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What's Paul up to?

6.5 Fan said:
We also welded hooks on the top edge of the bigger loaders for lifting, use them all the time.
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The really nice thing about bolt on hooks is that you can put them where you really want them and just remove them or move them when they are in the way. Unless you carry liquids in your bucket, holes don't matter - and even then they could be plugged.
 
Welding on the top at the back of the bucket they have never been in the way, lots of holes just back of the cutting edge, usually used for forks allows for bolting on a lot of different things. We even have a hole on the side of the bucket for mounting a hydraulic post hole digger we built years ago.
 
Just dont let OH &S see those welded on hooks if you have a workers compensation account I was working at a company that had similar hooks welded to loader buckets and the were fined $5000 and all the buckets were seized never to be seen again (not U.L. underwitten so not "engineered & tested") . Personally I have no problem with them , used them all the time but those govt boys were very indignant over them.
For my own loader I manuf a couple hooks with chain hooks attached that just hang from the top edge of the bucket , they arent solid to any particular position so I can balance loads to the center of gravity of the tractor acording to weight of what I'm lifting.
 
I also have hitch receivers on the front of my Dump Box ATV and my lawn tractor.

I don't like welded on hooks cuz you can't move them. Plus it wrecks the paint. For the most part, I keep all my hooks and bolts with my chain accessories and pins.

Here are some photos.

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Susquatch said:
Princess Auto sells a 2" hitch receiver that you can bolt to your bucket without welding plates. I drilled holes on the right, left, & center of my bucket to take it.
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I like this version much better. And I just realized that I've had one on the back of my tractor for its whole lifetime without using it - I use the 3-point hitch and tow bar, which I didn't have when I first got the little machine. I'll drill my bucket and move this receiver there when I need it!

Susquatch said:
Bolt-on chain hooks.
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I like this 2-sided hook setup. Beats the dodgy "chain hooked to the top of the bucket" thing I've resorted to a few time. I'll track some down.
 
PaulL said:
I'll track some down.
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Let me know if you can't find them. I got my originals from "Boltonhooks.com" in the USA. But they were expensive and took forever to get here. You can get them on Amazon now for much less and they arrive in just a few days.

Note that many buckets have hollow 2-sided bucket frames. You shouldn't bolt to them without installing spacer bushings so the top brace does not crush.
 
More time in the forge this weekend. Mostly quality-of-life projects. The place actually feels productive now.
The inexpensive 60kg vevor anvil is now set up. Edges need a bit more relief, horn is flattened and polished. Hardy hole will get opened up a smidge next weekend. Stump is brand new, and added a hammer and tong rail around it.
1689607216047.webp

Swedge block has a nice home and a rail to keep it from moving around when working on its face. The nails are perhaps a little extravagant.
1689607355041.webp

Forge also has a tong rail now:
1689607449450.webp

And the new firepot is in place:
1689607691891.webp

Which in turn finally led to making *a thing*. Yes, it's uneven and sloppy, and I should have through-rivetted instead of stub-rivetting, but my belts are now hanging up and sorted:
1689607785055.webp

So I call that a more-than-successful weekend.

Paul
 
PaulL said:
More time in the forge this weekend. Mostly quality-of-life projects. The place actually feels productive now.
The inexpensive 60kg vevor anvil is now set up. Edges need a bit more relief, horn is flattened and polished. Hardy hole will get opened up a smidge next weekend. Stump is brand new, and added a hammer and tong rail around it.
View attachment 36587
Swedge block has a nice home and a rail to keep it from moving around when working on its face. The nails are perhaps a little extravagant.
View attachment 36588
Forge also has a tong rail now:
View attachment 36589
And the new firepot is in place:
View attachment 36590
Which in turn finally led to making *a thing*. Yes, it's uneven and sloppy, and I should have through-rivetted instead of stub-rivetting, but my belts are now hanging up and sorted:
View attachment 36591
So I call that a more-than-successful weekend.

Paul
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No slur intended, just a general observation of our hobby: I wonder how many accountants beat up metal for a hobby?
 
PaulL said:
Yeah, I could totally have just hammered 6 nails into the wall at much lower cost :)

I like to say that I move electrons all week, so on the weekend I try to catch up by moving the rest of the atom!
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I like that quote. As someone that spends a fair amount of time in front of a monitor through the week too (CNC programing) my interest in my blacksmithing hobby is similar.

My Wife and I have a different explanation. Both have very left brained jobs, and right brained hobbies. We're just trying to use our whole brains :D
 
whydontu said:
No slur intended, just a general observation of our hobby: I wonder how many accountants beat up metal for a hobby?
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Without naming names, I have come to know that a few really good machinists on here have accounting backgrounds....

I think our careers get guided by opportunity, luck, and compensation regardless of our inherent talents. But certain genetic talents draw us to machining - especially when our careers no longer matter.

Just my opinion.
 
Susquatch said:
Without naming names, I have come to know that a few really good machinists on here have accounting backgrounds....

I think our careers get guided by opportunity, luck, and compensation regardless of our inherent talents. But certain genetic talents draw us to machining - especially when our careers no longer matter.

Just my opinion.
Click to expand...

The absolute first thing I did with my new (to me) Atlas lathe was spend 2 hours fixing the rotor shaft on a $0.25 toy helicopter. So I don’t necessarily practice what I preach.
 
whydontu said:
The absolute first thing I did with my new (to me) Atlas lathe was spend 2 hours fixing the rotor shaft on a $0.25 toy helicopter. So I don’t necessarily practice what I preach.
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That is the essence of why I have/use tools (of all sorts). I like to fix things and I like to create things as a counterpoint to other things I do in life. Fixing, designing and making things hands on is a relaxation activity!

Back to my stress relaxation milling machine!:D

BTW, nice job on the belt hanger!

D :cool:
 
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I really like the bolt on hooks. They are so easy to add or remove or move.

Want em to face the other way? NP - just undo the bolts and rotate the hook.

Want em inside instead of outside. NP - just reverse the hook and backing plate.

Want em someplace else? Just drill new holes. My front bucket would never hold water. Too many holes in it. But it makes a damn good watering can and an even better shower head for the hairy animals around here......

I think I mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating. If used with a backing plate, most surfaces of a loader bucket can easily handle a bolt on hook. Some can even handle it without the backing plate. Nobody is going to tell you what it is or isn't good enough. I generally assume anything thicker than 3/8 plate doesn't need the backing plate. However, there is one place on many buckets that requires special consideration. It is also a place often chosen. That's the very top surface of the bucket. Here is a photo of the "be careful" if you put it here location.

20230718_135259.jpg


The hook is not installed in this photo. I only put it there to help visualize the location I am describing. It is very common for bucket manufactures to make the top of the bucket with two layers of plate sandwiched together with a gap between them to increase the moment of area and thereby the structural strength of that part of the bucket. This the best photo I could get of mine.

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You can see the web between the top of my clevis pin and the sky. It's basically a U-Channel welded to the bottom of the top plate. It's function is not intuitive. It's a bit like the webbing of an I-beam. It's function is to increase the moment of area of the top structure. The top structure itself is also misleading. What isn't obvious that it sees the bulk of the load in the bucket and is there to stop the bucket from buckling and twisting.

Hooks should not be bolted or welded to a double plate with an internal gap. It is too easy to deform one or both of the plates. Ideally, a better place should be located. But if that's not possible, then the gap between the plates has to be reinforced with through bushings or webbing or simply not used. I simply chose not to use it.
 
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@PaulL - sorry Paul, I missed your question before. No it doesn't move around at all, mind you it only goes up and down the driveway (400-500 feet) so it doesn't get a chance to come loose.

@Janger - Yes I made it, it's modeled after the ones I saw online using steel pieces I had handy and it works very well. The receiver was on sale at PA and was cheaper than I could buy the material. You can get pretty precise parking when pushing the trailer attached to the bucket rather than going backward attached to the rear of the tractor or truck.

Never thought of trying to tow it but it's a hydro drive and I wouldn't want to risk burning something up by towing.
 
So I just bought this:
105131493_934.jpg
About 2200lbs of Acorn (aside - Acorn cast my big 30" 1898 bandsaw as well).
It's cut down to 41"x41", which suits me fine - putting a 5'x5' table in my shop would be challenging.
It is, however, rough - too much time outside, lots of weld splatter, etc. I had thought to find a shop to surface it, and apparently only one shop in town has anything that will handle the mass and bed size. United Engineering quoted me $1400 to do it. I assume that's their "f*** off" price. At that price I'll buy a big angle grinder and flap disk and do something "ok" myself.
Any better suggestions? I don't need machinist precision - it's going in my smithy for a bit of welding support and a bunch of jigging.
Paul
 
PaulL said:
So I just bought this:
View attachment 36955
About 2200lbs of Acorn (aside - Acorn cast my big 30" 1898 bandsaw as well).
It's cut down to 41"x41", which suits me fine - putting a 5'x5' table in my shop would be challenging.
It is, however, rough - too much time outside, lots of weld splatter, etc. I had thought to find a shop to surface it, and apparently only one shop in town has anything that will handle the mass and bed size. United Engineering quoted me $1400 to do it. I assume that's their "f*** off" price. At that price I'll buy a big angle grinder and flap disk and do something "ok" myself.
Any better suggestions? I don't need machinist precision - it's going in my smithy for a bit of welding support and a bunch of jigging.
Paul
Click to expand...
I'd stock up on 60 gr disks from Princess Auto and go to town on that puppy :)
 
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