bolt on cutting edge

[radman1]

I've noticed some owner's have a bolt on cutting for their FEL bucket. It seems like overkill. I thought they were designed for stopping excessive wear on the cutting edge and could be replaced when worn down. I don't even have one on my Bobcat 873 bucket with 2000 hours. I can't imagine ever wearing out the edge of a CUT bucket. I can see benefit of a stronger edge to resist bending but a thinner peice of metal would probably solve that. Any other advantages to a cutting edge? Am I missing something?

 

[dirtworksequip]

What you are missing is: Without the bolt on cutting edge you are wearing out the bucket. With the BOCE you are wearing out a replacable edge. Why wear your bucket? Most heavy machinery have bolt on edges on wear areas so you are wearing that replacable edge instead of the bucket,bucket edge,bucket teeth,blade,blade corner,etc.......If you don't feel the need go without,but I personally would rather see wear on a replacable edge than the bucket edge.

 

[texasjohn]

You should be aware that a bolt on cutting edge and a tooth bar are mutually exclusive. If you have a bolt on edge, then the toothbar will not bolt on.

I personally selected to have a toothbar... it VERY MUCH adds to the digging capability AND carrying capability AND overall usefulness of the bucket. Also, I believe that it significantly strengthens the front bucket lip and prevents it from wearing significantly or bending.

A bolt on edge would only, as far as I know, prevent wear of the original edge by providing another edge in front of it to take the wear forces. For my money, a tooth bar provides much more value for the money.

 

[Redneck_Randy]

You should be aware that a bolt on cutting edge and a tooth bar are mutually exclusive. If you have a bolt on edge, then the toothbar will not bolt on.

Not the case for New Holland. On my NH the tooth bar goes on over the cutting edge. Don't won't the tooth bar on, 2 bolts and it's off leaving the cutting edge still on the bucket.

 

[Botabill]

I've got 800 hours on my Kubota BX, lots of FEL work. No signs of wear.

 

[texbaylea]

TexasJohn

There are toothbars that will fit over a bolt on cutting edge, at least for Kubota. I don't have one but TxDon here does. I have a heavy duty bucket and the normal edge is only about 1/16" thinner than the bolt on edge so it is plenty stout. When ever I have a lot of bulk material work to do, I take off the toothbar and put on the bolt on edge but this is rare for me. The toothbar stays on 90% of the time.

Vernon

 

[radman1]

What you are missing is: Without the bolt on cutting edge you are wearing out the bucket. With the BOCE you are wearing out a replacable edge. Why wear your bucket? Most heavy machinery have bolt on edges on wear areas so you are wearing that replacable edge instead of the bucket,bucket edge,bucket teeth,blade,blade corner,etc.......If you don't feel the need go without,but I personally would rather see wear on a replacable edge than the bucket edge.

Yes, heavy quipment or severe duty use equipment would benefit from a BOCE. However, it would be extremely hard to imagine a CUT wearing the bucket lip out. Maybe if a CUT was used a lot to scrape dirt, manure etc off of cement an BOCE could be of benefit. Cement and asphalt will really wear an edge down, but I doubt many CUTs are used in that fashion.

A tooth bar is a whole different story on a CUT. It does protect the edge, aids in digging and provides support to the bucket edge. I found it interesting to know that some tooth bars will fit over a BOCE.

 

[3720_Owner]

I have both the bolt on cutting edge and the bolt on tooth bar. On my JD3720 and 300CX they cannot be on at the same time, but it only takes about 10 minutes to switch between them. I started with the BO cutting edge first and it does a nice job when you need a smooth finish to the work, but the first time I tried to move a pile of dirt that that had compacted, I quickly switched to the tooth bar. Both have their place, but since I rarely need the smooth finish and the versatility of the teeth (breaking dirt, plucking rocks from field, moving the trailer, etc.) I pretty much leave the tooth bar on.

As far as why someone would want a BO cuting edge vice simply the factory edge on the FEL, the salesman quickly convinced me: When the factory edge gets messed up I can pay to have the tractor (or just the bucket) hauled to someplace to have the edge ground down, a new edge welded on, and the bucket painted, or simply order a new edge and bolt it on myself. My labor is a lot cheaper for myself, than someone elses, so I opted for the BO cutting edge.

If you have the equipment and the materials it may be a lot cheaper for you to weld on a new edge yourself, but in my case my skills kinda end at the ability to operate a socket set which is all I need to install a new edge.

Steven

 

[Egon]

The origianal welded on cutting edge on my Kubota B7100 loader wore out. It was repaced with a much heavier weld on edge.

 

[browns40]

I use my FEL for snow removal in the winter, and have done a lot of digging with it...

The corners are already worn to "v" in 200 hours... looks like the leading edge of a bushog blade... were the replaceable edge not on there I would be about halfway to the weld on the bucket corner.

As is, I'll be turning it around this winter and sparing the bucket any chance at wear.