Where can I get one of those rippers? I found a bxpanded one, but it looks a little lightweight.
Maybe someone here on TBN knows who makes a good ripper tooth. It's a handy tool, but I don't know where to go to buy one. The one in the picture looks like one my friend made and is typical. I don't have one myself but he and I have the same model tractor...
. All the good single tooth rippers I've seen have been custom made either made at home or at some metal-working shop.
The hard part about having a ripper tooth built is getting it made to fit the bucket pins on the backhoe. Those pins are not standard or even close. There are many different geometries for connecting buckets to backhoes, and that includes both pin on and QA types. So getting the "attachment ears" just right is the big problem. Get the ears right, and after that, most any welder can make up the tooth part.
For the Kubota TLBs, a set of backhoe bucket attaching ears can be ordered... or at least they could be a few years ago and I guess they still do. A few years ago Kubota sold just the weldable ears alone as a set of two specifically for people who want to make up a special bucket. I forget the part number but that friend ordered a set to make himself a ripper for his
M59. As I recall, a set of the two ears required was quite expensive....several hundred dollars each at least. The Kubota QA backhoe bucket is such an exact fit that when he went to make up a ripper, my buddy decided ordering those ears from Kubota was worth the price.
If I ever see a nice ripper tooth that fits I'll get it. I might just get the tooth and order the ears. Till then I'll just borrow the one my friend made. Maybe someday talk him into making another.
rScotty
