Most experienced skid steer operators will tell you that a skid steer bucket is not a one-size-fits-all accessory. Far from it in fact.
The size of the miniature bucket should not only fit the dimensions and capabilities of the miniature, but also take into account the intended work. Your high-capacity snow bucket may not be a great gravel-moving accessory after all!
In this article, we’ll look at how to choose the right size bucket for your skid steer loader. Stay tuned!
Cover your tracks: How wide should my miniature cube be?
Starting with the easiest part first, let’s look at how wide your thumbnail cube should be. And the simplest answer is: it should cover the track / wheelbase.
A skid steer with a narrower bucket than the base of its host machine will not only have less traction when pushing into a pile of material, but will also have a tendency to compact the pile of material as the tires roll over the material loose that remains the edges of the bucket.
To further complicate matters, for those of us who still grade with a bucket, leaving wheel tracks on the outside of the bucket makes grading difficult.
For this reason, we recommend that you always purchase a loader bucket that is slightly wider than your track/wheelbase. For example, a Bobcat T550 has an approximate track base of 67″, so a 72″ bucket should be considered.
Material weight and bucket capacity
The buckets must be sized taking into account the intended material. That’s why manufacturers go out of their way to make lightweight buckets, general purpose buckets, and heavier low profile and elevated buckets.
If you’re looking to buy a new loader bucket for a specific job, it’s a good idea to know the weight of the material you’ll be working with. Then you can mathematically determine which miniature cubes are the best choice for you.
Let’s take a look at some common material weights.
Weights of common materials
record
land
sand
snow
Calculation of the capacity of a miniature bucket
Now that we know the weight of common materials used with miniature buckets, we can determine how much the material will weigh when the bucket is loaded.
This is an important consideration for both large and small minicarts. For one thing, we don’t want to overload a mini skid steer and risk damage or tipping over. On the other hand, we don’t want to overload a large skid steer, making it inefficient and slower to get the job done.
We will calculate the capacity of the bucket in cubic feet by first determining the stroke capacity and then adding a multiple for the cumulative capacity.
Capacity hit
The hit capacity of a miniature bucket is best thought of as the “level capacity”. This is the capacity of the bucket without overflow.
Right now you’re probably thinking “I’ll always be piling stuff into my bucket, so why should I care about level capacity?” You are right to think that, but we need it as a starting point to figure out the accumulated capacity.
Calculation:
- Measure from the top of the bucket down to the bottom in inches. This gives us the “height” bucket.
- Measure from the front of the cutting edge horizontally to the back of the bucket in inches. This gives us the “floor” bucket.
- Height x floor ÷ 2 x bucket width = stroke capacity in cubic inches
- Stroke capacity in cubic inches ÷ 1728 = Stroke capacity in cubic feet.
Crowded capacity
Now that we know the stroke capacity of our miniature bucket, we can calculate the cumulative capacity. The cumulative capacity of a bucket, as the name suggests, is the amount of material the bucket holds when it is filled to capacity.
A stacked capacity of buckets is not an exact science, but a very close estimate. It may vary slightly depending on the design of the bucket, as well as the material. For all intents and purposes, our calculation below will be close enough.
To perform this calculation, we first determine the accumulated amount and then add it to the stroke capacity.
calculation
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Struck capacity ÷ 3 = Cumulative amount in cubic feet
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Cumulative amount in cubic feet + Impacted capacity in cubic feet = Cumulative capacity in cubic feet
Example: Bobcat S150 bucket moving dry snow
Here is an example. Let’s find out the ideal bucket size for a Bobcat S150 moving dry snow.
According to Ritchie Specs, a Bobcat S150 has a lift capacity of 1,500 pounds and is 66″ wide on the wheelbase.
Choose a snow bucket
We know that we need to cover the wheel base of the skid steer to keep the snow from compressing the outside of the bucket, and we also know that dry snow is usually about 15 pounds per cubic foot. For that reason, we’ll first look at a 72-inch wide high-capacity snow bucket from Berlon Industries
Let’s start by calculating the shock capacity, using the above formula.
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Bucket height measures 31″
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Bucket floor measures 41″
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Height (31″) x Floor (41″) ÷ 2 x Bucket Width (72″) = Stroke Capacity in Inches (45.756″)
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Stroke Capacity in Cubic Inches (45,756) ÷ 1728 = Stroke Capacity in Cubic Feet (26.5 cubic feet).
Next, we determine the cumulative capacity of the bucket.
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Stroke capacity in cubic feet (26.5) ÷ 3 = cumulative capacity (8.8 cubic feet)
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Cumulative capacity in cubic feet (26.5) + Cumulative capacity in cubic feet (8.8) = Cumulative capacity (35.3)
Finally, we multiply the accumulated capacity of our bucket by the weight of the material we want to work with. We can then add the weight of the bucket to the final figure to make sure we are within the miniature’s operating range.
- Cumulative capacity (35.3) x Weight of cubic foot of dry snow (15 pounds per cubic foot) = Working weight of bucket (530 pounds).
- Materials weight (530 lbs) + bucket weight (592 lbs) = total operating weight (1,122 lbs).
From this, we can see that when the dry snow is clean with Berlon’s 72″ high capacity snow bucket, we will lift a maximum of about 1,122 pounds, well within the minicart design specs.
conclusion
The key to efficiency is attention to detail…
Understanding how to get the most out of your skid steer and its attachments is often the difference between being profitable with a skid steer or not.
If you have any further questions about sizing your next miniature shovel, please contact us and we will be happy to help.
