[letmgrow]

Get an overweight driver to drive you around while you're in the bucket.

 

[letmgrow]

I like the cage built from the water tank frame. My son and I have worked together for quite a few years out of the tractor bucket using a safety harness designed for a hunting tree stand.
I had a lot of experience along with my son when we both belonged to our town's volunteer fire department working out of the bucket of the department's 100' platform aerial fire truck.
The only time I got a little concerned was the night we went to a restaurant fire 20 miles from home on the riverside. It was just above zero and the wind was strong. We were about 80' in the air and the mist was blowing back and freezing to our turnout gear. When we turned the deluge nozzle on with 150# of water pressure the bucket would sway back about 20' like a high powered rifle recoiling then it would sway back some. The whole crew took 15 minute shifts in the bucket. When we came down we had a crew using axe handles to crack the ice on our gear so we could walk. Luckily a couple restaurants opened up and provided us with hot chocolate and coffee and a place to warm up before it was our turn to go back up in the bucket.
A memorable evening to say the least. I guess going a few feet off the ground in a bucket to trim a few branches doesn't offer much challenge for us. We prefer to do it on sunny days though.
Lynn

 

[letmgrow]

There is no point in building a platform for a tractor with your own hands.

You're right. That's why I let my son help me convert a cage from a 250 water tank held on by ratchet straps and using a safety harness left over from a ladder stand I don't use anymore. Four hands are better than two.
Cost? 0 dollars. Works as well as any you could buy.