bolt on vs weld on bucket teeth

[schmism]

looking for pros and cons for bolt on tooth bar vs weld on style tooth root.


So far i have

bolt-on alows you to take it off

weld one allows you to have a virtually flat bucket profile.


im in the process of acumulating parts for adding teeth to my bucket. Locally i can find a 2a size weld on tooth root (pin on) tooth (set for $20 each) the shape of the tooth root would perfectly fit my bucket profile.

I have a gravel drive with little asperations of going paved any time soon. (primary reason for removeing tooth bar seems to be snow removal with FEL on pavement in winter)

 

[PineRidge]

Around here we take the tooth bar off in the winter so the bucket can be used for snow removal chores. If it were welded on that might present a real problem. Don't really know why one might prefer the welded on version over the bolt-on.

 

[3RRL]

Another consideration for the bolt on toothbar is the bar itself adds rigidity and strength to your existing bucket lip. I know I would have bent my bucket with some of the boulders I dug and popped up.

 

[MarkV]

I have a tooth bar on one tractor and welded teeth on another. I don’t have snow here or anything like stalls to clean so the tooth bar hasn’t been removed during the 6 years I have had it. The weld on teeth sure does a better job when grading an area smooth. With the bottom of the teeth flush with the bottom of the bucket I can go forward or back drag the bucket and leave an area as smooth as if the box blade had been pulled over it.

MarkV

 

[Farwell]

Schmism,
I am in the process of getting my FEL bucket rebuilt. The weld on blade that was "U" shaped and cracked from previous owners excessive use. I had the blade cut off and replaced (couldn't find a weld on blade locally so had a bolt on welded on). About 10 inches of the sides were cut out, replaced, reinforced and face hardened. Added three new skid plates under the bucket that were also face hardened. My welder called and asked me to take a look at the bucket and wanted to talk to me in person to make sure that I wanted weld on teeth because once the teeth are welded on it is a major effort to remove them. I said yes to the weld on teeth because most of the work that I do with my FEL is aggressive digging and was afraid that the type of work I do with the bucket there is a chance that I would mess up a set of bolt on teeth.
I do use my bucket in the Winter to move snow piles if they get to big but think I can still move the snow with the bucket teeth on. I use my back blade or walk behind snow blower for most of my snow removal.
Farwell

 

[George2615]

I agree with Mike. In my area I use a bolt on tooth bar since I must be able to remove it to use the bucket for snow removal in winter. Actually I just sold my toothbar a month ago to a friend who purchased an identical tractor. He wanted one to work his wooded lot and didnt want to wait for me to build one for him. Over the winter I'll pick up what I need and build a new one for myself.
George

 

[schmism]

it seems we have 2 camps

those that take there tooth bars off for snow removal.

and those that THOUGHt they would take them off, but havnt touched the bolts in a number of years. as well as those with welded on teeth with little/no regrets.

Ive already bought some 3/8 x 3" and 1/4x3" cold rolled bar that i planed on useing for the "bolt on" design but with the weld on teeth profile it doesnt look like ill need the extra material on top... i may put it on the bottom to reinforce the lip...

so far i have a tendancy to over work the top of the bucket not the bottom edge....

 

[Dirthog]

If you use weld on shanks and teeth just take a tooth on each end and 1 or so in the center and weld a cutting edge to it then you can remove the teeth and cutting edge and replace the teeth then you have the a flat bottom bucket or tooth bucket in just a couple of min. Have done this with several excavator buckets and it works real well

 

[moonstruck]

I take my toothbar off for mowing because I have a lot of fencing and a tooth can catch a fence board and do a lot of damage in a "heartbeat"!!

 

[schmism]

i like the idea of taking the teeth of and making up a second set of teath welded to a cutting edge.

and soonner (or later) im going to have a QA bucket and wont be mowing with it on anyway. currently half the time i just pop the FEL off anyway... its simple enough.

 

[lively1]

I'm in the process of making a bolt on tooth bar for my loader. I think it was mentioned before the increased strength given to the loader bucket with the bolt-on toothbar. I am using a old cutting edge from a larger loader as my bar and then welding my adaptors on to that. I hope that it will give the loader bucket some extra strength.

My two cents would be keeping your options open and put a bolt-on toothbar on... that way if you have an application where you cannot have a toothbar on during use you could ...uhmmm.... just take it off. Why limit your options when you can have equal performance with a bolt-on.

 

[MarkV]

Why limit your options when you can have equal performance with a bolt-on.

Not sure I can agree that you get equal performance out of both systems. With the bolt on tooth bar the teeth, at least mine, hook over the cutting edge of the bucket for support. This leaves the teeth below the cutting edge and pretty much you lose the ability to finish grade with the large flat surface on the bottom of the bucket. You could remove the tooth bar to grade, though I find the digging and grading process often is going on at the same time. Just depends on your needs.

Another alternative are teeth whose base bolts to the cutting edge of the bucket and the teeth are roll pinned to the base. Check out a Bob Cat skid steer bucket, this is the system they use on many of them. The teeth and base can be removed by removing 2 bolts on the base per tooth. I think on a compact tractor you would have to add a heavy cutting edge to use that system.

MarkV

 

[Maine_Polack]

it seems we have 2 camps

those that take there tooth bars off for snow removal.

and those that THOUGHt they would take them off, but havnt touched the bolts in a number of years. as well as those with welded on teeth with little/no regrets."




Gee...I must be camping alone Mother always said that I was different than the rest of the boys....

I am lucky enough to have 2 buckets. Large one with plain edge, and a 5 footer that I have made into a dedicated digger.

The digger did have a bolt on tooth bar. As seen in the picture, "stuff" would get wedged under the bar pretty badly. So I welded it on. Try as I might, I cannot break that little bucket.

 

[moeh1]

I too have the bolt on version I made. It comes off in 2-3 minutes flat, nicer than having the teeth sticking out all the time and very important to be able to remove now that I am trying to fab a clamp-on snow plow attachment.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Another consideration for the bolt on toothbar is the bar itself adds rigidity and strength to your existing bucket lip. I know I would have bent my bucket with some of the boulders I dug and popped up.

I've used my bucket for a lot of general cleaning up of a property I bought and got it into more things than I care to remember. I can't imagine how much damage I would have done to my bucket without my toothBAR there to reinforce it.

On the flip side, for me, it's awfully nice to be able to take the toothbar off in the winter when I need to scrape up snow from pavement. If I need to move a pile when there's a warm up and it's hardened, the toothbar goes back on.

I'll mention a couple things to consider if you're going to get a toothbar and not leave it on all the time in regard to the bolts you use to attach your toothbar to your bucket. First, make sure you keep the bolt heads to the outside of your bucket (essentially, insert them from the outside). Second, when you put your washer, lock washer and nut on the bolt, if you have any thread still showing on your bolt, put another nut on it so that your bolt threads are completely covered even if the second nut won't go all the way on. That will protect the threads on your bolts so that you can get the nuts off easily and reuse your hardward when you reinstall your toothbar.

Personally, I think the odds of damaging/bending/breaking the bolts is less if they're inside the bucket, I'm certain that the odds of damaging/gashing/breaking an ankle on one is FAR less on the inside of your bucket.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope this helps.