Just my thoughts as a professional (certified) welder/fabricator, and a certified welding inspector. 1) Definitely need a thicker back plate. You said you used thicker steel, I didn't catch a thickness. I would recommend @ 3/8" at least. A 5/16" will get you a lot, but over time you will beat this up, so 3/8" is my minimum recommendation. I'm not sure that a 1/2" plate would be what you want, due to weight. You can get the strength increases by more and thicker braces. 2) Back bracing. Tubing can give you a lot, although triangle shapes are the strongest, structurally speaking. Increasing the size and thickness of the angle iron, and of course increasing the stitch weld lengths, number and positions, and size (thickness of weld expressed as the "leg" of the fillet weld) will also net you increased gains in bucket strength and structural integrity. You may also consider adding a second reinforcement to the front side of the plate, along the lower edge. It can be another angle iron part either mirroring the rear brace or as an "L" shape backed against the bottom edge, and the bucket would notch out over it, and seal weld around it. You can possibly add yet another piece of angle iron a few inches up from the bottom. This one I would place the opening of the angle against the plate. Again, notch the bucket and seal weld around where the bucket crosses the angle iron out to about 2" from the bucket. This would give you even more strength to the bottom part of the backplate, while not being in the way of a skid steer mount. You may consider another top brace on the front as well. But I think most of your stresses will be on the bottom of the back plate. Increasing the sizes and thickness of the angle iron braces and their welds, and adding a second or even third to the bottom may be all that you need. As you add braces and strength, the stress forces will find your next weakness, lols ;) For a tractor only mount, both sides become fully open for added braces. But having one simplified design for the bucket itself regardless of attachment would be better for production for you, I think. 3) Welding. As you are increasing the loads being placed upon this new bucket, and you have thicker steel members, you can and should increase the size of your fillet welds. I have seen good welds in your videos and product pictures. Some advice: increase the sizes of the welds to be at least the same size as your structural members. A 1/4" steel part gets a 1/4" fillet weld. A 3/8" piece gets a 3/8" fillet weld. You measure a fillet weld size by it's legs, or the thickness of the weld from the root (center/corner) of the joint formed by the two pieces of steel to the toe (side edge) of the weld. Also, when you reach the corner of a piece, make sure the weld wraps around the structural member and does not just stop at the corner. Keep weld stops and starts at least 1" away from all corners wherever possible. The corner is the point of greatest stress, and weld stops and starts are the points of greatest potential weakness and problems. I am sure you have seen many cracked welds over time, and almost every one will be a fillet weld that stops or starts from a corner. Even when you come to the end of a part, wrap the corner of the part on the end. Even a 1/4" "L" at the end of the weld will prevent most weld failures. All welded surfaces should be clean bright metal. You are using a wire feed welder, so do not just weld over the dull grey mill scale. Also keep grease, paint, oils away from your weld zones. Porosity should be eliminated, and ground out and re-welded. All weld beads should show a thin bright "line" at the toe (edge) of the weld. This will show you have good fusion at the toes of the weld, so you should have good fusion throughout the weld. I hope I have helped you in some small way. As I said, the welds I have seen in your videos and product pictures, and the overall quality of fabrications looks great! And so, I think you have good people designing and fabrication and inspecting your finished welded products before coating them. But still, it is worth being said. Improving weld quality takes time, which costs money and increases cost of the product. A high quality product is always worth the time and money. I think your new HD Stump Wrecker will be another huge success!!!

That "2-cents worth" is worth about 400 bucks.

Haha, I'll let him know!

I agree, thank you sir!

Possibly so...worth consideration, thanks for sharing!

Definitely could chain and drag. I'm gearing up for a major hillside clearing operation. Will give me plenty of opportunity to see what works best!

I thought it looked like the bucket has a chain drop hole just above the GWT logo (not sure what the correct name for them actually is).

Thanks LC!

Yeah, already got that field test lined up with many different machines :) Have a great day John!

Yeah, but can't see the digging edge from the seat.

Yeah it was 50+ here today

Yeah, nice dirt here for sure!

Glad i live in the loess hills in iowa lots of nice dirt granted the yellow clay in the hills can be pretty damn hard most of the flatland is pretty nice soil though

Probably depends on the area. Digging out trees is just one of many uses for this bucket.

Can bolt on either side...users choice 😄

😂😂

@@GoodWorksTractors put me on the list I need to order one!

😂😂

Yeah it does! Nothing new in CA yet, hopefully in 2022.

Yes… that makes sense, use leverage

Thanks for watching!

Thanks Jason, it's a lot of fun to use!

What bucket do you recommend for a 2 series

Yeah, I thought that could have been it too

Haha, so was I! But, lots of us have small tractors, so gotta show what they can do too 😀

Lol, yeah but the cost! Nuff said. CHEAPEST used e35 in the USA on MachineryTrader is $26,000. www.machinerytrader.com/listings/search?ModelGroup=E35&Manufacturer=BOBCAT&Country=178&sort=2

I recall reading that somewhere, but didn't know how much merit it had. By that measure, this is a lake, not a pond.

I only know that it is the way the US defines it, I think Canada is the same, but I know some other countries either do not use this metric at all, or only use it for "new", that is unnamed bodies of water, and if a pond was named a lake historically because it was quite large, lake it remains by their standards

Depends on tractor model?

@@GoodWorksTractors Massey Ferguson 1835E

Definitely, thanks Karl!

Crossed my mind! facebook.com/456182054727301/posts/1603219260023569/?d=n

Similar to a regular loader bucket, it becomes about feel after you get used to it. Very little would be gained by opening a window into the back frame. You'd still very seldom see the leading edge. More seat time will give you the feel.

@@GoodWorksTractors There's a huge difference between sight directing a bucket than a short V shaped piece of metal that's totally shadowed by the back plate. Even putting it in neutral and standing up, you still can't see the position of the bucket when it enters the ground. If it were me, and feesable, I'd remove the back plate or reduce the size. at least with a backhoe you have total visual and control. But hey, it is what it is.

@@Hotdog22958 I know the problem you mentioned. It was for me for a couple hours to get the hang of it. Probably just takes longer for some than others. Same with a bucket, forks, grapple, anything else where you can’t see the leading edge. Learning curves will vary.

@@GoodWorksTractors MTL John Deere Loader Long Bottom stump bucket. This has a cutout back plate and it's actually cheaper than the GMT

Thanks for watching!

Yeah, maybe so. Worked better than I thought it would.

So far, breaking bolts hasn't been much of a concern. However, the replaceable teeth did fail as intended. Thanks for watching!

@@GoodWorksTractors I know it's not what you designed it for but it seemed to hold up pretty good to the skid steer for the little bit that you used it. I would have to say being used on a tractor it would probably last a long time seeing how it did on the skid steer Good work

Morning Sir !

@@SummertymeJamz Good Morning!

Good Morning Mark!

Mornin JW!!

@@GoodWorksTractors Gm !!

Yes, spend 10, 20, 30x the amount of this bucket and I would sure hope it's faster. Who didn't already know that?

Who said anyone is constantly peeling stumps out? Just another tool to use when appropriate.

Sorta! If you lean around. However, you get a feel for it quickly based on the angle of attack even without seeing the leading edge. Seldom a miscue after getting the feel.

I have the original GWT Stump Bucket and I usually have someone in front as a spotter to tell me the best point of entry and angle. I tried doing it by myself and found I was getting on and off the tractor a lot.

Made the podium!

That's why my buckets are much more compact. 400+ of my mini buckets in the field and no reports of loader damage. Damage occurs with those long, oversized buckets that exert very large loads. Well, plus guys who are treating their tractors like they don't care what happens. But me? My excuse is I gotta be harder on everything to make sure it holds up under normal use. 👍

I think the backing plate on the SSQA adapter saved it from a lot of damage.

Haha yeah! Love mine 😂

Makes sense. Don't buy an inexpensive tool for the tractor you already own. Buy an entire skid steer instead. 🤦‍♂️

@@GoodWorksTractors Thats what I thought - The right tool for the job, or, employ someone with the right tool for the job - No point in buying one just because you have something it fits on, it needs to work of course. Makes Sense doesn't it?

Nonsense.

I wish! Would be a blast to watch them work!