|
Click each picture for a closer view
|
This "story" and these pictures should show
that you can do some serious work with a Johnny Bucket, especially if you
have hydraulic lift and downpressure. Figure
20 shows the "apex" of the curvature on the slope --
before I was completely finished grading. Directly in line with the
walnut tree on the left, I cut at least 30" off the
slope. This may be more obvious in Figure
21, which is looking down the slope just to the left of those
walnut trees.
Figure
22 shows the view down the slope from the other side of walnut
trees, while Figure 23
shows the view from the bottom, looking upslope. Note
that I still made a few more passes near the barn, cutting the grade down
below the level of the foundation. Figure 24
is a final picture of my "trusty, dusty tractor" made just
before I had to return the digital camera that I borrowed to record this
test. It shows how well the Johnny Bucket held up!
Note that I've since found another neat use for the
bucket when I was raking and leveling this area, in preparation for
seeding. The Johnny Bucket makes a nice, giant "dust pan"
which allows you to rake large amounts of rock, pebbles, trash, etc.,
directly into it, then pick it up and haul it off. No more shoveling
or picking things up by hand and putting them in a wheelbarrow...
I found the Johnny Bucket to be a well conceived,
designed and tested tool that is very useful. It is strongly made,
with obvious high quality. It does its intended job very well -- and
some jobs that were perhaps not intended quite well also. As my 86
year old neighbor (who owns a 7012H to drool over) noted when
watching me grade the slope by riding the tripped bucket -- "You can
do a lot of work with that little tractor, but I'll bet the engineers
didn't intend you to use it the way you are!"
I'd like to end this product review with some answers to
anticipated questions:
Will a Johnny Bucket make your wheelbarrow obsolete?
Probably not entirely, but for moving large amounts of material -- stone,
gravel, dirt, sand, mulch -- it's much faster and a lot more
fun!
Is a Johnny Bucket a total substitute for a front
loader or skidsteer? No, but this is not a valid
comparison, since a Johnny Bucket is a fraction of the cost of one of
those expensive tools. The Johnny Bucket isn't very practical for
loading carts, wagons, truck beds, etc. because of it's limited lifting
height (the Johnny Products site show the use of ramps to help gain the
height needed to load a cart.) Similarly, with a trip bucket you
cannot "dig" nearly as well as the double-action buckets on a
loader, nor will the bucket hold as much. But, you can quickly lift,
move and spread materials with a Johnny Bucket.
Is a Johnny Bucket useful if you don't have hydraulic
lift? While I wouldn't want to tackle a project the size of this
one without hydraulic lift, a manual lift should still work quite well for
hauling and spreading mulch, topsoil, pea gravel, etc. Without the
ability to apply down pressure I'm honestly not sure how well it would cut
and scoop "unloosened" turf or soil. Similarly, I'm not
sure how well it would handle "gumbo, caliche, or
whatever you call clay" in your area, but this one did quite well in
my New England rock farm....
Would I be better off renting a loader or skidsteer
for the weekend? Either one would be bigger, quicker, and allow
you to do more work in less time. The price to rent one of them for
the weekend would be comparable to the purchase price of a Johnny
Bucket. But, the Johnny Bucket still has one HUGE advantage over
renting -- you don't need to take it back on Monday morning!
In closing, the Johnny Bucket Jr., was easy to assemble,
easy to use, and does its intended purpose very well. I think I
"stress-tested" it well, subjecting it to more than the
typical owner will likely ever do. Further, with about 15 hours of
intense use over three days, I feel that I have a good sense of its
capabilities. It is one of those simple, well designed, well
made products that should provide years of trouble free
service.
Click here to visit the
Johnny
Products site and find out more....
|
