These plates were HEAVY. Each of the plates shown weighed about 25 pounds, so the two together weighed over 50 pounds. Trying to wrestle that around while lining up the drill press was a bit of a trick.

If you have a mill, that would be the way to go with certain holes like this. For another project of this magnitude, I would get one of those milling vises for a drill press. While it wouldn't be big enough for pieces like this, there were other pieces that it would have been handy for. As it was, I did a lot of unclamping, repositioning, and reclamping. But I can't imagine attempting this project without the drill press.

I had read that when using 6011 rod, ideally you should use the "whip" method, where you hold the rod in one place for a short period of time, then "whip" it forward and back, allowing the puddle to freeze a bit and not coming back as far as you were. When done right (it was stated), it should look like a series of overlapping dimes. Overall I didn't think my welds came out too bad, for an amateur.

As it was, I did have some distortion. I ended up running beads along the opposite side (and grinding this down) to distort things back in the other direction. I was quite satisfied with the results.

The big holes in the front do not have any purpose. These two pieces started out being bucket links. I needed a 1-1/4" hole in the end and tried to do it on the cheap with a hole saw. But the holes were too loose to hold the bushings that would need to go through them. I had to break down and buy a 1-1/4" drill bit. These pieces became scrap. However, now I could use them here.

The main bracket was built on the bench. Now I'm clamping it up for welding to the frame.

Note the red-handled pin is holding one of the axle tubes in place.

This is something else I needed to learn about. For those who are not familiar with the concept, this was actually a purchase of seven components – an input section, an output section, four work sections, and a properly sized set of tie rods to bolt the whole thing together. You don't necessarily buy a valve that fits your application. Instead, you buy pieces that "stack" together to get the desired valve configuration.

I spent several hours on-line looking for 4-spool valves that would work before I started to understand this concept.

The bucket and sides are made of 1/4-inch steel. Templates for the sides came with the plans, and my steel supplier simply cut them to match.

To create the initial curl, I purchased a 10,000 lb. rated load binder strap at a discount tool house ($12.99) that had the flat hooks on the ends. I laid a 12-inch firewood log in the middle of the plate, hooked the load binder to each end, and started cranking it down. I did take some care as to where arms, legs, fingers, etc. were in case something gave. Actually the most difficult part was getting the initial bend started. Once the plate started to "give" and curl, it went more easily.

Once the initial curl was complete I started tacking in the sides. I tried using a pipe clamp to bring things in as suggested by the author of the plans, but didn't really have much success for the amount of effort expended. I ended up going back to the load binder.

In the end, it fit up pretty well. I had a 1/4 inch gap at the middle of the curl, and I simply sledge-hammered that closed. Then I ran a full bead all the way around, both outside and inside. Used the grinder to smooth it off a bit, and voila! Most people who have seen this, including my mechanic friends, are amazed that this is a fabricated bucket.

This picture shows clamping up the brackets in preparation for welding them to the back of the bucket.

Something to consider. This is a towable backhoe, so I wanted road-worthy tires. Also, because this will be used in who knows what kind of terrain, I wanted larger tires so I wouldn't get caught in small ruts or holes. These are 15-inch 5-bolt wheels with truck tires on them. (The 5-bolt hubs were only $1 each more than the 4-bolt hubs at NorthernTool.com, so I opted for the 5-bolt.)

A word about color. Of course, color is a very personal thing, and how you paint your home-built piece of equipment is up to you. We discussed color as a family and decided together what color to use.

I haven't seen a black backhoe before, but once it was suggested, I liked the idea. With the red-handled pins and red cylinders, I'm very happy with the final result.

Of course, one limiting factor was that the color would have to be available in Rustoleum Enamel. Fortunately, black was not a problem.

Of consideration, however, is the fact that if this is being towed down the road, black will not be as visible as other colors. When I purchased the paint, I saw that Rustoleum also has a very nice Safety Red and Safety Yellow. Had we not already settled on black, I may have gone with the yellow. (And nothing says I can't repaint in awhile, either.)