Making a toothed bucket - how many teeth?

[jim_wilson]

After struggling with a tooth bar - I decided last year that instead of going the toothbar route , what I was going to do was just have two buckets for the FEL on my Kubota B3200. I got the 60" bucket and I'll use that for hauling material and clearing snow - etc. Then I bought a 54" bucket - and I'm going to use that exclusively for digging. The plan is to weld teeth onto the bucket itself and make the 54" bucket and just swap the entire bucket when I want to go from straight edge to toothed edge. I have the quick attach on the FEL - and it's relatively painless to swap implements - far less painless to swap the entire bucket than it is to take a toothbar off and on.

I also finally found what I think will be the best weld on teeth to use to do this: Hensley 156 line. (they make one for a 5/8" cutting edge - which is what the Kubota bucket appears to have).

My final question I need to answer is : how many teeth? And what kind of spacing?

Are more teeth better than less? For a 54" bucket typically I believe the toothbars come thru with five or six teeth. They also don't put the teeth right at the outside edges.

Should the outermost teeth go right at the outside edges? Should I maybe go with 6 teeth? The teeth on a backhoe bucket are spaced much closer together than what is typically seen on a FEL bucket - I'm wondering what the advantages / disadvantages are to having more or less teeth on the bucket.

 

[Ed L]

I've got a 60 tooth bucked for my Bobcat 743, it's got 8 teeth, including on the outside corners.

After buying my 60" grapple, I added teeth to that so it could be used as a "rake" to gather small debris. As you can see, I went with 8 teeth on that also.

Now you need to make sure you get the correct shanks for your application, backhoe bucket teeth shanks mount on the outside, or back of the bucket. Loader teeth shanks mount on the inside of the bucket and the flat side of the tooth is on the ground (also opposite of a backhoe bucket).

I opted to use backhoe style shanks and put the teeth upsidedown, when picking up logs, I don't have to force the log over the teeth shanks. The downside, if I were grading, the teeth leave marks and you can't clean up a hard surface as the cutting edge never touches. For my use, its worked out well. I wouldn't do it this way for a bucket.

Added: The under side mounting allowed me to do all welding on the bolt on cutting edge, flipping them over some of the welds would have been on the bucket wasting the advantage of the bolt on edge.

Ed

 

[jim_wilson]

I've got a 60 tooth bucked for my Bobcat 743, it's got 8 teeth, including on the outside corners.

After buying my 60" grapple, I added teeth to that so it could be used as a "rake" to gather small debris. As you can see, I went with 8 teeth on that also.

Now you need to make sure you get the correct shanks for your application, backhoe bucket teeth shanks mount on the outside, or back of the bucket. Loader teeth shanks mount on the inside of the bucket and the flat side of the tooth is on the ground (also opposite of a backhoe bucket).

I opted to use backhoe style shanks and put the teeth upsidedown, when picking up logs, I don't have to force the log over the teeth shanks. The downside, if I were grading, the teeth leave marks and you can't clean up a hard surface as the cutting edge never touches. For my use, its worked out well. I wouldn't do it this way for a bucket.

Added: The under side mounting allowed me to do all welding on the bolt on cutting edge, flipping them over some of the welds would have been on the bucket wasting the advantage of the bolt on edge.

Ed

I did some searching around to try and find something I thought would work properly - I even picked up a Kubota backhoe bucket tooth (bolt on) - and weld-on adapter for a toothbar to see if I thought that might work. Finally found the Hensley stuff - and ordered just one of the weld-on tooth adapters last night just so I can see if it looks like it's going to work. What I should be getting is something like this:

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It looks to me like it will put it in the proper orientation for a FEL bucket.

There's an assortment of tooth types available for the Hensley stuff - which looked like something that might come in handy.

Do you think that having more teeth makes the bucket dig better? Judging by the pictures you posted it looks like your tooth spacing is roughly similar to what I've seen for tooth spacing on backhoe buckets - rather than the typical toothbar - where the teeth are usually farther apart.

 

[Ed L]

The teeth on mine are about 10" apart.

That shank isn't what you want, the tooth will end up below the bottom of the bucket. The correct ones do not have the "hook" on the bottom. IIRC, theres a small flat "stop" that contacts the bucket edge, nothing underneath.

I'll get a few pics of my factory Bobcat bucket tonight and post them tomorrow.

Ed

 

[jim_wilson]

The teeth on mine are about 10" apart.

That shank isn't what you want, the tooth will end up below the bottom of the bucket. The correct ones do not have the "hook" on the bottom. IIRC, theres a small flat "stop" that contacts the bucket edge, nothing underneath.

I'll get a few pics of my factory Bobcat bucket tonight and post them tomorrow.

Ed

Hmm - I was figuring the one I posted the picture of would work fine - on the theory that every toothbar I've seen also has the teeth below the bottom edge of the cutting edge on the bucket.

Actually - I think the one I ordered will look more like this - which still puts the tooth somewhat below the cutting edge on the bucket



I think I know what you're talking about (an adapter that just has a small lip and no protrusion under the cutting edge - but rather welds almost completely onto the top of the cutting edge) - but looking thru the listings for Hensley products - I don't see one

 

[Ed L]

Took a few pics for you. I would think the teeth & shanks would be available at a Bobcat or another dealer that sells skidsteers, pretty much the same setup on all brands.

While Hensley makes a good product, I think you'll find they are geared more for larger equipment.

You'll see on the grapple how high the teeth raised the floor of the bucket off the ground.

Also measured the spacing, 9" on center for the factory Bobcat bucket.

Ed

 

[David Devuono]

I made 11 teeth for this 48 inch bucket. The middle three are spaced closer then the rest. The outer ones are on a slight angle to reach the outer edge of the bucket. My teeth are 1x1 bar. I used 1.25 x 1.25 mild steel bar on my backhoe, though I am working against mostly clay on my property. If they wear I can build up weld and regrind.

 

[David Devuono]

Another shot.

 

[LD1]

Have you considered bolt on one piece teeth. Far cheaper than 2-piece. I got 8 delivered for like $60

 

[Stihlrunner]

Have you considered bolt on one piece teeth. Far cheaper than 2-piece. I got 8 delivered for like $60

Where did you find that deal?