Today I made a video with Marvin, who was going to convert his Kubota pin-on bucket to a Kubota bucket quick attach. He only lives about an hour from me, and I’ve always wanted to show all my viewers how the how a tractor quick attach conversion works.

Marvin’s 60HP Kubota – No Quick Attach

We asked Marvin to describe his tractor, and he said,  “It’s a used tractor that we bought when we moved to the farm a couple years ago. We were told we would need a four wheel drive with about a 60 horse power engine. We were lucky to find a used one, and we love the tractor. It’s four cylinder Kubota, but it did not have quick attach. We found out pretty quick that that’s the way to go.”

I was pretty excited that we were going to change that today and that I could film the whole process for you.

Now, this tractor has a unique situation — a curved back bucket. And it’s a heavy bucket, so we want to keep it. We’re going to put on the quick attach that’s available on my website. We’re going to have to take the bucket to a nearby welding shop. The guys there know what they’re doing, so we’ll have them fix the quick attach plate.

Taking The Bucket Off

First thing we’re going to do is take the bolts out of the pins on both ends of the bucket, but for now we’re leaving the pins in. Then we’ll turn the bucket back over, and since we’ve got a hook on the bucket, we can lift it up and move it into the back of the truck with a chain.

While I filmed, Marvin knocked out the pin bolts on both ends of the bucket, and then he removed his bucket level indicator. I was really glad to see that hook on the loader bucket! Without it, once these pins are out, you have no way of moving the bucket around. But with that hook on the bucket, you can put a chain around it and hoist it where you want it. Now the pins should be easy to remove, and once they’re out we’re going to pick the bucket up, put it in the truck, and go to town. (and by the way, keeping those pins greased will really help when you decide to remove them.)

Mounting the Quick Attach Plate

Now that the bucket’s off, we need to attach the new quick attach plate on the front end loader part. We’ll just need to mount that up, and the two of us will line up those holes where they need to be in the cylinders. We’ll put those pins back in, and we should be good. This, as you might imagine, is always an easier job with two people.

By the way, you want to be sure to have the holes lined up before you punch that first pin in. We got it lined up, got the first pin in, and then Marvin got the second pin punched in. And just like that, the tractor is now quick attach.

Marvin and I both agree that it’s too bad tractors couldn’t all come like this from the factory, but quick attach plates can change your life.

Time to Put the Bucket Back On

We brought the bucket back from the welder. The other part of the quick attach assembly was welded to the front of the bucket, and it looked really good. One thing to know is that it’s really critical to keep the pin angles on the quick attach the same as the bucket. Whatever angle your pins are when the bucket is flat on the ground should be maintained. In other words, the angle should be the same as when it was a pin on bucket. We told the machine shop that we wanted the quick attach plate to be welded on at the same angle as the pins were, up and down. They did it just right, and any implement that fits a skid loader will now fit Marvin’s tractor.

Marvin said he’s going to get some orange Kubota paint, and that his new quick attach bucket is going to look like a factory job when it’s all done. It took us about an hour total to get the face plate on the front end loader, and after we got the bucket back from the welders, it didn’t take much time at all to finish off the job.

Looking for a quick attach for your tractor?  Here’s a look at the rest of our quick attach line up.