Received Markham Tooth Bar

[bandit67]

I never welded on the reinforcing squares either. I just attach them, like washers, to the outside of the bucket each time I put the toothbar on. I've not had any issues with the bucket bending.

That toothbar has been great for moving tree stumps, roots, brush, and weeds. I call it my poor man's grapple. Sorry, my pics only show the toothbar on the bucket, but no good brush moving action shots. By the way, that toothbar can dig a mean hole in some serious hardpan, dry concrete-like clay. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[N80]

I'm seriously thinking about one of these tooth bars.

I have not done much metal work. How hard is it to drill a hole in the bucket. I have a heavy duty 1/2" drill but all my bits are mulitpurpose and not made strictly for metal. What size and type of bit will I need?

 

[IslandTractor]

The bucket is made of mild steel and the bucket side where you drill is only about 1/4 inch. I did it with a battery powered drill in about 20 seconds max.

One word of advice (and I am interested in what others say): be careful in drilling both holes at once. I marked the holes after putting the toothbar on the bucket then drilled both. After attaching one side even loosely, it was difficult to get the bolt in on the other side (I stripped it). In retrospect, I would have drilled one side, attached the bar loosely then marked the spot for the second hole with the bar in place. It was not a big deal (I needed to file the hole a bit to allow the new bolt to seat properly), but it could have been avoided.

 

[IslandTractor]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( That toothbar has been great for moving tree stumps, roots, brush, and weeds. I call it my poor man's grapple. )</font>

Exactly. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I am still thinking of putting on a grapple but the difference between the naked bucket and the bucket with toothbar is like night and day for removing brush and popping up roots. I especially like the fact that I don't need to use chains nearly as often when moving stuff I've dug out with the BH (photo) or just ripped out of the ground with the FEL. I haven't needed to do any serious digging with it yet but I am sure it excels there as well.

 

[MadReferee]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have not done much metal work. How hard is it to drill a hole in the bucket. )</font>

Go to the local hardware store and for a couple of bucks buy a cheap bi-metal hole saw (the white ones) to fit your bolts. These will drill thru the bucket sides like a hot knife thru butter as the bucket is only mild steel.

 

[IslandTractor]

I did mine with plain multipurpose drill bits. They might have titanium coating but I don't think that was critical. As with any metal drilling, use some oil to lubricate the bit as you drill. It really only took about 20 seconds to drill each hole using an 18v hand drill.

 

[3RRL]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( In theory I think the stress on the bolt holes would only come from the levering action one might use with bucket rotation/break out movements.)</font>

You're exactly right.
Since the primary purpose of my toothbar will be digging, uprooting and breaking loose, I am going to weld those side plates on. They help distribute the stresses imposed to the bucket sidewalls over a larger area. And since the bolt is a 1/2"Ø and the bucket wall is 3/16" or 1/4" thick, the wall could mushroom out, elongate, maybe even crack before the bolt breaks. Heck, then all the force would be absorbed by the bucket's leading edge and maybe...???

Don't know if that would happen, but I could see it happening...you know... Murphy's Law. I'd rather have a 50 cent bolt to shear than my bucket walls. I'm sure that's whay they include them. Just my opinion, though, used to know a little about stress analysis and stength of materials...blah blah blah, now I don't know diddly squat anymore. Just glad to be here to learn some more.

 

[KCinBr]

I installed the Markham toothbar yesterday, took about 15 min. Drilling the bucket is no problem, I used a battery drill.

Be sure to remove any dirt from the area where the bar fits. I took a hammer and tapped the bar tightly into place and then clamped it to the bucket before drilling. I used the existing holes in the toothbar as a guide for my drill and just drilled from the inside through those holes into the bucket.
I have not welded the reinforcing peices on yet but will probably do so today.

I gotta say it really makes a huge difference in how well the Fel works, I'm planning to dig to china before lunch time today /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif also picking up bruch and briars and rocks is much better.

 

[Bedlam]

Sounds and looks like a good bar, does anyone have a link to the site? thanks
AL

 

[GaryE]

Markham Welding