Oversized Snow Bucket?

Right now I have a snowblower attachment,BUT it does me no good with the drifts that I get here & just rides over the hard packed snow. The way the drifts cut through my place, I quite often have to make a "path" to get to the cows & horses to feed them as well as digging out the drifts over the driveway. I have a regular bucket on the tractor now & the bites that you get are very small & it takes FOREVER.
I have a tractor that has the universal skid loader plate on it. Anything that will fit on a skid loader will attach to my loader. It seems the oversized snow bucket (for the height & depth) would be very practical for what I am looking at using it for to be able to get big scoops & move them where necessary. Anybody ever used over-sized buckets for moving snow? How do they work?

The big buckets take some getting used to. The higher ones make it so you can't see the front cutting edge of the bucket. Our Bobcat big snow bucket sets under the trees unused.

We run a 60 inch high capacity bucket on the LX 665 for feeding silage and what ever else comes up never gave it much thought till someone came in before Christmas and shell we say Barrowed the skidsteer . My buddy had to rent a skidsteer to feed with and the LX170 came with the standard bucket , what use to take and hour was taking two with the standard bucket . When i found him an other LX665 he bought it and it came with the standard bucket and same thing two hours feeding . HE and i went to a sale and i found a big bucket off a case skidsteer that was a high capacity 60 inch and we bought it . Feeding time back down to and hour . Then his old skidsteer turns up so now there is two nice skidsteers with two 60 inch buckets . About like loading coal with a standard 3yd. bucket on a big loader verses a 6 yd. loose material bucket same loader but bigger bucket half the time . So for what you want to do that is the way to go as long as the snow is light and fluffy not a problem but if it is wet and sloppy lot more weight .

I have a 7 foot snow bucket for my skid loader. It has a high back with 2 squares of expanded metal near the top so you can see the cutting edge. Works good on hard ground, on softer ground you tend to do alot of landscaping.

Maybe just the way mine is made, but it has a real aggressive cutting edge, probably great for blacktop or cement, but hard to leave alittle hardpack with it. I tend to use my regular bucket with a worn edge. If there`s any amount of snow, I just fire up the tractor and use the blower.

I think it`s just like any other piece of equipment. Depending on the design, and what you need it for will determine how good it works for you.

Alot of places, around here anyway, rent skid loader attachments. Maybe you could rent one to try it and see how it works..

I ment to say 6 foot bucket not 60 inch bucket sucks to get old.

I find that puzzling you can't move the drifts with a snow blower, never heard of that before.

Have you tried making your top link longer, or adjusting the shoes to make it cut to the bottom. Unless you don't have enough push behind the blower, or enough HP, or your reverse is to fast, I just can't imagine what a skid loader could posibly do that a blower would not do.

We blow snow any place we can, so we don't make bigger drifts by having piles. Buckets are only used to clean up corners, and between some of the houses in town, or cars parked to close for saftey.

Sounds to me like you need more of plow blade than a bigger bucket. Like a V plow used on road graders or put a reversible and adjustable angle blade with 3 point attachment. You'd need to weld a 3 point set up to your bucket or use an adjustable blade with a skidsteer mount. Just push your way through. Then clean up the trailings and stuff close to the buildings later with the bucket.

But then I'd use the bucket as a plow anyway to push it. Take to long to move snow a bucket full at at time. I have the same problem as the others, bucket won't hold a position and wants to dig in or ride above. Then I end up with a series of furrows from raising and lowering the bucket all the time. And it seems like the loader isn't quite level either.

I used up the bridge planks I had, but I've been meaning to make a blade out of 2 bys or timbers or railroad ties and chain them to the bucket or make a bracket. Then put a brace in the left side of the bucket to hold that side out at an angle for a home made blade.

Size of the bucket will be determined by just what tractor is behind. They do work well.

We have an Allis WD, with trip loader. Manure bucket is narrower than the tractor, SO, I made a blade, that mounts in place of the bucket, 3 point style. Works real nice! Greg

Sounds good in theory, BUT like I said....since I live in Wyoming & the wind is a "little" bit of a factor. The other day we had 50 mph wind gusts & if I would just push it to the side, the next time it snows & the wind blows, then I would just be dealing with a drift TWICE as big. When you have a 65 hp tractor & try to go up against a 4' high drift that is 50' long, you ain't going to be pushing nothing with a plow blade. And even if you could, you had better have one heck of a BIG tractor or even a payloader!

I have tried your recommendations & they have not worked. No issues with under-powered or low enough gear. Unless I stay home all day/every day waiting for the wind to quit blowing the snow so I can blow it while it is fresh & not let it get hard...which is not an option & won't work. By the way, I am not talking about comparing it or getting a skid loader as a replacement. I am talking about getting a snow bucket like the ones that have FOR skid loaders & using that on my tractor loader to move greater quantities.

I like your inguinity (sp?)! Looks like it works well for what you need it to do. Would not work for me since I live out of town on the flats where the wind howls thru sometimes 90 mph + & if we get 3" of snow, then I will be looking at 3'+ snow drifts.

Since I don't move as much snow as you do, I probably can't help other than a rule of physics that says the bigger the bucket the more you can get into it unless the extra weight will tip your tractor over or not allow you to move as fast on the front wheels or not have enough hydraulics to pick up the bucket very fast.

However for anyone else to help with specifics, they are going to need to know what tractor and loader models you have, hp rating, loader lift rating, your hydraulic system ratings, singles or duals, tire chains, etc.

Otherwise Tractor Vet answered your question.

Good luck.

I guess I understood that from the original post, but personaly I'm thinking something just has to be wrong with your set up.

Other than plugging with wet snow if you don't feed it fast enough, I just have never heard of such a thing. I even figured out a way to keep it from plugging in real wet snow. I simply keep enough dirt and gravel going through the blower so it don't plug up. Well that is what the lawns seem mto look like come spring anyway.

I know some have already taken the snow blowers out in the corn stocks to clear a path for dropping round bales in. That seems like a stretch, or at least asking for troubles any way.

I have an IH 784 diesel, which is about 65 hp. It is a single with FWA. I am not sure about the load lift rating or the hydraulic rating, but I can tell you that it has no problem picking up a 2000# 4x4 bale of alfalfa. I usually feed the lighter 1300 - 1500# round bales, but have fed the 4x4's before.

If you can't get a blower to sink down thru the snow because it is hard packed, you sure won't be able to get a big bucket to. The blower is alot heavier than a blade and if your top link is adjusted correct, the moldboard on the blower will cut under the hard pack. I occasionally have to use the bucket at an angle to scrape right down to blacktop but even then, with the front wheels off the ground to get enough down pressure, I come in with the blower to clean it up.
You haven't said what tractor you are using, if it is some beast like a 1466 or a 5020, then an over sized snow bucket might work better because you have the weight to make it take a good bite. But if you are using anything much lighter than that, you will still be better off using your blower, cocked at the right angle and maybe with some extra weight thrown on it. I use an 84" blower on my 720 and will fill a couple feed bags with sand and throw those on top of the blower. With the right angle on the blower so the moldboard hits the ground, 90% of the time it is scraped right down to blacktop. I have a 1/8 mile up hill the whole way driveway at the barn and have figured this way works best for me.

I have the skid loader QT on a New Holland MFWD tractor here, use an 8ft snow bucket on it and it works great. If ground isn't frozen they will dig up some dirt easily. Cuts the time down a lot. This is in a yard in a valley, no drifts to deal with. Never handle the bigger buckets without 4x4, not on 75hp tractor anyway.

Bill R

Most skid steer snow buckets have a high back and you can't see the cutting edge. They work well but you have to be careful in heavy wet snow as they can tip the machine forward. If you want to make long trails for feeding an angle blade works better. A skid steer works great moving snow but can only push so much. An angle blade lets you keep going. If you need to get under hard packed snow, just tilt the blade forward a bit. I put a 7 ft. heavy duty blade on a skid steer cause I didn't have a snow bucket at the time. I temporarily just tacked it onto the quick attach frame. I had it straight and couldn't angle it. It dug up the really hard packed ice and snow in parking lots better than a curved new grader blade on the bottom of a snow bucket. It rolled all the chunks too. If I needed even more down force, I tilted the blade forward and it scraped right to bare pavement no problem. Off of pavement, I think you'd want some skid shoes so you didn't start digging up grass and dirt. Dave