Seeking bucket advice

Hi David,
Until recently i was like you with just one piece of equipment and it will be fine for what you are planing.
Adding a tow ball to your blade allows the use of a trailer for shifting material around your property.
Here in aus allot of buckets for the small machines are chosen to correspond with trench size for footings on site.
I have a smaller machine and prefer 450mm but i have worked your size machine a lot and it should pull 600mm ok.
I see your 300 bucket has holes for side cutters which I use on all my buckets which will cut and extra 2 inches so you can add or remove them at will.
When i was operating your size machine the 600 was the most used digging bucket but if you struck any shail or light rock your machine will dig better with 450.
Tiger teeth also helps in tough ground and a ripper is a must if you have rocky ground.
Your 300 will dig drainage trenches but finish will be horrible unless you bolt a piece of plate on your teeth to improve the bottom.
The width of your thumb can be a pain if your doing alot of narrow trenches.
You might consider a 4way bucket which will save you fitting a thumb and i find more useful for farm work.
On my smaller machine i have a mm mud bucket with reversible blade but i would recommend wider for yours.
It is hands down most used bucket and if you get close to a hydraulic tilting one even better.
sorry about metric but you can convert.
Have fun.

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Tracks are not that hard to change. They are more intimidating than anything, like putting your backhoe on the first time... I've done it a few times. Use the bucket to lift up the frame on that side and block the frame up real good. If you can, put a sheet or two of plywood underneath where the track goes to help you slide the track inward without it dragging in loose dirt/clay/etc.... usually where ever you ' get ' to work on it when the track comes off. Most excavators use a piston filled with grease to push out the front idler wheel and tighten the track. You let the grease out of that, then push/make sure the idler retracts all the way back with the bucket. Working with an other piece of equipment with a set of forks help a lot if you are taking the old track off and installing a new one. You can put a nylon strap on the track by the collapsed idler and horse that end off, then do the sprocket end. Some tracks are directional, and you have to reinstall them in the correct direction if so. But you basically lift the old track off, then put the new one on the sprocket end first. Then use the bucket or forks or whatever to horse the other end over the idler. Pump the grease back in, and you are good to go. Lots of videos on it online, again, lots of ways to do it.... Andrew Camarata is a good source.... the tracks are REAL HEAVY. Drive sprockets usually last a very long time on rubber tracked machines. Even on normal metal tracks they wear very slowly under most conditions. Again, the best hyd thumbs pivot on the same pin that the bucket does. Thumbs work best if the fingers of the thumb at a boot the same length as the bucket teeth. If you have more than one bucket, that could be a problem with different ones. Aftermarket hyd thumbs pivot on the stick above the bucket pin, and really only line up with the bucket teeth in a certain area. Same with manual thumbs. This is not a real problem, but if you are looking for the best set up, you want the thumb pivoting with the bucket. With a manual thumb, you lower the thumb manually [ with some this is a quick/simple process ]. To pick something up, you roll the thing away from you or track away from it to get the thumb in a good position to grab it. Not that hard once you do it awhile. Andrew Camarata uses them all the time, and if they are good enough for him..... I'm sold.

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