Toothbar installation with cordless drill

centex · Jul 10, 2002

You should be able to do it with a bimetal hole saw.

EdKing · Jul 10, 2002

You might want to look into some "pilot point" drill bits as well. I know Dewalt and Black & Decker make these bits. They have a smaller tip tha extends about 1/8 inch past the rest of the bit, makes the drilling a lot easier on the drill.

GarageSmoker · Jul 10, 2002

Thanks for all the tips. I'll order the tooth bar tomorrow.

Gotta luv this forum. And not because you get the answer you want..because you get an answer to something you don't know.

Thanks again;

GS

chim · Jul 10, 2002

No sweat with the drill. Just take more than one battery. I used a DeWalt 12V to drill the new 3PH pin holes in my KK rotary mower. The frame is 1/2" thick steel. I used the battery drill with a 7/8" holesaw. The battery drill got the nod because I had Wifey squirting the holesaw with a garden hose as I drilled. I drilled the 1/4" pilot holes first, then chucked in the holesaw. Cut like butter and didn't heat up. The water kept it cool and flushed the filings. On my 302 FEL the bucket metal isn't all that thick.

My toothbar is mounted with a 3/8" stainless bolt on each side. The toothbar is made of two pieces of flat stock welded in a "V" that slips over the bucket's cutting edge. I picked up weld-on teeth and replaceable tips at a farm store. There's no way to use the toothbar that applies any real pressure on the bolts because the forces are directed to the cutting edge. It has already been subjected to some hard use, like snagging a root with one tooth and lifting the rear of the tractor (then it was time to get the RFM for counterweight)...........chim

John_Mc · Jul 15, 2002

As others have mentioned, the key is to use a hole saw, NOT a solid drill. With a hole saw, you are cutting through a lot less metal. With a hole saw it took me one full battery, and a bit of the next one on my 18V cordless. With a solid bit, I'd have been swapping out batteries much more frequently.

John Mc

Anonymous Poster · Jul 21, 2002

What diameter are the holes you need to drill? I drilled several 1/2" holes through 1/4 and 3/8 HR plate when building a snow plow and bumper with my 14.4 volt Makita, with no problem, maybe 3-4holes per battery charge though. Used conventional drill bits here. For a couple of larger (3/4 and 1") ones I tried the hole saw-worked but whiped the teeth out on the second hole. Probably not the best quality hole saws though, just what I could get locally.

What's the bucket thickness-maybe 3/16? I woldn't think youd have a problem.

John_Mc · Jul 22, 2002

<font color=blue> With a hole saw it took me one full battery, and a bit of the next one on my 18V cordless.</font color=blue>

Hmmm... must have had an almost dead battery, rather than an almost full one when I drilled that last bucket. I just drilled another bucket: With a freshly charged battery, I drilled two 1/8" pilot holes, then two 3/4" holes with the hole saw bit. Didn't even come close to draining my 18V battery.

John Mc

GarageSmoker · Jul 25, 2002

Thanks for the replies. Installed the toothbar yesterday and the only reason I had to go to the 2nd battery was because I failed to notice that the clutch was set on the lowest setting. It caused a lot of unnecessary slipping which wasted a lot of battery. Still used only a couple of minutes on the 2nd battery.

Attacked my first pile of dirt that had been pushed up years ago. Toothbar helped make short work of cutting it down and makes a great "spreader" after dumping a bucket full.

Acquiring attachments seems to be like any other bad habit. I want them all!

GS

Hawkflyer · Jul 25, 2002

Seems to me you should look into a power inverter to install on your tractor. Check out <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.northerntool.com/>http://www.northerntool.com/</A>, They have a good selection in different amp ratings.

John_Mc · Jul 26, 2002

<font color=blue>Seems to me you should look into a power inverter to install on your tractor.</font color=blue>

Another possibility: see if a 12V cigarette-lighter charger is available for your cordless tools. I have the Milwaukee 18V cordless system... The cigarette-lighter powered charged was a big help before I had power installed out at our house site. It took a lot of digging to find the charger, however. None of the local stores carried it, or even knew it existed. Several tried to convince me it was not possible to charge an 18V system from something that plugged into a 12V lighter (it is, and yes you can get a full charge, same as if you hooked up an inverter and plugged your regular charger into that).

John Mc