Removal of teeth from Bobcat bucket ?

[westcliffe01]

I find this an embarrasing subject, since tight bolts are in some ways part of working with heavey equipment, but here goes: The teeth on my Bobcat B200 loader bucket are bolted on and every attempt to remove the bolts so far has failed.

Since I am working with landscaping on my property, having the teeth on the loader bucket is actually a hinderance instead of a help. I don't need the teeth to move dirt or gravel and it makes smoothing surfaces much more difficult. I also have a few loose teeth on the backhoe that I want to tighten up before things deteriorate further.

Countersunk allen head bolts are used and even if I use a 4 ft cheater bar on the end of the correct size wrench on the nut end, I find it impossible to do anything but rotate the nut and bolt together when trying to loosen them. The allen socket is not that big (much smaller than the nut which is almost 1" AF) so I am afraid to put too much of a load on it in case they strip out.

Anyone know whether special interference fit nuts are used for this application ? Is it customary to have to cut off the nuts to remove teeth ? Any other hints ?

 

[Scotty370]

Have you tried A) PB-Blaster aerosol spray? B) Torch heating?

 

[Ductape]

I'm with Scotty....... get some heat on the nut.

 

[R W]

Weld the nut to whatever it is turning on then try undoing it while it is still hot.

 

[JoelD]

Not sure of set up, but for me, if I can get at it, I just cut off with a cutting wheel. I do this many many many times, I actually bought a torch for just this purpose for bolts I can't get at with cutting wheel.

Nuts and bolts are a lot cheaper than the time spent fighting to get some of them off.

Quick thought on the welding point, that's a good idea depending on the situation, but I'm thinking once welded and nut removed, you may need to cut the weld anyway to get the bolt out of the way to get the tooth bar off.

PB blaster is the best thing since sliced bread, I will treat for a couple of days prior to trying to remove. Made my last brake job on my truck a breeze. Getting brake lines loose on an old truck can be brutal.

Good luck,
Joel

 

[jwmorris]

Cutting off the offending nut would be a good idea if it's just a through hole. If it's threaded and the nut just locks it in place if the allen socket is messed up just weld a nut to the head. The head will help and the hex will give you something to get a wrench on (also works on broken off bolts).

 

[Scotty370]

Aren't you just looking at somthing like this?

 

[westcliffe01]

The teeth on mine with holder are more than 8-10" long. They have 2 bolts in line, not next to each other. But conceptually it is the same kind of thing. Judging by the torque, I think locktite or an interference fit was used on the nuts, in addition to the high attachment torque (probably a big impact wrench).

What circumstances require the use of teeth on the bucket ? I do not have hard ground to work with, but the loader bucket is not much good for digging anyway (5" max bite with bottom of bucket level). I find that the teeth tend to lift the front edge of the bucket when scooping sand and gravel, making it harder to get a full bucket. Also when manipulating sand and gravel that has been dumped, I would love a straight smooth edge on the bucket to smooth things over. The teeth are forever leaving indentations unless the bucket is dead flat and if it is flat there is a danger of the back edge digging in a bit if the surface is uneven (dragging the bucket while going backwards.

Moved 10yd of gravel yesterday evening and finished leveling a pad for my firewood (most of my property is about a 20 degree slope). The pad took about 18 yd total. Moved 4+ full cord of wood onto the pad today. It is in a spot that gets sunshine about 2/3 of the day, so I hope my firewood will season some before winter...

 

[Scotty370]

For the 'grief' they're giving ya, I have them off, even if ya gotta cut the nuts off with a 'smoke-wrench'!!! ~Scotty

 

[gerard]

cut'em off and get a bolt on tooth bar, then if you ever have to dig you can bolt on the toothbar. (It makes a big difference when breaking virgin earth. I know pool compnaies that use skidsteers to dig out pools)

 

[schmism]

for all the headache (or other suggestions of buying a toothbar)

why not just pick up a used flat edge bucket for cheep.

 

[Scotty370]

for all the headache (or other suggestions of buying a toothbar)

why not just pick up a used flat edge bucket for cheep.

Is there such a thing? ~S

 

[PILOON]

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.

 

[westcliffe01]

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 ?