Bought a new Kubota bucket today, bolt on edge or not

[WaxMan]

Looks like I'll be waxing the bucket again now,
it was the only thing making my tractor looked used.

I completely wore out my cutting edge at about 500 hrs kept using it till 690 hrs. I think now it will take a long time to put another 500 hrs on the tractor.
Wondering if I should just start using it and let it wear it down again or buy a bolt on cutting edge while it is still new, flat and straight. New Bucket was 560.00 delivered.

I never liked the thought of having bolts sticking up in my bucket holding back dirt, snow, etc. ( Are the bolts a problem or no big deal sticking inside the bucket?)
I'm going to weld a tooth bar on the old bucket to use with heaver digging and scraping. I would like to scrape down some high spots in the lawn someday I thought the tooth bar would work better the just the plain bucket does. I'm planing to save the new bucket for lighter work. (no more digging out bank run gravel) Problem is plowing snow really wares down the cutting edge quick on asphalt. I have a snow blade but one winter I needed the bucket because the snow storms were so many and so heavy the snow blade was useless. (had to move the piles back) I since got good at plowing snow with just the bucket and figured why bother with the snow blade..
What do you guys use on your loader bucket? just the stock bucket or bolt on cutting edge? or weld one on once the edge is worn out. Bolting on an edge after the stock welded one wares down does not seem like the way to go once it's worn and rounded it's too late. What would you do?

One more thing at 690 hrs how worn should the bucket (pins) be, I thought I greased them well and often, the pins are very slightly worn but the cylinders and fel arms seem to be worn more. At 690 hrs is that normal?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

My brother has a Case with the bolt on. I just replaced my on the JD310 with a super heavy (8"x 3/4"x 7.5') and the shop just cut the broken one out and welding in the new one. I do like no bolts but bolts do not break like welds can. The old edge came off of a pan or something that did bolt on. It got loose on one end and I snapped it trying to roll out a root wad I think.

I do not do snow well with a heavy 2WD rig. :laughing:

 

[CurlyDave]

I put a bolt on edge on my bucket when it was new, and I am happy I did. It has seen its share of "real world experience" and if the edge had not been on, it would be a lot more dented and deformed than it is, and at this point I doubt I could get a new, straight edge to bolt on.

I have never had a problem with material sticking to the bolts, the issue is that the bolts will scar and scratch anything I pout in the bucket to lift. A piece of plywood cut to fit the bucket behind the bolts goes a long way toward fixing this problem.

 

[Deano]

Sounds to me like you could go either way Waxman. You have an old bucket you can swap out to do heavy stuff.

Deano

 

[Ductape]

Don't you have an ATI Skidsteer QA on your tractor? If not....... ya shoulda done it now.

 

[TripleR]

No problems with the bolts on our bolt on edge.

 

[WaxMan]

Don't you have an ATI Skidsteer QA on your tractor? If not....... ya shoulda done it now.

What about the Kubota B2365 QA? I don't want to spend a lot of money or add a lot of weight since I won't be changing that often or maybe I will if it's easy.
The B2365 seems to be the lightest and least expensive , but is it any good? Seems like it would rattle and wear, No grease fitting at the bucket? Anybody have one?

 

[chim]

My B7500 bucket showed enough wear to scare me into a bolt-on edge after the first winter of snow removal. It didn't take too much scraping on the blacktop to see the wear. My bolt-on was a simple piece of stainless I found at the shop. It has 6 or so 3/8" bolts holding it on. The holes in the stainless are tapped and the heads of the bolts are in the bucket. The bolts were ground off where they protruded through the bottom of the stainless so they don't leave marks on the driveway.

I have another tractor coming next week, and it will be equipped the same. It might also get an experimental "tooth bar" since I know a guy with a waterjet.

 

[Sammy3700]

Does anyone have any pictures of a bucket with a bolt on edge? Thanks

 

[1savoy]

Does anyone have any pictures of a bucket with a bolt on edge? Thanks

Here are a couple of pictures of a bucket with bolt on cutting edge. This is members herefromthere bucket. Don't know if they are close up enough for what you want to see.