You're missing out

[500K_773]

Just wanted to share my experience. If you own a skidsteer loader and don't have teeth on you bucket, you are not fully utilizing the capability of you machine. When I bought my Bobcat it came with the 74” Low Profile bucket. This was great because it offered great visibility and carried lots of material. I began excavation of a building foundation in semi-hard, compacted silts and was dissapointed with my loaders performance. I would really have to work the bucket with the tilt cylinder to fill it, and would sometimes stall the machine when taking a big bite. I looked at adding a BiteBar (a bolt on bar with teeth) to this bucket, but the cost was about $350.
I really starting looking at my setup and realized that the LowProfile bucket was working against me. The length of the bottom of the LP bucket is 33.2” and the teeth would stickout even further. I then looked at the Construction and Industrial (C&I) bucket which was only 29.4” long on bottom. 4” shorter would increase my leverage, thus increase my breakout force. The dealer had the teeth for a bucket in stock, but not the C&I bucket, so I bought the teeth and ordered the bucket (about $950 for everything). I mounted the teeth on the LP bucket and saw an increase in digging performance, but not what I was expecting. When the C&I bucket arrived, I mounted the teeth and went to work. WOW, what a difference. I could fill the bucket almost effortlessly and did not stall the machine. My cycle times increased because I didn't have to work the tilt cylinder as much as with the LP bucket. The C&I bucket holds a little less than the LP bucket (15.4 ft^3 vs. 17.6 ft^3), hardly noticeable. If I have to move the material much distance, I excavate with the tooth bucket, then move the entire pile with my larger LP bucket.

 

[500K_773]

I loaned my tooth bucket to my friend who has a Cat 246 skid steer. I told him to try it and see if it helped his digging. I heard back from that afternoon. He said my bucket had been stolen and I wasn't getting it back. He couldn't believe how much it changed his machine. He had already called the Bobcat and Cat dealers to try locate a C&I bucket that he could put teeth on. I had tried teeth mounted to my low profile bucket and they helped penetration, but not breakout digging power. The shorter bottomed C&I bucket with teeth is the perfect combination. Try it, you wouldn't be sorry.

 

[Tigerotor77W]

I loaned my tooth bucket to my friend who has a Cat 246 skid steer. I told him to try it and see if it helped his digging. I heard back from that afternoon. He said my bucket had been stolen and I wasn't getting it back. He couldn't believe how much it changed his machine. He had already called the Bobcat and Cat dealers to try locate a C&I bucket that he could put teeth on. I had tried teeth mounted to my low profile bucket and they helped penetration, but not breakout digging power. The shorter bottomed C&I bucket with teeth is the perfect combination. Try it, you wouldn't be sorry.

Hope you get that bucket back!

 

[500K_773]

Hope you get that bucket back!

I'm out of town for a week, so I told my friend he could keep it until I got back. The dealerships told him it would be 3 weeks before they could get him a C&I bucket. It will be practically winter by then. I think he should buy it now and sit on it all winter. I heard rumor that steel prices will go up again in October so the price of buckets, attachments, machines, etc...will probably also go up.
Last spring I used my tooth bucket to perform spring clean up on the horse corrals. It worked great to pop up the hard packed snow. The corrals dried up faster than normal since the snow was gone and the horses didn't get all muddy. I couldn't have done it without the teeth on the bucket.

 

[500K_773]

I'm out of town for a week, so I told my friend he could keep it until I got back. The dealerships told him it would be 3 weeks before they could get him a C&I bucket. It will be practically winter by then. I think he should buy it now and sit on it all winter. I heard rumor that steel prices will go up again in October so the price of buckets, attachments, machines, etc...will probably also go up.
Last spring I used my tooth bucket to perform spring clean up on the horse corrals. It worked great to pop up the hard packed snow. The corrals dried up faster than normal since the snow was gone and the horses didn't get all muddy. I couldn't have done it without the teeth on the bucket.

I'd like to hear from others who have used buckets with teeth on them or even a Bite-Bar. Just like to see if your getting the same type of productivity increases I am.

 

[500K_773]

I'd like to hear from others who have used buckets with teeth on them or even a Bite-Bar. Just like to see if your getting the same type of productivity increases I am.

BTW, later tonight or maybe as late as tomorrow, I should finish up welding my homemade "Rooter" bucket. It's a V-shaped bucket with a narrow flat bottom. The bucket is 4' wide at the back top and tapered to 16" wide at the front. I'm also putting 4 bolt on shanks and teeth. I'll post some pictures of it when I finish with it. I plan on using it to dig up stumps, re-plant trees, dig drainage ditches, etc....