10" backhoe bucket for Ford 755

For a year now I have been threatening to build a small hoe bucket for my 755 ford. Recently the wife and I had to dig a 100 ft of 3 ft deep trench for our water line to the house from the water tower. I didn't want to use my back hoe for a couple of reasons but most importantly I didn't want a 3 ft wide trench I know I have about 300 ft of trench coming up and the idea of more shoveling causes blisters just to think about it.
Time to make time and build a bucket.
I started off with a 3 ft by 5 ft piece of 1/4" plate from my bone yard. and a piece of scrap 1/8" tread plate also from the bone yard.
I made a card board template of the current bucket then chalked out the sides for my new one.
Attachment 21842
After cutting out the sides I clamped them together to make the pin holes I drilled a 1/4" pilot hole then was going to use a hole saw but after dulling 2 new hole saws and only making small indentations in the plates I decided to torch them and clean them up with a cob stone on my grinder.
Attachment 21844
Torching through multiple plates of steel is not all that hard if they are new bright shiny plates with no rust or mill scale but when have I ever let that bother me I just apply a little pre heat to the bottom sheet and cut away.
Attachment 21846
Cobed then separated and ready
Attachment 21849
The tread plate was for the back of the bucket I turned the treads out to serve as wear bumps and because the inside of a bucket needs to be smooth.
Attachment 21853
One of these little pocket com a longs are a must for small projects like this
Attachment 21855
One other piece of the bucket is the spine under the pin holes I decided to use the 1/4" here but had to splice 2 pieces of drop together in order to have enough plate without visiting the bone yard again
Attachment 21856
I always bevel both sides even on plates as thin as this The only thing was I did not gap the plates this time since it was only 1/4"
You can barely see the penetration Probably ran a little on the cold side.
Attachment 21857
A quick grind of the vee to expose the weld of the other side
Attachment 21858
Finished weld on both sides
Attachment 21859
Finished bucket
the cutting edge is ASTM 514 (T1) steel
Attachment 21860
Attachment 21861
The only thing left is to weld in the 1 3/4" rods after I make sure it fits my quick disconnect
http://www.homemadetools.net/forum/b...0424#post72458

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Thanks Frank S! We've added your Tractor Bucket to our Farm and Garden category,
as well as to your builder page: Frank S's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-tractor-bucket-3"> <img src="/uploads/209839/homemade-tractor-bucket-3.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-tractor-bucket-3">Tractor Bucket</a> <span> by <a href="http://www.homemadetools.net/builder/Frank+S">Frank S</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='http://www.homemadetools.net/tag/tractor'>tractor</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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Sure beats a shovel
Attachment 21901

Nice, I have found some cheap carbon steel hole saws cut a lot better than most of the brand name holesaws.

Ralph

I have found that most of the metals that I use hole saws no matter what kind or brand they are simply are trash. even the carbide tipped ones have too short of a service life for their price. Annular cutters for my mag drill are the way to go whenever possible I just don't own a wide range of sizes.
But I have always found that a cutting torch will beat out even the best of them except on non ferrous metals

I always run holesaws slowly with lube and air to keep the chips out and most last for years. Sometimes I've had to extaend for extra deep holes.
I have to do this as I am too broke to afford the good stuff like annular cutters.

Years? I have trouble getting one to last minutes. even is using them in a drill press with the speed in the basement. and lots of coolant

I have a Blue Mole arbor I bought in 1997 and try to run at around 100 rpm or even less for bigger saws like 3 -4 inch. Keeping chips clear is the major problem so some times it is peck drilling, vacuum cleaner can help. I use enough pressure to cut and stop and clear as soon as I feel the drag change due to teeth clogging.
Saw quality is a big factor as I have used some cheapies and they haven't even made one cut before burning, blunting or losing teeth.
I had a friend who is a carpenter borrow one of my saws last week and he wrecked it in under a minute apparently by running at high speed and leaning on his drill.
Bought me a new saw and a pie and asked me to finish job so all good.

I try to only use hole saws on my drill press but it is a cheap Central Machinery 1 1/2 HP 12 speed 4" column diameter with a 18 or 20" square table # 3 MT. All that is well and good except the slowest speed is 180 RPM I almost never change speeds, just leave in in low since it is so much trouble to re adjust the belts.
In my opinion it is too fast for any hole saw over 1 1/2" Some day I will find or build a radial arm with at least an 8" column with a gear head drive max speed of 1500 and a low of 15 to 25 RPM.
I don't like using my annular drills in anything but my mag drill but it is even a little fast for the larger ones above 1 1/2" .

Hi Frank,
180 rpm? That should be no problem, as I said chip clearance seems to be the biggest killer of the saws followed by heat. I have an old Denbigh No.1 Camel Back drill I have to get going one day,( when I build more space : ( ), and low speed is 22 rpm. Slow and steady wins in most things that's for sure.

This one for skid loader
https://www.ebay.com/itm/111000876029

I have had good success with hole saws cutting through plate steel, tubing, etc, but it's critical to turn them slow.... I use my vertical mill with it in low gear and turned down about as slow as it will go. Lots of cutting oil, and it works fine. I'm routinely cutting 1.5" holes, and 2" holes through steel plate and tubing.
Depending on frequency, they last for many cuts, but not super long. I have had better success with name brand hole saws like Lennox, but also decent success with the Lowe's brand Kobalt.
I'd like to try the annular cutters at some point.

I mostly try to use my hole saws for wood aluminum or steel less than 1/4" thick. My frill press is hard to change speeds so I leave it on the lowest but that is still 325 RPM. too fast for the 3 1/2 to 5 " saws I have for anything other than softer materials.I have a 3/4" hand drill with 2 speeds 155 RPM low 375 high there abouts It works good but hard to control that leaves the mill it is 3 Hp but also belt drive so again PITA to change speeds. My annulars only go up to 1" Some day I would like to increase my selection of them up to 2" 1/16" or 1/32" I'd like to have 2" depth cutters but I have to buy things like this 1 at a time as pricey as they are.

Good job on the bucket.

The biggest problem with using hole saws in steel is the speed of the drill or drill press. Most are way too fast. Also you have to take time to clear chips as mentioned above and keep the the cut well oiled while cutting.

1 3/4 ≈ 2” hole
c = π d

3.14 x 2 = 6.28 inch ≈ .5 foot

From my chart for Plain Carbon Steels, AISI–1019, 1020, 1030, 1040, 1050, 1060, 1070, 1080, 1090

Using a high speed steel cutter, on plain carbon steel the cutting rate varies from 15 to 120 feet per minute, depending on the hardness. For the softest type, desired speed is between 80-120 FPM

If you pick 100 fpm as a starting point, 100fpm ÷ .5ft = 200 RPM for your 1 3/4” hole saw. This is the MAXIMUM speed it should run. For best results and deviation from this should be lower rather then faster.

Since it is difficult to know for sure what type of steel you have, the maximum speed may very well be lower than this, perhaps down to 30 rpm for the hardest type I see on my chart.

Hi Frank,
Thanks for the build on the bucket. I need to make none as well. My small Backhoe came with a 18" one. I'd like about a 9" bucket for trenching as well. How did you determine length of the bucket? Nice work Frank! Great idea's make it happen.
Doug @
Dry Creek Smithing

How do you get your bucket to empty out? I have a very similar trenching bucket but it always packs.up with my clay soils and I can hand dig a trench just about faster than I can using the old hoe. Spend more energy and time digging packed dirt out of the bucket than I do running the machine. Usually default to the wider digging bucket and ensuing mess

This is how I clear sticky material from a hoe bucket. Attach a chain to the arm. Run that down to the bucket. Add a second chain to make a "V". Attach the 2 ends of the V to the bucket. Adjust the length so the chain is almost straight but not tight with the bucket fully uncurled. When digging the mud will push the chain deep into the bucket, When you uncurl the bucket, the chain pulls the mud out.

Attachment 47813

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Thanks hemmjo! We've added your Hoe Bucket Cleaning Method to our Farm and Garden category,
as well as to your builder page: hemmjo's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

<div id="blocks"> <div class="block b1 pngfix"> <div class="bimg"> <div> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-hoe-bucket-cleaning-method"> <img src="/uploads/270679/homemade-hoe-bucket-cleaning-method.jpeg"/> </a> </div> </div> <div class="head pngfix"></div> <div class="left pngfix"></div> <div class="right pngfix"></div> <div class="blockover b1 pngfix"> <div class="title"> <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/homemade-hoe-bucket-cleaning-method">Hoe Bucket Cleaning Method</a> <span> by <a href="https://www.homemadetools.net/builder/hemmjo">hemmjo</a></span> </div> <div class="tags">tags: <a href='https://www.homemadetools.net/tag/heavy-equipment'>heavy equipment</a> </div> </div> </div> </div>
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