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Hi guys, just wondering if anybody has ever welded a piece of flat bar across the teeth of an excavator bucket to make a smooth edge. I work for an electrical coop that deals with underground utility lines. The excavator we have has a 24" bucket which works great but they are asking me if I can buy or build an attachment that will keep the bucket teeth from snagging on water lines buried in the same ditch as our cable. They are as careful as they can be and will dig by hand when they need to but accidents happen. My plan is too get a piece of 5/8" x 6" bar stock and weld it to the two center teeth and just have it lay against the two outside teeth for support. This way it's easier to remove and put two teeth back on if they need to. The problem I think I'm going to run into is welding the bar stock to the teeth, I was told that they teeth are hardened and I have not welded mild steel to hardened steel before. The teeth I'm working with are TF23D Fanggs on a John Deere bucket. I would appreciate any input. Thanks
Reply:I have done this lots of times. Used 7018, and self shielded wire too, what ever I was welding with at the time. I dont think the plate is going to be much help in not snagging the under ground pipes tho.Dont pay any attention to meIm just a hobbyist!CarlDynasty 300V350-Pro w/pulseSG Spool gun1937 IdealArc-300PowerArc 200ST3 SA-200sVantage 400
Reply:An excavator or TLB is the best tool known to man for finding underground utilities whether looking for them or not.SlobPurveyor of intimate unparalleled knowledge of nothing about everything.Oh yeah, also an unabashed internet "Troll" too.....
Reply:They just need to be better operators, and pothole to find the other utilities first. Most guys I see digging in old trenches have the teeth coming toward them when digging. This is an easy dig, so leave the teeth pointing back, that way the other lines won't get snagged. I am an amateur operator at best, but worked around it in the gas industry for years. Saw some of the best operators, and I never saw them damage anything.
Reply:A hydrovac should be your operator's best friend.
Reply:We used a piece of cutting edge vs mild steel on the ones we had. I'm pretty sure all we used was 7018 to make them, but it's been more than 15 years since we made one.The edge was nice when you wanted to grade with the bucket, or when you dug in something like sand, but wasn't much help in rock. One thing to keep in mind this worked great on the old 555B Ford bucket that used roll pins drive into the shanks to hold the edge on, but won't work on the bucket we had for our excavator with the teeth that twist on..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Originally Posted by SlobAn excavator or TLB is the best tool known to man for finding underground utilities whether looking for them or not.
Reply:Yep that's done all the time.. Either exposing just an inch or so of the teeth or sometimes no teeth exposedBacked my CATMA over your CARMA oops clusmy me What would SATAN do ?? Miller Trailblazer 302 AirPakMiller Digital Elite Optrel Welding HatArcair K4000Suitcase 12RC / 12 VSHypertherm PM-45Rage 3 sawRusty old Truck
Reply:Do it all the time at work. Someone on here made one that slipped over the teeth and chained into the back of the bucket
Reply:Just make sure the retainers for the teeth don't have rubber or it will melt if you weld with the teeth in place. Welded a cutting edge on teeth is done all the time. 7018 and a little preheat should do the trick but you need to weld it on all the teeth. A backhoe has a lot of digging force and could easily bend or rip the plate off if it's only welded on 2 teeth. Some guys make sockets that fit over the teeth where you might not need to weld all of them.
Reply:Two words of advice: Dig Safe. Start with dig safe. If I know a pipe or wire is in the ground, and approximately where it is, and its direction, dig parallel to it a safe distance away. Dig deeper than it is, using a shovel or pickaxe, dig a vertical narrow groove in the vertical side of the ditch. If I don't find it first try, widen the vertical wall of the ditch and repeat. This takes advantage of gravity to expose the conduit without damage.As for welding to teeth, I believe most of the basic ones are of high manganese steel. It can be easily welded with a variety of procedures including SMAW & 7018.Home soil is boulders, some variety of granite. Bucket teeth don't last long. I used old grader blade chunks to refresh worn out teeth on a John Deere 410, and a Case 580K. The same teeth fit both machines. I think it was the Miller Matic 252 with basic 70 series .035 solid wire. Welds didn't fail, but I had added perhaps 5" length to the teeth. It was too much leverage. Each eventually broke, but not in the weld. I preheated to maybe 500 F with a big weed burner torch.An optimist is usually wrong, and when the unexpected happens is unprepared. A pessimist is usually right, when wrong, is delighted, and well prepared.
Reply:Thanks for all the feedback. Don't know if this will help my guys or not but if there's a chance that it might I'll give it a shot.Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience. ~ Mark Twain
Reply:I did this a month ago. Welded a piece of flat bar on a small excavator buckets teeth. The guy was doing septic field work and wanted to be able to get close to a house/basement to remove dirt from the wall. I believe it was 1/2" thick heavy flat bar. I used 7018 and it help up with no issues.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720 |
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发表于 2021-8-31 22:30:09