I can't tell if I'm missing something dumb, therefore I haven't tried it yet, but what do you do about stuff you can't get close enough to a loader bucket though it's easy enough to lift and carry along? I think it's well enough known that I like rocks, well, I like any kind of wood too. The neighbor, down the way, of whom I've mentioned before, has rocks and a pretty substantial stump for me, probably 6 foot high and at least 3 feet in diameter, maybe more. I bought some forks but if rather keep this stump close to the bucket to drive the half mile or so back to my house. My problem is going to be that I can't chain this stump close enough to the loader bucket to really get it and make it part of the machine. My question becomes does anyone use the hoe side to snug something up to the loader side? I haven't seen this done and maybe I'm missing something obvious... My guess is I'll strap the stump to the hoe, then tug on it until it's as close to the loader bucket as possible then chain it in place. Dumb?
Nothing is dumb if it works! LOL
Set the bucket on top of the stump like a hat with a lot of down pressure then chain stump to bucket tight use binder to get it tight if you have to. Roll bucket back ,stump should roll into bucket
Maybe you should put a hitch on yur hoe so's ya can bring a trailer with ya...Not the first time a feller got hitched to a hoe
@Bls repair Ingenious! Thank you! Don't know that I would have ever thought of that!
If you're going to haul with the hoe end you need to fill the loader bucket for ballast. Maybe get some of the rocks in the bucket then crowd the stump. Test for balance and control before making the trek home.
Got any hooks chain welded to the bucket, if not I would invest in getting at least one on there in the center and reinforce the bucket as to not buckle it in the center.
I've got a big hemlock with a 3/8 chain spiked to it that I pick with the hook on front bucket to keep the front end on the ground when moving stuff with the hoe or even when moving machine with hoe extended
@NH575E - No I just wanted drag something heavy closer to the loader bucket, with the hoe, to get a better grasp of it in the loader. I've moved like 10 feet with just the hoe side extended out a bit and it's too rocky to be comfortable at all. @Spud_Monkey I've got some holes in the bracing on the loader, that's what I've run chain through so far...
I guess you could raise the loader some and run a chain or strap under the machine. I would be afraid of tearing something up underneath. How about pulling the stump out with the hoe so you can roll the bucket forward to come down on it. Then chain it and roll the bucket back to lift.
The loader hat trick worked beautifully! I started describing the technique to my wife and she understood immediately! Well done gang, thanks!