Luckily I'm in The True North!!
But they have there ideas for sure, just like we have our own!
Speaking of Scandinavian, was thinking of putting a S30 hitch on and a set of buckets? Is that the way to go, I had started looking when bought the machine but just got to busy, I'm basically starting from a fresh start, and don't have any legacy attachments, or what would you do if you'd a blank sheet
I would definitely do that. Many of us (myself very much included) wish we'd done that to start. I've only just got my micro onto S30!
I have seen an awesome Scandinavian setup with a U10, actually sent to me by Ollie Kitchen, who is sadly no longer with us. But think it might be right up your street.
Be aware, there's two sizes of S30 - 150 and 180. Relates to pin centers. I would imagine 150 would work a bit nicer on the little U10 but you'll probably find them hard to come by
I really like the look of those little tilt hitches. Have to say though, on a micro, I think I'd still stick with a standard S30 hitch and run a tilt grader when required. Every little bit of build height is workign against you on a micro, but I reckon he's already found that out with that hitch!
I woiuld go with S30-180 rather than S30-150, for reasons of commonality, especially if you then purchase a 1.9t or 2.7t machine which will also run S30-180 happily. You will need dedicated buckets for each weight bracket still, but it;'s very handy being able to use a lighter bucket on a heavier machine for delicate work around services etc- plus being able to share ripper, pecker and other attachments that span weight classes.
When it comes to buckets for a micro, your priority should be weight. This will be the hardest bit to get right- I would imagine most firms would just weld an S30 coupler onto a 1.9t class bucket, which is basically useless. I don't know how hard you find importing things from the UK, but that might be the easiest way- put a pallet together of everything.
Here's a photo of my S30 hitch with grader. Also the new bucket set from BMC. There's a story here which I wanted to share with the forum also.
Having dealt with Robert at BMC for a number of years, I asked the weight question regarding a new S30 micro set, and when the figures he gave me were within a couple kg of the existing Bobcat pin Strickland buckets, I jsut said 'send them over'. When they arrived, I was very disappointed. Look at the size difference. I called him up in a bit of a strop and said 'I wanted a micro bucket, not a teaspoon!. He was insistant that if I wanted the weight we agreed on, that was the size. It was awkward as we had a good relationship going back years, but these obviously weren't right- but he was adamant that he couldn't make them any larger without weighing a lot more. There were also a few other things like the cutting edge not being chamfered (I mean, wtf?!) whcih complicated things further,
After a day or so I took it upon myself to weigh them. Up to 12 kilos
lighter than the weights he'd told me! Turned out there was an error in his measuring/software weight calcs. After another phone call he saw the problem and agreed to redesign, using me as a test peice for a new shell size for modern micros which after all weigh around 1.2t, not the 800kg of old which the first bucket set would be more suited to.
The second set arrived, free of charge, and are perfect in both design and size. Good capacity, slightly longer toe but not stupidly long (that's the last thing you need on a micro bucket, constantly at full lift tipping into tracked barrows etc). Nice cutting edge. Understandably he didn;t want the first set back, and actually, they are just the right size to come in handy for delicate work under the tilty on the E19.
All that to say, if you want a decent bucket, you need to go to a specialist company who care, and BMC I have always found to be just that.
The last set of pics show the old Strickland buckets on Bobcat pins, and both BMC buckets next to each other,
