When should I use a Blade VS Teeth on my Excavator Digging Bucket?

Discover the evolution of excavator digging buckets – they've come a long way from simple toothed buckets! The market now offers a diverse range of bucket edge options, each designed for specific situations. Dive into the world of excavation and find out when to opt for a bucket with teeth versus a bolt-on blade. Uncover the reasons why toothless buckets are becoming a necessity on construction sites.

When should you use digging buckets with teeth?

A digging bucket fitted with teeth is probably the most common type of excavator bucket on the market. If you've ever seen an excavator, there's a large chance it would have been fitted with a toothed digging bucket, but why are they so popular and when are they best used? Digging buckets fitted with teeth are ideal for digging through and breaking up compact materials like soil and sedimentary rock. The small, serrated teeth although you to maximise your machines power by putting all the power of the machine through the small end points and into the ground. The toothed digging bucket will usually be your best option for digging projects like trenches, flower beds and driveways.

Although the toothed bucket is mainly used to break up material, it is also the best choice for bulk moving material and removing objects that might be stuck in the ground, like roots or large rocks, as the teeth help with scooping and gripping the material. If an object is stuck firmly in the ground, we would recommend using a Frost Ripper Tooth first. The ripper tooth digger attachment concentrates the power of your excavator into one end-point allowing you to focus the force into one area rather than across a wide area like with a digging bucket.

When should you use digging buckets with a blade or no teeth?

There are a few key scenarios when you shouldn't, or would prefer not to, use a digging bucket with teeth. One of the most common uses for using toothless digging buckets is when you want to dig a trench with a flat bottom. Using a digging bucket with a flat edge is the quickest and easiest way to get a flat finish to your trench. The flat edge of your lip plate or bolt-on blade will leave your trench with no teeth marks or digging lines as the smooth blade edge will level out the material as you pull the bucket through the ground. Flat bottom trenches are ideal for easily and safely laying pipes or cables in the ground.

Digging buckets without teeth are becoming compulsory across many construction and utility sites, especially when digging around utilities to reduce the risk of striking cables or other utilities that are already in the ground. When this requirement occurs we would recommend fitting a bolt-on blade option instead. Blade options like bolt-on blades or uni-tusk blades will slow the speed of wear to your bucket edge. Using a bucket with no edge option fitted will cause the lip plate of your excavator bucket to wear back and will eventually cause the welds that connect the side plates and shell to the lip plate to split, leaving your bucket useless. This is why we would also recommend fitting a blade to your digging bucket if using a bucket with teeth isn't an option. As well as protecting your bucket edge, fitting a blade also adds strength and rigidity to your bucket while digging, helping to extend the life of your excavator bucket even further.

So, there you have it, the main differences between using a digging bucket with teeth verse with a blade, and why toothless buckets are becoming more widely seen on construction and utility sites. If you want to know more about bolt-on blades and how to slow the wear on your buckets, check out some of our other content below. For more information or for help with placing an order, give us a call and we'll be happy to help. Click here to shop online now.

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