Removal of teeth from Bobcat bucket ?
- Thread starter westcliffe01
- Start date
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Scotty370
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2008
- Messages
- 896
- Location
- Buffalo, New York
- Tractor
- 318 John Deere, 4200 John Deere, 1947 John Deere "M"
Is there such a thing? ~S
PILOON
Super Star Member
Fab yourself a clamp on flat bar to cover the teeth.
Many guys make them up on excavators when doing ditch cleaning or landscaping work.
Generally they weld two flat bars at an angle to fit over the teeth snugly and then use 'U' brackets to clamp over the tooth shanks.
Mind you this is only good for scraping or light work and not digging operations.
I also have seen HD angle stock welded to the back lower bucket for back dragging smoothing operations. Seems to work OK as well.
Many guys make them up on excavators when doing ditch cleaning or landscaping work.
Generally they weld two flat bars at an angle to fit over the teeth snugly and then use 'U' brackets to clamp over the tooth shanks.
Mind you this is only good for scraping or light work and not digging operations.
I also have seen HD angle stock welded to the back lower bucket for back dragging smoothing operations. Seems to work OK as well.
OP
westcliffe01
Veteran Member
Well, just to close out this thread, I today finally dealt with the teeth. After much thought, I used my mig welder to weld the heads of the countersunk bolts to the bottom of the bucket. I then used great and excessive force on the nuts on top (some I heated with a propane torch). I have a 3/4" socket driver bar that is nearly 2ft long and that is more comfortable to hold than the open end of a combination wrench.
Each tooth had 2 bolts and I worked from left to right. In several cases, my 1/4" tack weld failed due to the torque required to budge the nut. In that case I just carried on with the next one until all the ones left had broken free. Then I rewelded those and tried again. In some cases the nut was so tight that I needed a 1/2" tack weld to hold it still.
After getting all of the nuts off, the teeth lift off and I then hammered the bolts out with a 4lb hammer. I could have taken an angle grinder and smoothed off the burrs left from the welds, but I figure that after the next time I have to move dirt with the loader it will all be smooth anyway.
I also welded up a crack in one of the reinforcements behind the bucket and had quite the time getting the quick change wedges unfrozen. It appears that grease does not manage to find its way out to the top of the quick change wedges, but preferentially goes out the bottom. There seems to be a history of the top of the wedges getting dry, rusting and then binding and refusing to release.
So now I have several (nearly brand new) teeth for any future implement that may need them.. I am thinking of applying a durable coating to the inside of the bucket. Any recomendations ? How about that truck bedliner that I have been reading about during the last week ?
Each tooth had 2 bolts and I worked from left to right. In several cases, my 1/4" tack weld failed due to the torque required to budge the nut. In that case I just carried on with the next one until all the ones left had broken free. Then I rewelded those and tried again. In some cases the nut was so tight that I needed a 1/2" tack weld to hold it still.
After getting all of the nuts off, the teeth lift off and I then hammered the bolts out with a 4lb hammer. I could have taken an angle grinder and smoothed off the burrs left from the welds, but I figure that after the next time I have to move dirt with the loader it will all be smooth anyway.
I also welded up a crack in one of the reinforcements behind the bucket and had quite the time getting the quick change wedges unfrozen. It appears that grease does not manage to find its way out to the top of the quick change wedges, but preferentially goes out the bottom. There seems to be a history of the top of the wedges getting dry, rusting and then binding and refusing to release.
So now I have several (nearly brand new) teeth for any future implement that may need them.. I am thinking of applying a durable coating to the inside of the bucket. Any recomendations ? How about that truck bedliner that I have been reading about during the last week ?
