Tell me about Tooth bars

[KCinBr]

I have a Kubota L2800 with Fel and am considering ...maybee adding a tooth bar.
What do I need to know ?

Are they worth the money......How much money?
What brand?
Do they make all that much difference ?
Are there times when I will not want a tooth bar?
How well do they hold up?

Thanks yall......................KC /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

OH yeah where do ya get-em /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[44trxfun]

KC, type "tooth bar" or "toothbar" into the search function (button near top of page) and you'll find ample info on this handy addition.

 

[RalphVa]

I bought a tooth bar after many recommended it. They're generally about $300.

Have really only used it once. Needed to take up some fresh asphalt that was put over my neighbor's property line. The toothbar did this; whereas, I don't think I could have gotten the edge of the FEL underneath the asphalt without it.

Generally, I think you only use them for digging in the dirt. They give you a sharp edge that'll dig easier than that long edge of the FEL without one. More generally, you want the smooth edge of the FEL for snow plowing and dirt smoothing, and don't want that extra 4-6" sticking out in front to hang up on things for when using them to haul stuff.

The toothbar would make a good lifting point to attach a chain to if you want to lift something with a chain with the FEL.

I hauled about 20 tons of gravel with the FEL without the toothbar. Didn't even try it to see if it would dig into the gravel easier to enable easier loading of the bucket. That was usually done by exercising the right amount of curl at the right moment to keep the tractor moving forward to move gravel into the bucket.

Ralph

 

[keeney]

If you don't take the time to remove the toothbar when switching from digging to loading from a loose pile, it can be a bit of a pain:

1. The toothbar doesn't help dig or load the gravel, but its weight in the bucket can reduce your payload if your loader is a bit undersized for the bucket capacity.

2. It really doen't hurt anything until you get down to the end of the pile. Then, it makes it impossible to get the last bit of the pile cleanly into the bucket. On dirt, if you are loading clean rock, you pick up some dirt with the last few loads. On pavement, you leave gravel / rocks that it cannot pickup.
The bare edge is much more precise for picking up the last bit of the pile.

3. The extra 6 to 8 inches of sharp edges sticking out the front can run into things like houses and trees easier.

One advantage:

The toothbar can be used as a rake when back-dragging to quickly distribute the gravel, rock, or sand evenly.

- Rick

 

[RoyJackson]

Are they worth the money......How much money?
I paid just over $300 including shipping

What brand?
I bought a Woods through Carver, but there are several other manufacturers

Do they make all that much difference ?
If you're planning to do any digging, yes, they are essential. If the pile of material is dried and clumpy, without a tooth bar, you'll probably just set there spinning your rear tires. A tooth bar will break in to the clumpy stuff (but it's not going to make a 2500 lb tractor a 15000 lb front end loader. What I use mine for most is dragging back really thick vines and such when I'm brush cutting. That works great!

Are there times when I will not want a tooth bar?
If you're loading loose material (fresh load of mulch, for example), the tooth bar may be in the way. But they're easily removed. Also, I remove mine for snow removal so I can back drag snow close to the garage doors and things such as that.

How well do they hold up?
Mine has quite well. Should you break a tooth, they're cheap (< $10) and easily replaced.

My tooth bar has slots used for mounting. The intent of this is to drill the holes (for mounting) closest to the front of the bucket. This is so you can loosen the bolts, slide the tooth bar forward and up and use the bucket's cutting edge to back drag and smooth material. Not all the tooth bars have slots (Markham doesn't, I think).

 

[Bird]

The toothbar made a tremendous difference for me because most of my digging into and loading dirt was hard clay. I also found it handy one day when I loaded some utilitiy poles onto a trailer; just slipped the teeth under a pole, rolled the bucket back, picked up the poles and loaded them onto a trailer without having to get of the tractor.

 

[escavader]

Im sure they are great,but i decided not to get one becauase i wouldnt want it on there when im back dragging. I can smooth an area good by using the tip of the bucket,going backwards,and back of bucket forwards. backwards with the tires off the ground is the smoothest,and i think the teeth would hinder things.If i didnt have the backhoe to loosen things up in hard soil,i might think i might possibly buy one,but probably woulnt keep it on all the time.
ALAN

 

[RoyJackson]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Im sure they are great,but i decided not to get one becauase i wouldnt want it on there when im back dragging. I can smooth an area good by using the tip of the bucket,going backwards,and back of bucket forwards. backwards with the tires off the ground is the smoothest,and i think the teeth would hinder things.If i didnt have the backhoe to loosen things up in hard soil,i might think i might possibly buy one,but probably woulnt keep it on all the time.
ALAN )</font>

If you read my post...especially this paragraph:

"My tooth bar has slots used for mounting. The intent of this is to drill the holes (for mounting) closest to the front of the bucket. This is so you can loosen the bolts, slide the tooth bar forward and up and use the bucket's cutting edge to back drag and smooth material. Not all the tooth bars have slots (Markham doesn't, I think)."

Those tooth bars can pivot up and out of the way (which isn't how I installed mine, but I screwed up) for back dragging.

 

[escavader]

iNTERESTING,who SELLS these,and how much more do these run.I wouldnt mind one if i didnt have to keep removing it.Do the slots and the bolt heads get packed with dirt making it hard to get a wrench or socket on?Does the design protect your bucket from getting bent? CAN YOU GIVE ME THEIR WEB SITE
ALAN

 

[RoyJackson]

As I'd mentioned in my first post, my tooth bar was manufactured by Woods and bought through Carver Equipment.

I've never had any problems with the tooth bar bolts getting dinged up...always been easy to remove. If I'm doing any kind of work which might damage the threads, I just jam another nut against the first one.

Carver did fine for me...as mentioned, I'd paid $300 including shipping for a 54" unit. Since originally purchased, I traded up on tractors. I now have a 61" bucket. I modified that original tooth bar by splicing in a length of steel and adding another tooth. I bought the steel (same steel as used in the original tooth bar) and tooth through Carver.