As far as stops go, I don't recall any of my New Hollands having stops. Internally, inside the cylinders as they're fully extended is the only stop I'm aware of. And when it comes to modifying the existing cylinders you're asking for trouble. BIG trouble. The section of rod exposed is there for a reason. It's called geometry. If you change the geometry which is currently there to limit rollback while limiting or controlling how fast the bucket slams back AND maximizing power in the pullback---and steadily and firmy hold the bucket there. If you shorten/change the geometry, the bucket may not even come fully back depending on the line-of-pull through the pivots---in fact it may even encounter an over-center condition---which means you'll not be able to dump the bucket . If it does pull back, it may not stay back and it'll act like a rubber band during movement or transporting. I know what I'm talking about---I had a supposed "hydraulic engineering shop" make a new rod for my backhoe loader bucket that was 3/4" too short. When I rolled it back it slammed so hard that it cracked the mounting points. Also, if you shorten the rods, you'll lose that much or more (depending on the geometry) when it comes to dumping the bucket. What you propose is possible but ONLY if you chnage the geometry by relocating the pivot points AND changing the complete cylinder/rod combos (I"ve seen it done on other machines). Is it practical? Nope. Is it cost effective? Is it likely to fail or cause damage to something? Maybe. Like I said before: just buy the factory-made attaching plate and be done with it. But make sure it will meet your expectations in that it will roll back like you want with newer buckets.