Bucket teeth: The Ultimate Guide

1. How Do You Extend the Wear Life of Your Bucket Teeth?

With the continuous use of excavators. Excavator bucket teeth wear and tear will be increasing. Naturally, its service life will be greatly shortened. So what measures should we take to extend the service life of excavator bucket teeth?

Select Suitable Welding Materials

• In order to improve the wear resistance of bucket teeth, it is necessary to choose a reasonable welding material for surfacing (high manganese steel is widely used in high impact wear conditions). In order to obtain the bucket teeth with good wear resistance, it is usually necessary to further optimize the material composition to achieve the design of high hardness and toughness composition.

Daily Maintenance

• The bucket teeth on both sides of the excavator are worn about 30% faster than those in the middle. The bucket teeth on both sides and in the middle can be interchanged for further use, so as to reduce the repairs times and indirectly increase the service life of the bucket teeth.

• Before the bucket teeth reach the use limit, repair them in time.

• During the operation of the excavator, pay attention to that the bucket teeth are perpendicular to the working face when digging down, so as to avoid breaking the bucket teeth due to excessive inclination.

• When resistance is large, avoid swinging the digging arm left and right, and avoid the fracture of the bucket tooth and the tooth seat due to the excessive left and right forces.

• It is recommended to replace the gear base after 10% of worn. There is a large gap between the worn gear base and the bucket teeth. The bucket teeth are easy to break due to the change of the stress point.

• Improving the driving method of the excavator is also very important to improve the utilization ratio of bucket teeth. When lifting the boom, the excavator driver should try not to fold up the bucket and pay attention to the coordination of operation.

See also:

The Purchase and Maintenance of Bucket Teeth

2. How to Install Bucket Teeth?

Preparing for installation

In preparation for installation, position the bucket with its teeth parallel to the ground. You can even use wooden blocking or jack stands to effectively support the bucket. This will also help with the prevention of any potential pinching or crushing accidents.

Once you believe you are ready to safely begin, follow the seven steps below to install bucket teeth.

• Step One

  Remove the existing teeth by using a Fortus pin removal tool. Hammer the pin removal tool into the pin from the side of the tooth with the retainer. (Hammering from the other side will take more time and effort to get the pin through the retainer)

• Step Two

  Remove the tooth and clean any excess dirt from the adaptor using a wire bristle brush, or any similar tool.

• Step Three

  Insert the retainer into the retainer recess in the adaptor.

• Step Four

  Position the tooth on the adaptor, ensuring that the retainer stays in place.

• Step Five

  Insert the pin through the tooth and adaptor from the opposite side of the retainer. This will make it far easier for the installation.

  Be sure to insert the end of the pin with the recess first.

• Step Six

  Hammer the pin until the pin is flush with the end of the tooth.

• Step Seven

  Finally, the recess in the pin will lock into the retainer.

3. Key Factors When Choosing the Right Bucket Teeth( How to Choose the Right Bucket Teeth?)

Most buckets come with a weld-on cutting edge. There are four other edge options available: bolt-on, tooth bar, weld-on teeth, and serrated. Having the right edge option can boost job productivity and eliminate the need to buy another bucket. While there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer to which is better, knowing the advantages of each will give you a better idea of which edge will work best for your operation.

OPTIONS:

• BOLT-ON EDGE

  This is the most common cutting edge. Bolt-on edges protect and add strength to the front end of the bucket. They’re replaceable and can be reversed before the edge wears back into the bucket. Once both sides wear completely, the edge can easily be replaced.

  
  

• SERRATED EDGE

  Another option to consider is the serrated edge. These are bolted on the bottom lip of a bucket and are easy to remove or replace—like a tooth bar. They’re designed to loosen hard-to-penetrate materials like packed gravel. These bucket edges excel in breaking up frozen ground.

  There’s some unmatched strength involved with this type. With a serrated edge, you’ll never have to worry about breaking a tooth or shank. They’re strong like a standard bolt-on edge because when the edge contacts the ground the force is exerted across the entire edge. Also, the serrated edge limits the bucket lip from wearing out, which minimizes repair costs and time spent in the shop.

  
  

• TOOTHBAR

  Adding a tooth bar to a skid steer bucket will drastically increase its digging ability. It’ll help cut into rocky soil, scoop loose dirt, and dig out roots. It’s a powerful style designed to be relentless.

  Despite its relentlessness, the tooth bar is both removable and easy to repair or replace. Since the whole edge is removable, the bucket is more versatile, the only downside is cost. Toothbars are more expensive than weld-on teeth but customers who benefit from the toothbar's versatility find it is well worth it.

  For example, operators usually don’t want a tooth bar (or teeth on the bucket) when clearing snow or back dragging. But, they do want the teeth when they’re digging out roots. Having the ability to remove the tooth bar gives you the versatility to use the bucket either way. A weld-on doesn’t give you that option. If you don’t see yourself ever wanting to remove the tooth bar, then weld-on teeth are probably the wiser choice.

  Take note: weld-on teeth can’t be paired with a standard bolt-on edge, but a tooth bar can.

  
  

• WELD-ON TEETH

  Like tooth bars, weld-on teeth excel at breaking up compacted soil, catching rocks, and removing roots, but these are permanent and can’t be removed. Since the teeth are welded directly to the bucket, they’re stronger than a tooth bar. The added strength helps it perform better in tough, seemingly impenetrable soil conditions (like clay).

  If you will be back dragging, grading, or ploughing snow, then weld-on teeth may present a problem. Many operators don’t realize the drawback of non-removable teeth until they’re well into a project and the lack of versatility suddenly causes a big headache.

  
  

See also:

4 Aspects to Consider When Purchasing Bucket Teeth