Skeleton Buckets - Everything you need to know
Excavator attachments come in all shapes and sizes, but one tool that stands out for material sorting efficiency is the skeleton bucket. Whether you’re tackling landscaping, demolition or recycling, this excavator attachment is designed to make your life on-site easier. In this guide, we’ll cover everything from what skeleton buckets are, how to use them, and the key features - especially focusing on the Rhinox Skeleton Bucket.
What is an Excavator Skeleton Bucket?
The skeleton bucket is an excavator attachment with a slotted back, designed specifically to separate different-sized aggregates, such as rocks, bricks, soil, tree roots and other mixed aggregates. A skeleton bucket allows excavator operators to sort and manage debris efficiently, making it ideal for projects that involve separating reusable material from waste.
On jobs sites, the skeleton bucket is known by several different names, including a screening bucket, riddle bucket or shaker bucket. The term “shaker bucket” comes from the shaking motion used to separate materials, where the slotted back - often called tines - allows finer material like dirt and small aggregates to fall through while retaining larger items inside the attachment. This separation process supports recycling and reuse while reducing expensive disposal and material handling costs.
5 Projects Ideal for a Skeleton Bucket
Skeleton buckets shine in projects where material separation is required, allowing operators to efficiently sort, screen and manage mixed materials directly on site. The skeleton bucket helps reduce handling time, minimise waste, and cut down on disposal and material replacement costs. Because of this versatility, these screening attachments are especially suited to a wide range of applications, including:
- Rock Excavation - Quickly sort rocks from soil for landscaping or construction.
- Demolition Debris Removal - Separate bricks, concrete and rubble for easier disposal or recycling.
- Drainage and Trench Work - Remove unwanted rocks and roots while leaving soil in place.
- Landscaping Projects - Collect larger aggregates and roots without scooping unnecessary dirt.
- Construction Material Sorting - Sort mixed materials on-site for reuse or disposal.
How To Use a Skeleton BucketUsing a skeleton bucket is straightforward but requires some technique to get the best results:
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Will a Skeleton Bucket fit my Excavator?
Skeleton buckets are built to suit a wide range of excavators, from compact mini excavators to large construction excavators. However, correct fitment depends on more than just your excavator’s size - your machine’s pin dimensions are critical too. To ensure skeleton bucket compatibility with your excavator, always check your excavator’s pin diameter, pin centres and dipper gap. If you have a dedicated hanger quick attach coupler, ensure that this is compatible. At Rhinox, we manufacture skeleton buckets for excavators from 0.75 ton to 25 ton, with bucket widths ranging from 24" to 60", depending on the machine.
Stand-out Features of the Rhinox Skeleton Bucket You Should Know
1. Heavy-duty Construction
Solid, Structural Steel
Every Rhinox skeleton bucket is made from high-quality structural steel, including the side plates, top plates, and tines. This tough steel allows your bucket to handle rocks, bricks, tree roots and other heavy materials without bending or warping. This ensures Rhinox skeleton buckets maintain their shape and performance, even under harsh, repeated use.
Wear Protection
To extend the life of your Rhinox skeleton bucket, we add reinforced wear protection in the areas that take the most impact. This combination of reinforced steel ensures your bucket stays reliable and keeps long-term maintenance or replacement costs to a minimum.
- 3x Leading Edge: The front edge of the bucket is three times thicker than the standard shell, slowing the speed of wear in rough terrain.
- Side Plates: Wear plates on the sides slow down abrasion from contact with rocks and debris.
Vertical Tines & Tine Supports
Rhinox skeleton buckets are built with vertical tines that follow the natural direction of digging forces, making them stronger than the horizontal tines commonly used on other skeleton buckets. These vertical tines resist bending and twisting more effectively when digging through heavy materials like rocks, bricks or tree roots. To increase their strength, the buckets also feature horizontal support braces, which help the tines maintain their shape and minimize deformation during prolonged use. This combination of vertical tines and braces allows the bucket to separate materials efficiently while holding its shape and performance, making it a reliable attachment for sorting aggregates on site.
2. Replaceable Bucket Teeth
Another stand out feature is the replaceable bolt-on teeth that are fitted to the edge of the Rhinox skeleton bucket. As mentioned above, the skeleton bucket is regularly used in harsh conditions that will cause the teeth to wear down over time. Once your teeth are worn, your skeleton bucket will be less effective at digging through the ground or through material as the serrated steel will have worn away to a dome shape, stopping it from being able to grip or penetrated material as effectively. The benefit of the Rhinox skeleton bucket teeth is that they're removable - so they can easily be removed and replaced with new ones once worn.
What teeth styles fit the Rhinox skeleton bucket size ranges?
Excavator Size |
Bucket Tooth Style |
| 0.5 to 4 ton (1,000 to 8,000 lbs) | Kubota style |
| 5 to 8 ton (10,000 to 16,000 lbs) | JCB style |
| 9 to 25 ton (18,000 to 60,000 lbs) | CAT style |
3. Removable Bucket Pins & Dedicated Hangers
Excavator bucket pins naturally wear over time due to the vigorous movements involved in sifting and material handling. We battle this with removable bucket pins, which can be easily replaced when worn, preventing damage to your excavator’s bucket links and tipping links. This design reduces maintenance costs, protects your excavator’s components, and ensures long-lasting performance. Replacement pins are available directly from Rhinox, so you can swap them out as needed to keep your bucket operating efficiently without costly repairs.
For buckets designed for quick attach systems - Bobcat x-change, Kubota quick attach and Deere quick attach - the dedicated hangers replace the bolt-in pins, allowing for fast attachment with your coupler.
Shop our range of skeleton buckets for your 0.75 ton to 25 ton excavator online today! |
Learn more about our Skeleton Buckets:
Purchasing your Rhinox Excavator Skeleton Buckets
Purchasing your Rhinox excavator skeleton bucket online is simple and hassle-free. You can filter products by your excavator’s make and model to quickly find the correct fit, and each product page displays live stock availability so you know exactly what’s ready to ship. We also offer free freight to the lower 48 states, with fast delivery in just 4 to 7 business days, helping you get to work sooner. If you have any questions, concerns or need assistance placing your order, our knowledgeable team is always available to help. Whether you want expert advice or reassurance before purchasing, we’re here to make the process easy from start to finish. Reach out to our sales team today.
