Backhoe Ripper tooth design - need your advice

   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice #1  

bluehog

Bronze Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2010
Messages
89
Location
Glendale, AZ & Quemado Lake Estates, NM
Tractor
New Holland TC35D 2001
I have followed several of the great threads here on rippers for some time. I know many of you have purchased or fabricated your rippers. I thought that starting a new thread would be advisable. I actually started asking this in another thread and felt that I was "high jacking" as I know I'll have more questions. Any and all input as to what has worked as well as not is what I'm looking for.

I find myself in situation that I need to remove a couple dozen stumps from my property in the New Mexico mountains. The trees are pine so I am not dealing with the hardwoods... but I still want something that is not going to need replacing. The ground is loaded with volcanic basketball sized rock in a sort of clay/caliche (sp?)soil.
My equipment is a NewHolland TC35D with Woods BH9000 backhoe.

In reviewing what has been posted here and those pics that were provided, I have noticed that the relationship of the point to the locator pins seems to be different than that of the actual digging bucket.

See the photos attached to see what I am describing. In these pics I have extended my backhoe to it's fullest reach and placed the dipperstick against the ground, also the bucket is in full open position. The front teeth of the bucket do not touch the ground <1/8" above. What are the advantages or disadvantages of maintaining the point location to actual bucket design?

Pic 1 shows duplicating bucket location
ripper_view.jpg

Pic 2 shows what MIE style point to locators
ripper_view-2.jpg
 
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   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice
  • Thread Starter
#2  
Next item of concern:
What did you use for your tip? How is it holding up? I was thinking that it would be wise to use a replaceable tip for the ripper point. Something like Esco 18VIP Tiger tooth.
18VIP.jpg

Is this a good idea? Where can I obtain the weld-on adapter for use on a ripper? The ones I have seen online are all designed for buckets and look like the orientation is off 90 degrees.
 
   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice #3  
I don't think a ripper is going to be much use in the fully extended boom/dipper position, no matter what its orientation is. When you curl it, there's not much is holding it down. Your pic2 orientation may be an orientation that is effective in a more useful part of the boom/dipper range of motion.

It seems that on Islandtractor's thread, there was some question about multiple holes on the bucket and which one to use. My Case 480F manual mentions this. If you pick the hole that lets you reach way out to dig, it doesn't allow you to curl the bucket far enough not to spill when you lift the bucket up and load a truck, for example. Conversely, the other hole won't allow maximum reach but will curl further for loading a truck. Pick your poison.
 
   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice #4  
I have never compared the actual reach and curl limits with standard Woods bucket versus my MIE ripper. The ripper fully extended extends the reach of the BH but still curls in enough that it cuts most roots on the first try. However, as I've never had a ripper that extended less but curled more I don't know if that is the best configuration or not. The MIE ripper design was worked out by myself and MIE based on a design I saw of a ripper made by a British company for much larger excavators so the overall shape and proportions resemble that one but scaled down.

Regarding the tip, I do not have a replaceable tip and I wouldn't want one. You want the tip to be narrow enough to slice easily through both ground and roots unless your primary purpose is to tear up rocky ground. The narrower the tip and blade, the easier it will cut roots. For my purposes a narrow knife edged (well 45% or so) seemed best and I have no complaints. It hasn't worn noticeably in several seasons of use. If it ever does, I'll just build up the worn area with new weld.
 
   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice
  • Thread Starter
#5  
Regarding the tip, I do not have a replaceable tip and I wouldn't want one. You want the tip to be narrow enough to slice easily through both ground and roots unless your primary purpose is to tear up rocky ground. The narrower the tip and blade, the easier it will cut roots. For my purposes a narrow knife edged (well 45% or so) seemed best and I have no complaints. It hasn't worn noticeably in several seasons of use. If it ever does, I'll just build up the worn area with new weld.

What is the width of your tip? 1.25"?
What is the width of the tip support? 0.75" ?
 
   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice #6  
   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice #7  
It won't make a whole lot of difference since you have lots of rotation with the bucket cylinder. If you have adjustable linkage holes on the bucket, the further apart gives the most digging force and the closest together gives the most curl but less digging force. A word of caution though, I wouldn't be reaching all the way out and ripping in hard ground or difficult tree roots. Way more stress on the boom and pivot points. I say this from experience. While hooking on some frost with my boom almost fully extended, I ripped the top swing mount right off my Cat backhoe and also bent the lower 1 1/2" thick bottom mount. A very poorly placed grease fitting significantly added to the failure(that's where the crack started) but the pivot pins are 2 1/2" diameter. It was a pretty big job welding it back up and I'm sure it would have cost a few thousand $$$ to have someone else fix it. Sometimes being a welder is a good thing. If you're ripping, you want to have the stick basically vertical so there's less stress on the swing pivot. You never see a big excavator fully extended when ripping or doing heavy digging.

Series 23 teeth with the rubber mount pins in the side would be good for a ripper. The pointed teeth won't last as long as the straight ones. If your backhoe has any power at all it will rip out roots. You could put a double bevel on the shank for cutting roots but the tip will still wear the most and it's nice to be able to replace it easily in a couple minutes. Any heavy equipment or industrial supply that has ground engaging tools will have teeth and adapters.
 
   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice
  • Thread Starter
#8  
   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice
  • Thread Starter
#9  
It won't make a whole lot of difference since you have lots of rotation with the bucket cylinder. If you have adjustable linkage holes on the bucket, the further apart gives the most digging force and the closest together gives the most curl but less digging force. A word of caution though, I wouldn't be reaching all the way out and ripping in hard ground or difficult tree roots. Way more stress on the boom and pivot points. I say this from experience. While hooking on some frost with my boom almost fully extended, I ripped the top swing mount right off my Cat backhoe and also bent the lower 1 1/2" thick bottom mount. A very poorly placed grease fitting significantly added to the failure(that's where the crack started) but the pivot pins are 2 1/2" diameter. It was a pretty big job welding it back up and I'm sure it would have cost a few thousand $$$ to have someone else fix it. Sometimes being a welder is a good thing. If you're ripping, you want to have the stick basically vertical so there's less stress on the swing pivot. You never see a big excavator fully extended when ripping or doing heavy digging. .

Points well taken! I will change my design so the ripper point is more central to the bucket pins. This should allow a closer distance to the item to remove (stump, rock, etc.) with the dipper more vertical and allow for more bucket curl motion rather than loading the dipper or boom. Makes it easier to see work at hand as well. :thumbsup: Wish I had the welding experience... I know an awesome welder at work that I hope will help on my project.

Series 23 teeth with the rubber mount pins in the side would be good for a ripper. The pointed teeth won't last as long as the straight ones. If your backhoe has any power at all it will rip out roots. You could put a double bevel on the shank for cutting roots but the tip will still wear the most and it's nice to be able to replace it easily in a couple minutes. Any heavy equipment or industrial supply that has ground engaging tools will have teeth and adapters.

I appreciate the recommendations on the tip and adapter. I found a local supply house HEM (Heavy Equipment Machinery )in North Phoenix that I will visit and take your suggestions to see what they have available. I am seriously planning on the replaceable tip as the majority of my projects after the initial stump removal is all going to be exposed rock removal and narrow trenching. I think having the option to smack out a pin and replace a tip is a better choice for me and my location. Thanks again!
 
   / Ripper tooth design - need your advice #10  
I welded on a piece of AR400 to my ripper which is a very abrasion resistant steel. It won't hardly cut with a grinder. If i had it to do over again i'd try putting the cutting teeth on the inside instead of the outside. The 1" thick plate was a bit too wide for my hoe but would be probably about right for yours. When I curl it under a root with the boom extended I can pull the front wheels off of the ground. The limitation is not curl force, but lifting in the boom and crowding in the stick. I want to make a quick attach for my bucket and the ripper because the ripper is hard to get on and off. It's much heavier than the bucket. I found that overall it's best to use the ripper in conjunction with a sawzall that has a 12" pruning blade.
 
 
 
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