The bucket I got with the plans was 48" and I cut it down to 36". I left the height alone because it is real hard to fill a bucket up to the top unless you have good traction. It will start to fill up from the bottom then out to the two sides and then upwards to the top. By then you will have spinning tires unless you ram the pile (not recommended for the life of your tractor). The one ram for curl will do ok with the smaller bucket however you will want to use the bucket in the dump position for smoothing and spreading so make sure the one ram is stout enough. You are right about these really only being toys. But they are a lot of fun and the more trips it take the more fun you have. I remember the day I had a huge truckload of sand delivered and thought I'd never get it all spread but boy was it fun. I'd dump a bucket and then back over the pile with the bucket in the fully dumped position until it was all spread all the while listening to my Patsy Cline CD.
