A work vehicle is formed from a plurality of ground-contacting motive elements, a chassis, an operator station, a switch, and a hydraulic manifold. The operator station has a joystick having a manually-actuable control element used to actuate the switch. The hydraulic manifold has a pair of primary hydraulic ports, first and second pairs of secondary hydraulic ports, and a control valve. The control valve is actuated by the switch and is adapted to allow pressurized hydraulic fluid to flow through a selected one of the first or second pair of secondary hydraulic ports. Each pair of secondary hydraulic ports fluidly communicates with a hydraulic actuator carried by a work attachment. By actuating the control element on the joystick, the operator can conveniently switch the hydraulic control of the joystick between different hydraulic operations on the attachment without leaving the operator's station.

A material handling bucket apparatus and method comprising a material handling bucket having a bucket front half to haul application material, a horizontally sliding mechanism allowing the bucket front half to slide horizontally, a pair of linkage systems secured to the bucket front half, a loader tractor, a boom, a hydraulic power unit, and a power source. The pair of linkage systems laterally move the bucket front half forward beyond and independent of the opposing bucket back half, parallel to the ground surface, leaving the opposing bucket back half tilted back to be loaded. The bucket front half slides forward; and pivots upward to open with respect to the opposing bucket back half and subsequently reversing or pivoting downward to close against the opposing bucket back half, allowing the material handling bucket to doze, having the bucket front half to slide forward to scoop more application material.

A debris grapple bucket attachment for securement with the loader of a compact tractor, generally used in conjunction with the front end loader of a tractor, the attachment comprising a grapple incorporating a grapple bucket for use in combination with a front rake like member, with the grapple bucket having sidewalls, a formed back wall, all structurally integrated together, with the rake like member being secured with an electrically operated industrial linear actuator, to provide for pivoting of the rake like member from an open to a closed position as when urging debris onto its grapple bucket, and to retain the same, for removal.

An attachment assembly for attaching to a skid loader for operating at a rear of the skid loader is disclosed. The attachment assembly includes boot attachments for attaching to respective sides of the rear of the skid loader; side plates each attached to one of a respective of the boot attachments; and a quick attach plate attached to the side plates. The quick attach plate is configured for quick attachment to a skid loader accessory for performing a task at the rear of the skid loader.

In one embodiment, a tractor bucket attachment may include an attachment head and a loop of flexible cable. The attachment head may include a mounting bracket and first and second cable attachment mechanisms. The mounting bracket may be configured to secure the attachment head to a tractor bucket, the tractor bucket having a front edge. The loop of flexible cable may have a first end and a second end, the first end being attached to the first cable attachment mechanism and the second end being attached to the second cable attachment mechanism. The loop of flexible cable may be configured to ensnare a bale against the front edge of the tractor bucket.

A tractor attachment mountable on a loader boom of a tractor and a tractor attachment kit. In one embodiment, the tractor attachment is a grapple assembly, and the grapple assembly kit includes a mounting assembly, a plurality of clamping units, and a plurality of support units. The clamping units and the support units are removably mountable on the mounting assembly and may be arranged in different combinations on the mounting assembly. Such combinations may range from a single clamping unit mounted on the mounting assembly to a mixture of clamping units and support units mounted on the mounting assembly to several clamping units mounted on the mounting assembly. The clamping units may have alternative pivot points to permit jaws of the clamping unit to close at different speeds and with different forces. One or more fangs may be removably mounted on a clamping unit to enhance its grip.

A plow conversion kit includes a frame having a frame proximal end, a frame distal end, and a top surface extending between the proximal end and the distal end. A fixed bracket is fixed to the top surface of the frame. The fixed bracket has a fixed bracket proximal end and a fixed bracket distal end. A hydraulic cylinder has a cylinder proximal end pivotally connected to the fixed bracket and a cylinder distal end extending distally of the fixed bracket. A mounting bracket has a lower end pivotally connected to the fixed bracket distal end. A mount arm has a lower end pivotally connected to the mounting bracket. A pivot bracket has a lower end pivotally connected to the frame distal end, a central portion pivotally connected to the cylinder distal end, and a top end connectable to an upper portion of the mount arm.

A method of operating a loader having a clamshell bucket operationally connected thereto, wherein the clamshell bucket has a first clamshell portion pivotably connected to a second clamshell portion, including positioning the first clamshell portion in contact with the ground, and automatically adjusting the angular relationship between the first clamshell portion and the second clamshell portion as the second clamshell portion is moved through the ground to maintain a predetermined grade.

An loader is provided that has a body which is pivotable in a mid-section, a primary linkage pivotally mounted to the body, a secondary linkage pivotally mounted to the primary linkage, and a grapple pivotally mounted to the secondary linkage to carry a load positioned forward of the body. The improvement includes means for determining the positions of the primary and secondary linkages, and means for measuring the weight of a load being carried by the grapple. The control system has the capability of receiving from the means the positions of the primary and secondary linkages and the weight of the load and calculating whether the load is in an unstable position. If the load is unstable, the operator is prevented from moving the load to a more unstable position, but is not prevented from moving the load to a more stable position.

A material handling bucket apparatus including a material handling bucket and method of use thereof. The material handling bucket includes a bucket back half and a bucket front half. The bucket back half is configured to engage a loader. The bucket back half includes a plurality of guide slots and a dozer scraping lip configured to engage a surface. The bucket front half is pivotally coupled to the bucket back half. The bucket front half includes a plurality of slide members receivable in the plurality of guide slots. The plurality of slide members are configured to slide within the plurality of guide slots to allow the bucket front half to move linearly and pivotally relative to the bucket back half.