FEL bucket on 202

[matt p]

Anyone every try to straighten the bucket on the loader?? mines bent in the middle on the bottom at the front about two inches bowed down. Is it OK to heat it up?? Looks like someone cut out the middle support in the bucket and it got bent using it that way. thanks
 

[Inno]

Not sure how to straighten it, I'd be tempted to pull up to a fence post in frozen ground and pound on it with the under side of the bucket. Then once straight weld/bolt on a new cutting edge which is straight then put the support back in. It might be ok as a snow bucket without it but there wouldn't be enough strength there for much else. These old industrials tended to get used HARD!! For mine I would like to find a newer bucket and possibly look at putting on a quick detach mechanism so I could put on a snow blade etc. if I wanted to. I think that would make it much more versatile.
 

[Tony in Mass.]

I would like to see a you tube of Inno and his frozen fencepost trick.. but in the mean time, your loader has down pressure right? Just park it on top of a frozen fence post for awhile, sometimes gravity can work for you insted of against... sounds like someone was hooking a chain on the bucket and lifting stuff alittle too heavy for the strength of the skin and cutting edge. Personally, I don't like a gusset in the middle of the bucket, when I want to pick up stuff as big as the bucket itself, the gusset's always in the way. Which might be why all my buckets are bowed ????
 

[Inno]

Not necessary, my bucket has it's gusset and it's not bent.
You should see me pounding fence posts into non frozen ground though, bucket full of clay and WHAMMMO!!!
Got an auger now though so it shouldn't be necessary.
 

[2tractors]

Augers won't even work for red jawja clay but a pressure washer along with the auger works fine.