Guide to Bolt-On Blades for Excavator Buckets

Excavator buckets are essential tools in heavy-duty construction, excavation and landscaping, but without proper protection, they can suffer significant wear and tear, leading to costly repairs or replacements. Bolt-on blades are a game-changing solution to enhance your digging and grading bucket longevity. In this article, we'll explore what bolt-on blades are, why they’re crucial and how they can transform the efficiency of your excavator bucket.

What is a Bolt-on Blade?

A bolt-on blade, also known as a bolt-on cutting edge, is a hardened piece of steel, designed to bolt onto the front edge (lip plate) of your excavator digging or grading buckets. Acting as a shield, this blade extends beyond the lip plate, protecting your bucket edge from wear and tear. The bolt-on blade takes the brunt of the wear, which inevitably extends the life of your equipment and saves you money in the long run. If you've ever used your excavator bucket in tough conditions, you know how quickly the front edge can wear down, so fitting a bolt-on blade provides a durable, replaceable barrier between your bucket and the abrasive materials. But how does this simple addition make such a big difference? Let’s dive in.

Why Fit a Bolt-on Blade to Your Excavator Bucket?

1. Protects the Bucket's Lip Plate and Preserves Integrity

Digging in harsh environments gradually wears down the bucket edge, potentially deforming it beyond repair and compromising its functionality. A bolt-on blade acts as a shield, absorbing wear and protecting the lip plate from damage. Without this crucial protection, the bucket edge can crack, warp or become unsuitable for effective grading and digging tasks. Additionally, bolt-on blades help minimise wear on the bucket’s critical welds, such as those connecting the lip plate to the side plates. This preventive measure reduces the risk of structural failures like snapping or buckling, which could render the bucket unusable. This added layer of protection ensures the bucket’s longevity, reliability and overall performance over time.

2. Quick and Easy Maintenance

Replacing a worn bolt-on blade is a significantly simpler and faster process compared to the labour-intensive task of grinding out and welding in a new lip plate. The straightforward task of removing and replacing bolts makes the process quick and efficient, allowing the entire blade replacement to be completed in under half an hour and dramatically reducing your excavator downtime. This quick replacement means that your excavator remains operational and productive, avoiding extended interruptions that could disrupt workflows or project timelines. Replacing a cutting edge, by cutting and rewelding it onto your bucket, can be a lengthy and time-consuming process. This method may also compromise the bucket's structural integrity and alignment as it can be difficult to accurately reposition the lip plate.

Tampering with your Rhinox bucket will void your lifetime guarantee on the welds. For these reasons, we strongly recommend fitting a bolt-on blade to avoid the need for welding altogether.

Common Scenarios Where You Will Wear Your Excavator Bucket Edge

1. Using a Bucket Without Teeth or a Blade

Using an excavator digging or grading bucket with an unprotected bucket lip plate is a common mistake that can result in rapid wear. Without proper protection, the bucket edge deteriorates quickly, leading to expensive repairs or even the need for a full bucket replacement. Installing a bolt-on blade to a bare lip plate provides an additional steel layer to safeguard the bucket edge, preventing deformation and keeping the bucket edge level. As well as reinforcing the edge, you are able to easily replace the worn or damaged cutting edge when required, rather than having to replace your entire bucket at a much higher price. Rhinox bolt-on blades are reversible which means that when you have worn down one side, you are able to remove it, spin it round and reattach it - ready to be used again. This obviously means you get twice the use out of one blade before needing to replace it. This sounds great, doesn’t it? While it does come with a slight increase in upfront cost for your excavator bucket, in the long run, it can actually save you money by eliminating the need to replace the entire bucket when the front edge wears out. Check out the example below to see just how much you could save:

Kubota KX033 Ditch Cleaning Bucket - 36 Inches Wide

Bucket Avg. $2,050

Blade Avg. $250

8 x $250 = $2,000

You can purchase 8 reversible bolt-on blades for less than the price of 1 replacement bucket.

Remembering that each reversible blade can also be used twice!

2. Failing to Replace Worn Teeth or Blades

Failing to replace worn excavator bucket teeth or bolt-on cutting edge can lead to extensive damage. If your excavator bucket is already fit with bolt-on teeth or bolt-on cutting edge and you're still dealing with wear, it's likely because you haven’t replaced your teeth or blade before they wore beyond their usable life. Protective edges wear over time, so it's important to monitor their condition and replace or reverse them when needed. For blades, you know it’s time to replace or reverse them when the blade has worn back to the edge of the bucket's lip plate. Continuing to wear the blade beyond this point will not only damage the bucket’s edge but also wear past the bolt holes, preventing future blade or tooth reattachment unless a new lip plate is installed. Additionally, excessive wear can compromise the flatness and levelness of the lip plate, making it harder to achieve a smooth, level surface when finishing. Continued wear can further erode the welds connecting the bucket's sides, shell and lip plate, ultimately causing the welds to split or crack, rendering the bucket unusable.

Bolt-on Blades for Rhinox Excavator Buckets

At Rhinox, we provide bolt-on blades as a standard feature on our grading buckets and tilt grading buckets for excavators over 2 tonnes (4,400 lbs), including popular models like the Bobcat E25 and Kubota U27-4. This added feature enhances durability and longevity. However, our smaller grading buckets are not designed for bolt-on blade compatibility. This decision is based on cost-effectiveness; the price of replacement bolt-on blades for smaller buckets is often comparable to the cost of a new bucket, making it an impractical option.

If you already own a Rhinox grading bucket and need a replacement blade, simply get in touch with us, and we’ll be happy to assist you in arranging one. Please note that our bolt-on blades are specifically designed to fit Rhinox excavator grading buckets, as we cannot guarantee compatibility with non-Rhinox branded buckets due to differences in bolt-hole alignment. Additionally, at this time, we do not offer bolt-on blades for Rhinox digging buckets. We strive to provide solutions tailored to your needs and are always here to help with any inquiries about our products.