Toothbar for FEL bucket

[DVerbarg]

I am wondering if anyone has experience using a front loader with and without a toothbar. I've been digging into piles of clay and black dirt from a basement excavation (1300 cubic yards total) and have been redistributing around the basement as backfill, low spots on the property, etc. I do not currently have a toothbar for the bucket but know that there is an optional toothbar available. Will this help for digging into the piles of clay? If so, how much? I called the dealer and am waiting for a price but wanted to get the opinions of those on this board. I have really appreciated the knowledge that I have gained from all of you.

I have a NH TC40D with the 17LA loader with 72" HD bucket.

David V

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I don't have a NH but I do have a John Deere 790. I added a tooth bar after trying to move a clay hill to increase the entry way for my driveway, I spent about 80 hours and am about finished. Without the tooth bar, I had great difficulty getting a bucket full of dirt. With the tooth bar, no problem at all. Like cutting butter with a hot knife. I got a bolt on bar with pinned on teeth for a 60 inch bucket for around $230, made by Long. Hope this helps.

 

[DVerbarg]

Halsey,

Thanks for your reply! It helps to know others' experiences.

DavidV

 

[paccorti]

Dave,

I've been doing some digging with my TC35D with ballasted R4's. In my opinion it digs very well (for my soil). I can grab 3" per pass easy and fill the bucket. Are you having trouble filling the bucket? Are you, perhaps being too aggressive in trying to fill the bucket (digging too deep)? I can't help but think that a toothbar will help. If I had to choose between a toothbar and ballast though I'm not so sure... Do you have ballast too? Which tires do you have?

I saw some toothbars from NH this past weekend at the dealer (picked up my filters for 50hr service, ouch). If memory serves a 6' toothbar was around $350.

Peter

 

[DVerbarg]

Paccorti,

I'm getting better at filling the bucket but it is a challenge. The clay is so hard compared to black dirt. The black dirt is very easy to dig up and fill the bucket. The clay is in a large pile (over 18ft high) and requires that I scrape just a little off the face of the pile with each pass. We just had some rain and that seems to have softened the clay and made it a little more manageable.

Currently have R4s and no ballast in/on the wheels. My only ballast is the 6' box on the back which makes a dramatic change in the stability of the tractor when the loader is heaping full. Without the box the back wheels tend to be a little "light" :-O

When digging the clay I need to keep the RPMs around 2500, both ranges on the HST on low, and only take 1 to 2 inches per pass. If any of these factors are off then either then wheels will start to slip or the engine will begin to bog down. I'm concerned that if I were to use extra ballast the balance of engine power to weight distribution/traction would be knocked off balance and the engine would die too readily. Maybe I am just pushing the limits of my tractor, hmmm, maybe I NEED a bigger tractor :-O

Hopefully I can get a bolt-on toothbar for less than the $350. That's the price of a bucket!

Thanks for your feedback. It seems that the consensus is that the toothbar would make a considerable difference in the performance in clay.

DavidV

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Are you using the scarifier teeth on your rear box to loosen the ground first? Even with teeth on the bucket, which will help a lot, it's a huge strain on the loader to be digging up compacted ground. Sometimes, even in clay their is only a few inches of "crust" that has to be broken then it's much softer. Whenever I've had really nasty stuff to deal with I've either dug it first with the backhoe or used a rear box and teeth and then drug it into piles with the box. Even the big boys use an excavator first before the loader comes in.

 

[DVerbarg]

del,

The clay that I am digging is in a large pile with very steep sides. The scarifier teeth would not be useable in this situation. The scarifier teeth were great when used on the driveway, worked just like you said.

The clay pile had the "crust" that you mentioned which seemed to be about 6 inches. After removing the crust the digging has gotten relatively easier but was hoping that using a toothbar would make it even easier, just like the scarifier teeth make box work easier.

My dealer is supposed to call me today with the price of the toothbar, hope its not too much

Thanks,

DaveV

 

[paccorti]

Dave,

I wonder if curling/unclurling the bucket (slightly) while digging might help. Kind of like how you might wiggle your fingers to push your hand into a box or marbles. Just a thought.

Peter

 

[ERNIEB]

For what it's worth, over the years I've seen alot of loaders, and talked to alot of operators. Everything from the Cat 992's to skid loaders. Almost to a man they agree that a bucket with teeth is great for digging, not so great for loading and finishing work. There are a couple of big limestone quarries in my area, The pit loaders all have teeth. The ones used to load trucks are without them.
Ernie

 

[DVerbarg]

Paccorti,

Great idea! I just discovered that technique last night while digging. Seems to work well just requires more practice on holding the proper pressure using the HST tranny.

Thanks!

David V