Toothbar Installation

John_Mc · May 7, 2002

I finally got my toothbar, now I just have to install it. I've got no problems with the hole drilling method. I do have a question on the location:

The bolt holes on my tooth bar are slotted. With the toothbar fully seated on the bucket, should I aim for the middle of the slots when drilling, or to one end or the other. I can think of a few advantages and disadvantages of each. Most boil down to: a fit that really "locks" the toothbar in place, vs a fudge factor for a miss-drilled hole or a fit that changes a bit as various parts wear.

Any thoughts?

John Mc

ronjhall · May 8, 2002

John
I had to do a little fitting (grinding) on bucket to install my tooth bar. It would not slide all the way on because welds that attach bucket cutting edge were too high. To fit the tooth bar I kept grinding until it fit all the way on to the cutting edge. When I had it fit I clamped tooth bar to bucket. Started up tractor and dumped bucket until teeth of tooth bar pointed toward the ground. Lowered bucket until I had raised front wheels off ground about 1”. This forced tooth bar into the position it should be mounted. I then marked the location of boltholes in bucket to give about 1/16” clearance from rear end of slot.
This procedure should make sure tooth bar is properly seated and bolted on bucket.
I used mine yesterday to dig some shrubs out of clay soil. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif It was not easy. But the tractor and tooth bar did all the work. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

hazmat · May 8, 2002

John,

I have no experience with toothbars, but I am a mechanical engineer, aim for the center of the slot when the toothbar is in the proper location. Ronjhall seems to have a good method for "seating" the toothbar. If the bolts are properly sized, when you torque them down, the friction between the bolt head & toothbar / bucket will keep the toothbar from moving. You don't want to be near the end of the slot, because it will be difficult to insert the bolt if you don't line up exactly the same way you did when you marked the hole. Also, things tend to "change" over time: You try to dig out that small stump, but it is actually has a monster root ball & you bend your bucket or toothbar a little. If you are centered on the slot, it will still come on / off easily.

Hazmat

John_Mc · May 9, 2002

Thanks for the tips Hazmat and Ronjhall. I'll be doing the drilling this weekend.

John Mc

jhburke · May 9, 2002

I picked up my tooth bar today. Just under 300.00 tax and freight included. Will see about installing it soon.

Keoke · May 10, 2002

John, trying using a hole saw instead of a 5/8 drill, goes faster and gives a neat hole. Keep the center core from bucket hole in case you want to fill the hole back up at a later date. Don't ask why!

cheers,

GSS · May 10, 2002

That's a pretty good price, jhburke. Is it the regular or heavy duty one? Where did you get it? Thanks.

gerard · May 10, 2002

I just put mine on yesterday - $300 to my door from carvers. Nice fit, very heavy duty and a really nice unit. I drilled for the center of the slot with the bar pushed on as far as it will go. I didn't worry too much about hitting the end of the slot because all the bolts really do is keep the thing from coming off. When digging the pressure is all taken by the bucket edge. Good tip about the holesaw. Drilling a 3/4 inch hole in 1/8 inch steel with a hand drill takes a little time!

jhburke · May 10, 2002

I got mine from local Kubota dealer. It was made at
FTC Attachments
100 E Lee Road
Lee, IL 60530
Phone # 1-800-747-2132

I put mine on this morning in about 45 minutes. I drilled a 3/8 " pilot hole. Then a 1/2 " and then a 3/4 " hole. It looks very stout to me. Deffinatly plenty stout for my unit.

bphillips · May 11, 2002

Why not order the correct size holes from the dealer that sold the toothbar. It shouldn't add much to the shipping cost as I don't think they are very heavy. They can be hard to get hold of however.

Brad in NH