Toothbar or No Toothbar?

[ymarianne]

What's the upside/downside of getting a toothbar on my FEL? Also, do most people have bucket hooks? They seem like a no brainer. Thanks.

[greg_g]

Up side (for me):

• strengthen leading edge of bucket
• able to break into rock piles (or frozen piles)
• Can tear sod (to a shallow depth)

Down side: haven't personally found any. But I can imagine it would be inconvenient to have to remove toothbar to use another bucket accessory (like pallet forks or bale spear).

//greg//

[Gizmo2]

Having a BH attachment I see no benefit of a toothbar but I do see drawbacks with leveling material with a toothbar.
The problem with a BH attachment is it is a chick magnet.

[JDHornet]

I built a toothbar for my bucket last year, I'll never be with out one again. I built it to use the factory holes on my John Deere bucket but I've never taken it off since installed. It's great for hay laden manure, cleaning up brush from a downed tree, digging into clay, and the list goes on. Haven't had a down side yet. I can see where back blading to smooth an area wouldn't work to well, but I don't do that enough worry about. Almost forgot, I did put chain hooks on the bucket near the factory reinforcements. I made the mistake on my first tractor of using a large slip hook off a broken log chain, it's what I had around, that was a mistake because you couldn't just drop the chain on the hook and it stay. On my second tractor I welded two chain hooks, one on either side, the standard kind that the chain won't slip through, much more useful.

[dillo99]

I got one last year after putting it off for quite awhile - definitely worth it. I have a backhoe too but it is nice to need it a little less. As for leveling, can be done with the heel of the bucket and that is probably better for the loader anyway. I take it off in the winter since the loader is part of my snow removal process. Takes 10 minutes to remove/replace the toothbar.

[LBrown59]

1*

Originally Posted by Gizmo2

Having a BH attachment I see no benefit of a toothbar but I do see drawbacks with leveling material with a toothbar.
The problem with a BH attachment is it is a chick magnet.

2*

Originally Posted by ymarianne

What's the upside/downside of getting a toothbar on my FEL? Also, do most people have bucket hooks? They seem like a no brainer. Thanks.

1&2*
What with owning both a BH and a Tiller I see no need for a tooth bar.

[Gizmo2]

Originally Posted by LBrown59

What with owning both a BH and a Tiller I see no need for a tooth bar.

With owning most attachments known to man and the number of tractors used as an implement in itself, your opinion does not count.

[dirt ditch]

Never used a tooth bar. I have a bolt on cutting blade on my bucket. It strengthens and protects the front edge. I do a lot of leveling by back dragging and the bolt on blade works well for that. The rippers on a box blade are probably the next best things for loosening soil when doing loader work.

Bucket hooks are a given. Handiest things next to a sky hook.

[Tig]

I use the bucket hooks a lot.
I though I would need a tooth bar, but that idea has faded. The ground I dig in just isn't that hard.

[GeneD14]

I use a Markham removeable tooth bar, it only takes about 10 min to remove or install. When driving into a pile of clay dirt with the bucket it is like having 30-50% more horse power because all of the force is concentraited on the small sharp tooth ends. I can still grade using the back edge of the bucket. I take the tooth bar off to scoop loose dirt or rock off of a lawn that I don't want to tear up. I also take it off for snow removal.
Bucket hooks are great, use them alot. There are tons of threads on these forums about the best way to attach or space bucket hooks. Good Luck!