Why don’t you own a toothbar?

[mmranch]

Many years ago, not long after I got my tractor, the bucket was bowed on the bottom from backdragging, etc. Had my welder replace the bottom of the bucket and cutting edge with armor plated steel. The abuse hasn't let up but it is still straight as can be.

I have a tooth bar (that goes over the cutting edge with v slots) that I primarily use in winter to dig into snow mounds which are like glaciers 12-15' high. Tooth bar works great to help take a bite.

Our ground is like 80% rock (of different sizes) and I also used the tooth bar when digging a pond. Loosened up a section with the backhoe then scooped with the bucket. Tooth bar helped with digging force as well as directing rocks into the bucket when scooping.

(Safety First!! Not recommended without plenty of safety precautions!) Tooth bar also can be helpful when chainsawing while standing in the raised bucket. The tooth bar is helpful at the bucket edge to keep your boots inside the bucket, etc.

Not used all the time but a valuable tool to have.

 

[herefromthere]

Simple, because I just ordered it and am waiting for it to ship.

Decided the Piranha is the right one for my usage, which is to rip out lots of blackberry, salmonberry, ferns, and small saplings without having to scrape a ton of topsoil off the surface. With some steep and uneven terrain, the brush hog would be cumbersome and not the best fit.

Did I make the right choice? Hope so.

 

[tonys55]

I have a 1025R and a Heavy Hitch TB. There is a youtube video by a guy who tested three bars against the factory edge, which I came across after I bought my bar. It's worth a watch.

Although I am a novice next to most of the members on this site, I can attest to the difficulty of using the HH. My feeling is it creates a lot of stress on the loader when you are digging due to the angle of the teeth and the leverage against the bucket. And it cannot be effectively used for back dragging. It does do one thing well and that is clearing light brush and overgrown weeds - at least for the few times I have used it for that purpose. So it stays off the bucket except for clearing - a big disappointment for me.
While I think the video makes perfect sense, I am not sure it is a good idea to drill all the holes in the factory edge to mount the Piranha unless you plan to leave it on. Seems like the holes would weaken the factory edge and therefore the bucket in general when the bar is removed. FWIW

 

[Ken45101]

This may sound awfully picky, but all the tooth bars I've noticed for sale mount with little tabs on the ends, which looks very flimsy to me. My (straight) bucket edge is nice and sturdy and has 5 bolt holes, and it just looks to me like those would be the only decent way of mounting a tooth bar.

If I knew of one with matching holes, or one where you specify hole locations (like my urethane bucket edge), or even one where I was sure I could drill the holes myself (meaning the backbone of the tooth bar covered the hole areas properly), I'd probably spring for it.

I agree. I had a toothbar for my JD skid steer. Twice I broke the end connection. I gave up and bought a real tooth bucket. Both buckets are heavily used and it's one heck of a lot easier to change buckets than it was to wrestle that heavy toothbar on and off.

 

[Edro]

I have a 1025R with a Piranha Toothbar. I've had it on since I right after bought the tractor and am amazed at what it will do over the cutting bar alone. I have treated it very rough and it does not show any wear. My small tractor is much more capable with the toothbar than without it. Highly recommend one.

 

[Molalla1]

I have a 1025R with a Piranha Toothbar. I've had it on since I right after bought the tractor and am amazed at what it will do over the cutting bar alone. I have treated it very rough and it does not show any wear. My small tractor is much more capable with the toothbar than without it. Highly recommend one.

One has just got to remember that a tractor is not an excavator or bulldozer . . .

 

[tonys55]

I have a 1025R with a Piranha Toothbar. I've had it on since I right after bought the tractor and am amazed at what it will do over the cutting bar alone. I have treated it very rough and it does not show any wear. My small tractor is much more capable with the toothbar than without it. Highly recomm

One has just got to remember that a tractor is not an excavator or bulldozer . . .

Point well taken. That is why I now use the backhoe to break up the ground before excavating a smaller area with the loader. If I need a significantly larger area, I guess it would be a box blade or an excavator rental depending on what I'm trying to do. I am planning on installing a paver, turn-around pad just off the asphalt driveway. I think the backhoe and bucket will work just fine. Sure, a mattock, square point shovel, and wheelbarrow could work but I am too old. I use hand tools for the finish work. I guess one could say hand tools are not a TLB.

 

[mike69440]

One has just got to remember that a tractor is not an excavator or bulldozer . . .

The true dedicated TLB's are pretty tough. I'd be on my 3rd std Ag. tractor the same size, as I would have killed a lesser machine. This is what I did for a tooth bar on a 6' hd Round bucket from my L39 with cutting edge, then weld on adapters for small excavator teeth for hard soil digging
Best teeth I have found are.

ESCO® Construction Excavator Lips and Tooth Systems | Weir​

ESCO construction excavator bucket lips and tooth systems for ESCO buckets or retrofit to all popular OEM or competitor buckets.

www.global.weir
For back dragging I have a Cutting edge welded to the bottom backside of my bucket. I find this does a much better job at backdragging tough material thahan beating up the bottom plate of the bucket.

 

[Runner]

Well, daggone it, 'yall went and done it with this thread. I was all happy procrastinating about a toothbar for the last 17 years and then ya went and got me thinkin'.....

So finally pulled the trigger on the Neat Farms 60 1/2" toothbar. They shipped immediately and I got it in 4 days. Dimensions are exactly as stated on their web site (60 1/2" out to out). Fits my JD 61" bucket perfectly (60 7/8" inside). To make it snug, I cut a couple of 3/16" thick steel pads and tacked them to the ends. Looks like a good value to me at $278 (extra teeth are $11 each). Tried it out on my mulch and top soil piles and seems to help as expected.

TractorByNet - helping me spend money for 17 years.....

 

[nybirdman]

Have one and have never taken it off since owning the tractor.Only draw-back is back dragging,have a snow-plow for winter use.