Best way to fix bucket

The bucket on my backhoe needs some TLC. One of the mounting "ears" is bend outward. The bucket in the picture is not mine (much too shiny) but it shows just what is bent.
My question is, what is the best way to straighten and strengthen it. As far as I can tell the weld is not cracked. Should I grind all the weld out and weld it back on straight or heat and hammer it back into place and weld in a brace or something else?


Maybe it would be better if I post an actual picture of my bucket so you can see exactly what I mean. I'll do that later if necessary.

You can try heating it and beat it back,or find a fabricator with a press to bend it back.
Or you could try and bend it back the way it got bent in the first place.
The pin came out of the other side and bent that ear.
Tom

I did think about how it happened, not while I have owned it (about a year and a half) but it does seem to be getting worse the more it is used. I do know the pin is bent and the bushings are in rough shape so they'll all have to be replaced. I guess that makes sense, if all were together as it was supposed to be it would never have bent like that, especially since the other one is fine.

I've seen that happen a few times on customers machines over the years so I've had a bit of experience with the problem. The problem bending them back is that the pin holes have to line up. Given that the metal stretched when the ear bent it's near impossible to get it bent back to exactly the right spot, to where the pin will slide in and not have to be driven in with a sledge hammer. Not saying it can't be done but just saying it can be a real time consuming PITA, especially if it's bent mid ways and not directly at the weld joint. Even worse is if it has a bend that isn't at a 90 degree angle to where it's supposed to be. Often the best choice is to cut the ear off and line it back up using the pin as a guide. First get everything tacked down good and braced apart. I usually tack a piece between the tops of the ears to insure the proper distance is maintained. Then begin welding, occasionally checking the pin to insure it's not binding, and alternating sides of the ear as you weld so it doesn't draw too far one way or the other.

Straightening or welding an ear like this isn't always as easy as you'd think it is and it's kinds hard to explain everything here but I hope I've at least given you some ideas of what to look for and do. Good luck.

I guess the first thing to do would be to get a new pin and bushings so I can line it up properly. Then cut/grind it off and start to line it up. I have a neighbor with lots of experience fixing and building things like this, I will probably get some help with this one. I am inexperienced with welding etc. so it's probably better done by someone with some skill!

(quoted from post at 10:57:23 04/11/11) I guess the first thing to do would be to get a new pin and bushings so I can line it up properly. Then cut/grind it off and start to line it up. I have a neighbor with lots of experience fixing and building things like this, I will probably get some help with this one. I am inexperienced with welding etc. so it's probably better done by someone with some skill!

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I agree with NCWayne. Heat/beat is an iffy proposition at best. I got a 12" bucket that didn't fit my backhoe, so I had to cut off the ears and move them both outboard. After cutting them off with a sawzall, I made a spacer "box" out of plywood to the exact ear "spacing" dimensions I needed. I then inserted 2 pieces of scrap steel tubing with an OD very close to the ID of the pin holes through the 2 sets of holes on the ears to align the ears to each other. I put a steel rod with washers through each tube and used this to clamp the ears on each side of the spacer box.

I now had the ear holes aligned and the ears at the proper spacing for my TLB. I located this setup on the bucket and because my sawzall work was not precise, the fit at the new location was not all that good on the back of the bucket. Didn't matter though. Just had to do a little more "gap filling" with the welder (Lincoln AC225 buzz-box). Like NCWayne said, I put some tacks on at each end of each ear and then alternated my welds so no one area got too hot. The mass of the bucket sure does help in keeping things relatively cool. Did it over a couple of days. When I was all done, the tubes and spacer box came out and there was little to no distortion. Pins slid in and out very easily through both ears and the spacing was pretty near dead nuts. Haven't tried digging with it yet to see if my welds hold up, though. :roll:

good luck.

I would weld a couple pieces of pipe on top of both ears and put a 1" fine tread ready rod trough them,heat up the ear and pull that bend ear back in place with the rod nuts.
Use the bucket pin as a guide till the ears line up again.

A big bolt or all thread and heat it up draw it back in place.Another way would be to make a tool that you would cut out of a thick plate of steel that would slide over the bent piece.Heat it up and with a long pipe on your thing you made pull it Back into shape.Cut the piece kind of like jaws on a crescent wrench with a long enough piece for a handle that you can slide a pipe over it and put a lot of pressure on it. Probably 1/2 inch thick would do it,but thicker would probably be better.Or Heat and Beat,but that is going to take a lot of beating one something that thick probably.Plus you wouldn't want to batter up the end of that hole or you wont get the pin back in.

Get a piece of shaft the same diameter as the pins. When it's aligned correctly the shaft will slide through both holes.

If one ear is straight, tack some heavy flat bar or angle iron on the top edge of it down to the bucket to keep it from moving. You don't want to have 2 bent ears. There may or may not be bushings in the bucket ears but you need a new pin that fits the mounting holes properly. Depending on how much the ear is bent, you may be able to pull it back straight. Measure the distance between the ears where it isn't bent and make a steel spacer to fit between the ears so you don't pull it back too far. If you get a big enough threaded rod you might be able to pull it cold. In that case you might have to pull it slightly more to allow it to spring back straight. You could weld the nut on one end of the threaded rod on the outside of the bent ear. If you had a helper, he could turn the nut on the other side while you hit the welded nut with a big hammer. I don't know how thick your bucket is but I'd go bigger than a 1" threaded rod and use grade 8 or a B7 stud. If you have to use heat, apply the heat from the inside of the ear as it will help pull the ear when it's cooling. It might not need very much heat. (The less heat the better as too much could stretch the steel) That's where the spacer would come in real handy. You could leave everything tight until it cooled off.

If the ear is bent at the weld, heat the inside weld and the heat will help pull it back. If it's out a lot, you could grind the inside weld out and reweld it. The heat from welding will help pull it back. Again having an inside spacer would help.

You could tack a 3/8" or thicker flat bar on the outside of the bent ear and try hitting it with a BFH too. If the pin is real close but doesn't quite fit, you could use a flap wheel in a die grinder or a carbide burr to lighty dress the pin hole(s)so the pin fits. Once you get the ear straight and the pin fits, you could put some triangle gussets on the outside of the both ears so they don't bend again. Hope this helps.