Just so we're all on the same page here, since Rocket referred to the step on the bucket having been bent, I'm assuming that he's talking about the bucket on a skid loader.
I don't think any skid loader I've ever run has had a hook on the bucket. There may be several reasons for that. First, the skid loaders have always been the lightest machine on the job, and as such there was always something heavier that had the required hook on the bucket. Second, many do have that step, right where you'd like to mount a hook. Third, and probably most importantly, skid loaders are more susceptible to tipping over frontwards than larger equipment types. If you're going to use a bucket mounted hook for lifting anything heavy, chances are you're going to want to carry it some distance. We all know the hazards of carrying the load high, especially in a skid loader. Last, if you're going to be pulling anything, the operator's seat is a little too "up close and personal" to the hook. If the chain lets go, you've already got your face right where it's going to snap back into.
That having been said, I've seen some hooks mounted to a piece of heavier steel, say 3/8 or 1/2 inch thick, and that steel welded to the bucket. For a lighter duty bucket, that'll spread the load out enough to minimze bending of the bucket itself. I've also seen some hooks, (say on track loaders with a spill plate already mounted to the top edge of the bucket), that have a hook mounted near the top edge, but inside the bucket. In that application, the hook has been mounted so as to be able to move freely. If it was simply welded to the inside of the bucket, rolling the bucket forward would likely result in whatever rigging was attached to it, simply falling off. Some sort of very sturdy eye, with a clevis through it, and the hook hanging on the clevis, would work there.
I'd still be wary of doing too much with a hook mounted on a skidder bucket though...
