on it. I keep my stuff shedded too, it really makes a difference, especially if you sell later.
Here is my same hook shot. Looks like a lot of difference in a machine with 5000 hours and a machine with 2300 hours on wear.
After looking at the two pictures, looks like your hook pin is worn. That should be an easy fix and it may take up some of the slop you are experiencing?
Thanks for the comparison pic Fred. I think there's wear on both pin and hook. Dropped the bucket off last night and took a look. I think it will be fine for the summer, looks like a good winter welding project
You guys with all your fancy options. Mine doesn't have the quick coupler. My original pins must have been lost or something. They're not even close to the right size, but for what I do, it'll be fine. Might fix it down the road.
No problem! Im learning too on these machines and if we can help each other out-then GREAT right!? Im not an expert welder, but if you know a guy they could stick weld the bucket up pretty good I'm sure. But if it works for you then hey, why worry right?
Boone make sure you post a picture of yours. I am curious about the different bucket set up options. Like I said I have been looking at buckets and don't want to buy the wrong one for my set up. I had the opportunity to talk to a 30 year veteran backhoe operator (the guy I have used for a long time, until I got this machine) he was nice and came over and gave me some pointers. He is a CASE man, not a John Deere man, but his experience was good to listen to: He has steered me away from a 12" bucket as he said they never clean out with dirt and get plugged up. He said he would never use one. He does most of his small trenching with a 16" bucket as they clean out better. His main bucket he goes to most jobs is his 36" bucket. That surprised me, but he is running a Case Super M and has for years. He also said with pad clearing its much less wear and tear on your machine if you use the hoe to dig down to the level you need to be and use the front bucket to pick up the spoils and smooth it out. I'm thinking to level out large swaths on a pad prep, the larger the bucket the better. Now Im wondering if I should get a 16" used bucket and a 36" bucket. I know where 2 are right now.
Hey Fred from MO, My tractor came with a 24" bucket too. I too was looking at a 16" bucket. My small backhoe on a compact utility tractor has a 12" bucket on it, and I have never had an issue with it dumping out (I don't think it is anywhere near as deep as a 12" bucket for a full size backhoe, and this may be the reason it doesn't give me any problems). That said, I read a thread on here about the 12" bucket being useless as the spoils would be stuck inside. There are people that put chains in the bucket to help the spoils fall out. I linked it below. Anyhow, the other day my neighbor came over with a 10" bucket. It is in good shape. I am going to use it to remove stumps...the price is right. The 14" brand new, shipped is $1000. There seem to be plenty of Deere buckets around used, but not so much for New Holland. I was also thinking about a 36" ditching bucket in the future...we shall see on that. I don't have a quick connect for my buckets so changing is a bit of a pain! HeavyEquipmentForums
I'll try to snap a closer pic tomorrow. Mine came with 2 buckets, I believe an 18" and a 30" or 36". I need to measure them. The previous owner said he preferred the bigger bucket for most of his jobs. I have a drain I need to put in front of our house and I plan to put the smaller bucket on for that job. But for burying stuff this bigger bucket is nice at chunking some dirt! I can imagine it to be what you'd need on your pad like your backhoe man suggested.
That was a great posting on the 12" bucket. Some love em, but looks like most hate them. I do like the chain idea. That was pretty neat!
This is the 36" bucket without the quick coupler. Sorry, the picture is not great. I still have the front off the machine and it's crammed in the barn. I also have an 18". The post is for scale.
Boone so you don't have a bucket with the treaded boss to place a bolt which retains the pin? Like this? I am wondering if all buckets have this or not?
My 310 SG will take JD-Case or Cat buckets The hook is tapered for the different size pins the buckets use.
Yes, mine does have the threaded boss. If you zoom in on my first picture you can see them. They're dressed in rust camo, hard to see. However they're not being used. It has a very under size pin with bolts in both sides. Not sure what the story is on that. Something else for me to address. Both my buckets have 310E, 310SE cast into them. I'm not sure if aftermarket buckets would have the boss, but you could probably weld a nut on the bucket of it didn't have it.
That pin does look really undersized. It should be 55MM
I have a Case backhoe so I can't speak to any of the Deere bucket setups. I have a 24" bucket that stays on the backhoe for about 90% of what I need to do. it is about the perfect size for ditches, general digging, and pulling trees and rocks out. I also bought a 12" bucket last year for a long ditch project (600' in rock and clay) I also had a rented ride on trencher because I was only burying 2" conduit and 1" water line. The trencher did about 40% of the work, but I had to get the backhoe to get through a lot of rock. the 12" bucket was overkill, but I think it is the smallest you can get for a full size hoe. It did pack off with clay and after a while, i quite trying to clean it out and just used it to "peel" back the clay. The 12" bucket I bought was a Case OEM bucket that still had yellow paint on it. I paid $500 for it and he threw in about 6 extra teeth and included the top pin. As I understand it, on 580/590's the 12" bucket takes a different top pin. All other bucket sizes are fully interchangeable.
Anyone know of a good supplier of used or aftermarket retainer style pins? I can't stomach $185 for a JD pin. Fred, I found a side shot of the 18" bucket which shows the boss on the side of the bucket.
Mine is just like yours Fred
Well gents, I bit the bullet. I bought the 36" , 16" and the bolt on side cutters. The bolt on side cutters will work with both buckets. They are in route now. I will let you know how they work out. The place was pretty efficient and they shipped in a day. They also saved me some money by consolidating the load. The only thing I didn't like was that they were adamant that it had to be shipped to a commercial address. Im pretty sure I could have unloaded these at my house, but they wouldn't ship there. So I had to ask a welder of mine if I could ship to his place for offloading of the truck onto my trailer. Seems silly, but oh well. Im working on a shop pad and I figured the 36" in bucket would come in handy for helping level off the remaining sections of the pad and the 16" would be good for running water and electric lines. I had to decide on the 16 or 18. I may kick myself for buying the 16 due to the compacting issues I read about a 12" bucket, but we will see? I like the chain idea mentioned, if it becomes a problem, I have a welder and can go that route.
The reason a lot of vendors require a commercial address is that trucks especially semi's won't (can't) drive on weight restricted city streets or even navigate them. There is a BP gas station near me with a big parking lot and I use it for a commercial address. I never had a vendor refuse to deliver there after I described the delivery address.
Congrats on the buckets. Let us know how you make out with the delivery and installation. I would think the 16" would be perfect for water lines and trenches. I think you'll like the 36". I may have missed it, but what size did your machine come with?
Yeah I asked them if they could deliver to the truck stop down the road from me, but they would not unless I had permission from the truck stop (since I don't know anyone who works there, I didn't go that route) Also I didn't want to hang out at the truck stop all day waiting on my buckets. I live down a rural roald and have had dozers delivered etc. But I guess if they are shipping through a commercial trucking company everyone has their liabilities to worry about..
Mine came only with the 24" bucket. I figured Go large with the 36" for those types of jobs where you want a large bucket, and then go small when you work on those little jobs where you want a small bucket, then with the 24" I would have every need I could think of covered?
Ok guys, the moment I have been waiting for. My new buckets. The shipping company messed up and would not deliver to my welders commercial address till this Thursday or Friday (they originally said they would be their on monday) Since the shipping terminal was only 40 minutes away, I loaded up the trailer and picked them up at the dock myself. I couldn't wait anymore. We have 4 days with no rain and I'm antsy to get the machine working. Here are some comparison pictures of the original 24" bucket next to the new 16" and 36". I put the side cutters on the 36" bucket. I was upset the side cutters didn't match the paint on the bucket. I will have to repaint these later!! LOL Anyway, my quick connect coupling for the buckets wasn't so quick for me with my first time changing them out by myself. A lot of up and off the machine, even was adjusting from the ground through the window for the finer adjustments towards the end to get the bottom pin to go in ( I know that's a no-no for the real guys, but I was by myself). The trick is to put the top pin hook in first, then fine adjust the bucket curl for the bottom pin, but thats hard to do when you are on the machine. Anyway the big 36" is a hog of a bucket. I felt like I was running an excavator. I was taking about 5" off a pad to level the remaining portion out. Started to wear that black paint off! Lol! Anyway Aims seems to make a decent big bucket.
One more with it in action
I would've gone to get them too. Congrats on the new buckets. Nice those are pre-drilled for the cutting edges. Those should get the job done.
That bucket looks huge! Nice cutting edges too Glad you finally got them home.
I'm showing my age when I say "I LIKE BIG BUCKETS AND I CANNOT LIE!"-LOL