Mine broke at the weld where the tooth is welded to the bar. i just lost another tooth again last night. Granted, I'm not babying it, but they shouldn't break off. My tooth bar is flat, so the only support the teeth have is the weld. I ordered one from Gator and I'll see if that works better. The one from Gator is not a flat toothbar and the teeth wedge into the cutting edge of the fel which gives it more support. These are pictures of the first toothbar that I broke teeth off of. The new toothbar broke the same way.
It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't lose the teeth when they break off, I can always weld them back on, not that I should have to. You just don't know when they break off and I can't find them.
I would say that the inherent design of a flat tooth bar will render the teeth not as strong as a tooth bar where the tooth utilizes the under lip of the bucket for added support. I would think that in most cases the weld holding the tooth would be sufficient to hold the tooth unless used in extreme conditions or utilizing a loader with very strong hydraulics.
I am going to buy a tooth bar for my loader at the end of the month and had my mind set on a flat one but this post has certainly given me thought at to the design and possible issues of the flat tooth bar under extreme use.
I also have a Markham and can say only good things about it.
Thank you for posting
Ixicc. Apparently, some design and process refinements are in order to make the flat alternative completely viable. Sure would like to have you test a Markham.
larry