My tooth bar for the L3130 arrived yesterday.

[smittyd3]

Our toothbar from Markham Welding arrived yesterday. A friend of mine helped me install it. He welded a piece of 1/8" metal on either end of the toothbar mounting plate to make it extra snug. He hammered it onto the bucket cutting edge, it fit snug on the cutting edge. He suggested tack welding it in a few places since I told him I wasn't planning on removing it. He told me if I get ready to remove it bring it back and he will remove the welds. After all that he drilled the holes and installed the bolts. I put the bucket on the tractor, but it was dark and beginning to sleet so I didn't get to try it out. The bar was 236 and shipping 61.

 

[sanman]

good price,
do you have any pictures?

 

[PineRidge]

If you're fortunate enough to have a snow free climate then I wouldn't remove it either.

Here in Ohio once the weather starts to get cold we take the tooth-bar off for the winter and replace it with the replaceable smooth edge. It's much easier to use the bucket for snow removal duties once the change has been made....

 

[KiotiJohn]

You'll be very pleased with what you'll accomplish with the toothbar. However, I would be reluctant to weld mine on as I find it very useful to remove it to smooth dirt I've been leveling. Without the toothbar on, backdragging the bucket, I can really get a nice smooth surface on dirt that i can't quite accomplish with my boxblade alone.
So easy to take off, and no real need for welding as the bar stays right where it should with just the two bolts.
Of course, we all use our tractors differently and no harm done as the welds can be removed if need be, as you said. John

 

[F100Panel]

Clearly understood every bucket shape & operator preference is different. For myself I have a friend who was a professional heavy equipment operator for near 40 years. He's taught me many time & equipment saving tricks. Once watching me back drag with the front bucket edge he pointed out I was really stressing the tilt cylinders. He advised the way he was taught was to roll the bucket up fully & use the rear edge of the bucket. I'll be dipped if it didn't work well, all the stress was on the loader arm pins & I could carry a full bucket with me to spread/backdrag when what I was work/leveling dissappeared... With the bucket full you can use the weight to pack it down as you spread it & still leave the loader in float as you back over the rough spots........ Just threw that out as an idea to try & see if it works for you...

 

[Freds]

On my other tractor I had an angle welded to the bottom of the bucket so that when you would curl the bucket back, like you said, the angle could be used as your edge. The bucket didn't tend to float up and over if you hit a rock with the edge.
Just another idea.

 

[smittyd3]

I kind of know what you are talking about on the back dragging.
I work at a kaolin mine. The first loader I operated was a 980B, the operator giving me instructions was great, that was back in 1974. During the time from then until the early 90's I operated the 980B, then a Kawasaki 95 Z II and ZIII, which are nice handling loaders. We mined the kaolin, loaded trucks, cleared land and other things with those loaders. All those loader had teeth. I can grade better with a bucket with teeth than a smooth edge. It seems like the smooth edge tries to dig in or gouge the land, with a tooth bucket I can get a better feel for what the bucket is doing. I have about 3 acres of "new ground" that I am going to try to clean up with the L3130 and the toothbar.

 

[KiotiJohn]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( He advised the way he was taught was to roll the bucket up fully & use the rear edge of the bucket. )</font>
I use that method as well at times, but also use the cutting edge. I suppose it makes sense that it could stress the cylinders. I just sometimes can't get what I want out of the bottom of the bucket. John

 

[F100Panel]

The idea of welding an angle on the back of the bucket for a rear cuting edge sounds like a winner to me.. Next time I get the welder plugged in it'll be done THANKS!!!!!! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Not to mention over time, the bucket has to wear thin as it's not a hardened edge.....

 

[Freds]

It worked pretty good. The thing to make sure of is that it is welded at a place where it doesn't contact the ground when the bucket is level and in the down position, but comes into play when you curl the bucket back. I used a 3x4 angle on my old B7500. I prefer to backdrag with a smooth edge, so this allowed me to keep the toothbar on.