Thanks for the updates. There is something that I just don't like about the bucket. I don't think it's realistic enough. Take a look at this link below the examples might help to clean it up.
http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1279&bih=785&tbs=isch:1&sa=1&q=excavator+buckets&aq=0&aqi=g3g-m1&aql=&oq=excavator+bucketBTW 50, 51 & 52 are the best of the bunch.