Clamp On Ripper Tooth?

[Diggin It]

We've seen:

1. Clamp on pallet forks for FEL buckets. Most seem to work well enough for the target uses.
2. Clamp on spade for FEL buckets. Some say they work great for digging small holes.
3. Ripper claws/teeth for backhoes. They replace the bucket, which means swapping out based on task.

So, how about adapting the above? A clamp on ripper tooth to attach to the backhoe bucket? Dig with the bucket normally when pulling a stump, but if you encounter a tough root, clamp the tooth on to break the root, then take it off to go back to digging. Much easier than swapping the bucket and tooth at the pins.

Could the attachment clamp withstand the forces applied? More or less than the clamp on bucket spades?

 

[MESSMAKER]

I doubt it would work without some stellar engineering.

 

[4570Man]

A backhoe really isn’t designed for off center load for the first problem. Even if you did get the setup to work it would be easier to just grab a sawzall. The last and biggest problem is you’d loose so much leverage with the ripper suck below the bucket you’d probably be better off to just use the bucket.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

Interesting thought.....
My first thoughts were of a 3 point sub soil shank.... Use the shank on the 3 point for some preliminary cuts in the ground..

Then move the shank to an adaptor on something like a pallet fork frame on the FEL.... I'm thinking with the shank point facing the tractor to pull with the FEL rather than push it through the ground.. This thinking being less stress on the loader...

I need to get out my "good idea" note and sketch book and work on this...

 

[PILOON]

Well I did make a 'clamp on' tooth for my FEL
Used an old truck axle about 16" long and DIY'd a dual clamp affair much like clamp on forks.

I'd drive the 'tooth' at an angle under the roots of shrubs and small saplings and then pop them up and out. Curling my bucket with the heel on the ground worked like a charm.
Best yet is most times the roots came clean.

An improvement might be dual pointed 'prongs' spaced about 6" apart but still in the 12 -16 length and fairly sharp.
Now this is but for sapling sized stock and not mature trees.

 

[Diggin It]

I had to see if the idea would even work at all. Subsoiler is just lashed to the BH bucket with steel cable. Worked better than I expected for a first try, but I need to find a quicker, simpler, more secure method. This would be annoying to do to snap a root or two while digging a stump.

I also would like to find a sawtooth edged wedge to bolt on, more like what some of the factory root rippers have.

This should also work for cutting a narrow trench for conduit in place where you can't really back in and drive out. You'd be able to set up and reach in between things.

Slot is almost a foot deep and I could have gone a bit deeper.

 

[Doughknob]

I think i'd rather have a carbide toothed chainsaw for roots....

 

[GeneV]

We've seen:

1. Clamp on pallet forks for FEL buckets. Most seem to work well enough for the target uses.
2. Clamp on spade for FEL buckets. Some say they work great for digging small holes.
3. Ripper claws/teeth for backhoes. They replace the bucket, which means swapping out based on task.

So, how about adapting the above? A clamp on ripper tooth to attach to the backhoe bucket? Dig with the bucket normally when pulling a stump, but if you encounter a tough root, clamp the tooth on to break the root, then take it off to go back to digging. Much easier than swapping the bucket and tooth at the pins.

Could the attachment clamp withstand the forces applied? More or less than the clamp on bucket spades?

Yup, I got a guy on youtube who did just that:

 

[deezler]

Oh dang. I kinda really like this idea. My new-to-me TLB came with a 16" bucket on the backhoe. Nice compromise of a size, but frankly a little wide for de-stumping given the low power and lightweight nature of my machine (Kioti CK3510se).

So something really narrow for ripping roots with much more concentrated force would be awesome. But swapping backhoe buckets on a daily basis is pretty much out of the question.

As for the video above, I do sorta wonder if that guy could have gotten the tree down just as fast by simply using his backhoe bucket. That was a little tree, after all.

My thought process for toppling a tree, or getting a stump out would probably be: Use your stock backhoe bucket first, to see how far you can easily get on digging up the rootball. Then slip the ripper on, and go to town. Once you've ripped everything you can find or reach, take it off, and finish the job on regular bucket again.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

I’ve seen thumbs modified to carry a tooth. But, most places I’ve lived the “soils” are rocks and Cobbles, with a bit of sand filling what little bit of voids are left. So, teeth on buckets are a base requirement.

Locally most mini excavators have a quick-attach bucket system on them. Wuou can switch buckets in a few minutes. Particularly if you have a bucket rack on your trailer. Everything in the local rental fleet comes with two buckets, unless you tell them you only want one. You can ask for the narrow 12-inch bucket or a 24-inch. The 12-inch is most commonly used. ;Most commonly folks are digging in prehistoric river bars, and the rock and non cohesive soils meant that a 5-foot deep trench will end up with 2:1 side slopes.

The rocks make things very unstable.