Down the Front End Loader Rabbit Hole

 Couple of weeks ago, I bought a tractor.  It's a low-hour Kubota L3400 with a front loader.  It's at my son's house right now, because he is an equipment guy, an ace mechanic, and he needs to do some dirt work around his place.  He will use it until the spring moving season, then we'll trailer it out to the family property.

I was remembering some tractors from my youth, and those that had loaders were often accessorized to make it more convenient.  Chain hooks and clevises were the two most often seen, but I've been watching YouTube videos and it seems that a receiver hitch might also be a useful accessory.  Now I have to figure out what I want and how I want to mount it.

Welding directly to the bucket is always an option, but I've seen other guys wend the hooks to plate steel, then either bolt or burn the plate to the bucket.  Choices and decisions.

While watching YouTube videos, I saw something that intrigued me.  That big ol' steel tube that reinforces the loader is wasted space.  That might be a capital place to store chain.  There are a couple of hacks to make this space useful and keep wasps out of it when the tractor is not in use.

If I could find an end-cap to fit that hole, that might be just the ticket.  Other guys have made a sliding drawer from PVC pipe to use that space.  Options and decisions.

Oh, and that tiny tool box that Kubota put behind the seat.  Yeah, we need to do something about that too.  I'll need a place for a handful of hitch pins, a couple of crescent wrenches, and a screwdriver.