Bucket for your ATV
#1
02-14-2003, 10:03 PM
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Bucket for your ATV
Anybody have a bucket on the front of their ATV? I saw one in a Tractor Supply store and was wondering how well it worked or didn't. The name of the company that makes the bucket is Swisher. Check out the website for more info.
http://www.swisherinc.com/solutions.html
Since you can't apply down pressure I'm courious how well it would dig. And how much stress it would put on the front of your ATV. I have a SP600 and not sure if it would even fit.
http://www.swisherinc.com/solutions.html
Since you can't apply down pressure I'm courious how well it would dig. And how much stress it would put on the front of your ATV. I have a SP600 and not sure if it would even fit.
#2
02-15-2003, 05:18 AM
Bucket for your ATV
that's funny! just when i thought i'd seen everything! LOL
i can't imagine that bucket doing any HD work. i think you'd kill your front end or lift the rear right off the ground.
when i plow up to a snow bank and try to raise the plow under load, the front end dives. can't imagine what it would be like with a bucket trying to lift snow.
it is a neat idea....innovative!
i'm thinking about the belley-mounted finish mower myself!
-MT[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
i can't imagine that bucket doing any HD work. i think you'd kill your front end or lift the rear right off the ground.
when i plow up to a snow bank and try to raise the plow under load, the front end dives. can't imagine what it would be like with a bucket trying to lift snow.
it is a neat idea....innovative!
i'm thinking about the belley-mounted finish mower myself!
-MT[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]
#3
02-15-2003, 11:42 AM
Bucket for your ATV
I saw that setup too. I recently bought the accessory mount and plow. Thought I'd give that much a try before I got the bucket. The accessory mount comes with leaf springs that take a good portion of the weight off of your suspension and put it out on the A-Arms. When you use a winch to lift the plow (and presumably the bucket), initially a lot of the weight is on the suspension. But, once you get the plow (or bucket) lifted up, the weight is distributed much moreso on the leaf springs. So... I wouldn't worry too much about stress on the front end of the ATV. It will compress the suspension a little bit but I don't think it'll be a problem. (mtpockets, with this system, I am able to do what you described without any major "diving" on the front end - but then it is only a 50" blade so that has to be taken into consideration)
As for how well it would dig... I envision the bucket working well for moving piles of dirt or whatever around, scraping top soil, etc, but for digging holes, it probably wouldn't work well. But, the weight of the bucket and the teeth should make it pretty good at doing the other tasks I mentioned. I believe they told my dealer it would lift about 250 lbs.
Finally, as for whether it will fit your SP600, the answer is Yes. I have an SP700 and got it mounted on mine. The length of the mount that goes under the ATV is adjustable, that's how they say it "fits most ATV's". I have a brush guard on my SP700, though, and with that on there my ATV was too long and it actually wouldn't fit without some modifications. I came up with a system that was pretty easy to make and actually works better than theirs, though (true 'quick-release'), and I'd be happy to share more info if you're interested. I could also provide pictures if you're curious as to how it mounts.
Bottom line... their instruction manual really sucks, but otherwise so far I'm pretty happy with the performance of the plow.
As for how well it would dig... I envision the bucket working well for moving piles of dirt or whatever around, scraping top soil, etc, but for digging holes, it probably wouldn't work well. But, the weight of the bucket and the teeth should make it pretty good at doing the other tasks I mentioned. I believe they told my dealer it would lift about 250 lbs.
Finally, as for whether it will fit your SP600, the answer is Yes. I have an SP700 and got it mounted on mine. The length of the mount that goes under the ATV is adjustable, that's how they say it "fits most ATV's". I have a brush guard on my SP700, though, and with that on there my ATV was too long and it actually wouldn't fit without some modifications. I came up with a system that was pretty easy to make and actually works better than theirs, though (true 'quick-release'), and I'd be happy to share more info if you're interested. I could also provide pictures if you're curious as to how it mounts.
Bottom line... their instruction manual really sucks, but otherwise so far I'm pretty happy with the performance of the plow.
#5
02-15-2003, 11:09 PM
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#6
02-15-2003, 11:42 PM
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#8
02-18-2003, 02:38 PM
Bucket for your ATV
Supposedly the bucket lifts just high enough to dump. That definitely limits what it can be used for, but I still think for about only $300 (assuming you have the mount already) it would be worth every penny. Tennfire, how do you want me to get you the pics? Can I just email them to you or do you want me to put them out on the web somewhere?
As for the "ATV Groundhog"... that thing looks like it will do a lot more than this will, but for $2250, it should be able to. I doubt it's as easy to remove as the Swisher bucket, though, so it would significantly limit what else you could do with the ATV. I could see buying a used ATV to mount that on, but I couldn't see putting it on your primary ATV.
As for the "ATV Groundhog"... that thing looks like it will do a lot more than this will, but for $2250, it should be able to. I doubt it's as easy to remove as the Swisher bucket, though, so it would significantly limit what else you could do with the ATV. I could see buying a used ATV to mount that on, but I couldn't see putting it on your primary ATV.
#9
04-19-2003, 05:13 PM
Bucket for your ATV
Now that Spring is here and I was eager to put the ATV to use, I decided to pick up Swisher's dump bucket. I mounted it on my SP700, using the same mount that I had my Swisher Plow mounted on all winter. I used it to patch up a couple gravel driveways that were in pretty rough shape after the winter. I thought I'd post a little review of it since it seemed there was some interest before.
In terms of volume, the bucket is 44" wide, and while it can't haul a huge load, for $300 it sure beats a shovel and wheel barrow. I'd say you can get 5-10 shovel-fulls in the bucket at a time, which is less than a true 'bobcat' will do, but for the cost I'll make a couple extra trips, especially since I consider it play, not work.
As one might guess, with a full load, the weight does get to be a bit of an issue. The mount it uses does have leaf springs up front, so it doesn't really do too much to the front end. The mount extends all the way to the rear of the ATV, though, so with a full load the back end is "tempted" to lift off the ground. It didn't quite lift off, and I was usually standing, not sitting, plus I only weigh about 160 lbs. But, keep in mind the extra weight of the SP700 - in this case it's definitely a benefit. Bottom line on this... a light rider on a light ATV might be an issue, but otherwise I think you'll be fine.
Someone also asked how well the bucket will dump. That depends partly on how high your winch is mounted, I would say. My winch is mounted in the compartment in the front bumper. With that setup, I am able to lift the bucket high enough so that when I dump it (by pulling a rope), the teeth just touch the ground. In order to fully empty the bucket I had to back up a few feet, but that was necessary anyways in order to re-latch the bucket. One thing I found that I didn't like was that with a full load, it was really tough to pull the rope to dump the bucket. I hooked up a little pulley system, though (kind of like a ****** block), and that seemed to work much better.
I didn't really think you'd be able to dig at all with it, but it turns out I was wrong. The winch is used to raise/lower the bucket, and by lowering the bucket to the ground and then letting out a little extra slack, I was indeed able to dig into the ground. When you drive forward the teeth dig in and the bucket tips down, and then a quick tap of the throttle and you've got a bucket full. You'd have to dig a layer at a time, but it's definitely do-able.
Perhaps the nicest feature of the system was that the bucket and the plow use the same mounting system. When I was done moving all the gravel to where I wanted it, I unhooked the bucket and hooked up the plow (total time about 30 seconds), and quickly leveled everything out.
I think that pretty much answered all the questions I saw in this thread... but if anyone has any others, I'd be happy to answer them. I had also offered pictures before but never made good on that offer, so if anyone's interested let me know.
Munzzzzzzz
In terms of volume, the bucket is 44" wide, and while it can't haul a huge load, for $300 it sure beats a shovel and wheel barrow. I'd say you can get 5-10 shovel-fulls in the bucket at a time, which is less than a true 'bobcat' will do, but for the cost I'll make a couple extra trips, especially since I consider it play, not work.
As one might guess, with a full load, the weight does get to be a bit of an issue. The mount it uses does have leaf springs up front, so it doesn't really do too much to the front end. The mount extends all the way to the rear of the ATV, though, so with a full load the back end is "tempted" to lift off the ground. It didn't quite lift off, and I was usually standing, not sitting, plus I only weigh about 160 lbs. But, keep in mind the extra weight of the SP700 - in this case it's definitely a benefit. Bottom line on this... a light rider on a light ATV might be an issue, but otherwise I think you'll be fine.
Someone also asked how well the bucket will dump. That depends partly on how high your winch is mounted, I would say. My winch is mounted in the compartment in the front bumper. With that setup, I am able to lift the bucket high enough so that when I dump it (by pulling a rope), the teeth just touch the ground. In order to fully empty the bucket I had to back up a few feet, but that was necessary anyways in order to re-latch the bucket. One thing I found that I didn't like was that with a full load, it was really tough to pull the rope to dump the bucket. I hooked up a little pulley system, though (kind of like a ****** block), and that seemed to work much better.
I didn't really think you'd be able to dig at all with it, but it turns out I was wrong. The winch is used to raise/lower the bucket, and by lowering the bucket to the ground and then letting out a little extra slack, I was indeed able to dig into the ground. When you drive forward the teeth dig in and the bucket tips down, and then a quick tap of the throttle and you've got a bucket full. You'd have to dig a layer at a time, but it's definitely do-able.
Perhaps the nicest feature of the system was that the bucket and the plow use the same mounting system. When I was done moving all the gravel to where I wanted it, I unhooked the bucket and hooked up the plow (total time about 30 seconds), and quickly leveled everything out.
I think that pretty much answered all the questions I saw in this thread... but if anyone has any others, I'd be happy to answer them. I had also offered pictures before but never made good on that offer, so if anyone's interested let me know.
Munzzzzzzz
#10
04-21-2003, 08:19 PM