muck bucket

[Brainfarth]

We have 2 more large jobs roll into the shop a few weeks ago and now we're plugging away at them. One is a 54" buck bucket and a 30" version of the 54". What makes these unique is that after he drills and fills the bucket with dirt, he reverses the bit and closes the door. Then he pulls it out of the hole and smacks the trigger and the lid assembly pops open to release the dirt. Here are some photos of the original and some of the work we have started. I drew on these pictures with paint.net to aid in the cad drawings and if any questions came about as the project progresses. They are going to take the old drill away shortly.

[Magnetic Mechanic]

Well if that ain't as slik as snot on a doorknob.

[farmersamm]

Some equipment designs are amazing. You gotta wonder who comes up with the ideas.

Do you use cold drawn extrusions for your hinge barrels.

I used to be able to get 1022 cold drawn stuff in just about any wall thickness, and .010 over on the bore to fit a standard cold roll pin size. I can't get it any more. A 1" id extrusion is exactly 1", and I have to ream it oversize until I get my lathe up and running. Then I can just take a few thou offa the pin instead.

This is the kinda stuff I enjoy workin' on. Looks like it's coming along really good

[lars66]

I have done some repair on smaller versions of the ones in the pictures , also made up a variety of fishing tools when the contractor lost one 100" down the hole.

[flatbustedbroke]

100"(inches) or 100'(feet) down in the hole? I guess at this size its a pain either way but 100' down in a hole is whole lot more of a pain the a**!

[lars66]

Originally Posted by flatbustedbroke

100"(inches) or 100'(feet) down in the hole? I guess at this size its a pain either way but 100' down in a hole is whole lot more of a pain the a**!

flatbusted, 100 feet, well 97' actually.

[Brainfarth]

The center pin for the drill face is 3.5" id with 5" od pipe and the hinge is 2" cold roll round stock(I think) with pipe machined 2" id and 4" od. I made a little more progress on the bit today. I had to burn some T1 which the cutting bits ride on, which required a 30 degree bevel on the end, so I set it up on edge and propped it to the side of the table to get a nice clean cut. The slag fell off when I dropped it on the floor. Then I started assembling the kelly box assembly. And the last picture is of the bits welded out and ready for placement. Most of the bucket is mild steel. The kelly box, latch assembly and various drill face components are T1.

[farmersamm]

You really have a well equiped shop. The track torch is fantastic. Shear, and other goodies. It represents a lot of hard work and saving up to buy, and hard work to keep it busy. It looks like you've done well.

The work reflects your drive to get to where you're at now. It's really nice stuff. I don't recall ever seeing anything crappy come out of your place.

How much for the gumballs???

[Brainfarth]

The gumballs are free if you can get them unstuck. The metal muncher has been a life saver. But it hasn't paid off it's 65k price tag yet.. Maybe a few more years down the road.

[Brainfarth]

Over the past week, we managed to place and weld the teeth to the AR plate, weld out both kelly boxes and welding in the latching arm. I'll have closer pictures of that later when we cut things lose and open the tops for the last of the welding. The rotating lid is held in with a 3 1/2" pin that is threaded. The second photo is of the stop to keep that side of the lid from spinning and allowing the hinge to bust apart trying to hold it shut. I'm sticking around a few hours late tonight to do more work on the teeth and fill in all the little gaps under them.

[farmersamm]

Wow, even the teeth are set at different angles along the bar. Nothing straightforward about the job at all.

[Brainfarth]

So here is the rig with the new bit attached. A pic with it open, and a pic of me welding on the 30" bit.

[farmersamm]

Really enjoyed watching this. The size of the bucket really comes into perspective when it's mounted on the truck.

[lugweld]

Is there some overtly masculine statement with that last pic?
Good work...Are the teeth replacable? I see the shanks are weld on. but I can't see whether the teeth are pin on or weld on. What brand are they?

[Brainfarth]

Yeah, the last photo is a bit much. My co-worker thought it was funny and snapped the pose, so I went with it... One style of the teeth are a twist on with a rubber that prevents the tooth from twisting back off. The other is a straight on design with a pin.

[daddy]

Great job Brainfarth.

[Brainfarth]

Soo.... After a little over 200 hours in labor, countless hours behind a tape measure, they were shipped down the road yesterday and today. Now I can finally catch up on all my little projects.

[sdonecker]

What kind of money did the customer end up paying for this job?

[Oldiron2]

Are the rectangular cut-outs (seen in the next-to-last shot, on the release lever 'guide' ) to keep dirt from packing around the spring?
To close the hatch, is is just moved sideways while lowering it?
It looks like hard facing on the lower perimeter of one, but not the other? Is that correct, and if so, why?
[You get paid for welding but not for answering lots of dumb questions! ]

[Brainfarth]

Not sure what the final tally is.. We are still adding up materials and machine work.. but to get you in the ball park, over 200 hours at 65 an hour for our labor and 85 an hour for all the cnc plasma work.
The cutouts are access for the springs. they are under pressure, so you have to be able to pry them down just to get the end screwed on. And to open it, we fabbed a wider plate on his machine so when he lifts the bucket all the way up, it trips the latch.
And the hard facing was to be done by the customer to help cut some costs.
I do get paid to answer lots of questions, but the company isnt making any money at that time. Alot of time, it hurts my billable hours in a day. Guess that is what happens when you hire too many green guys at the same time.

[Joker11]

Can I come work in your shop and sweep floors? I bet I could learn alot if I slowed down when I swept by your jobs.

That is way cool.

Thanks for posting up. I hope you get to put tons more jobs on here!

[RancherBill]

Very impressive.

I have never seen anything like these. Are they used for digging footings?