Toothless for rocks

[chim]

Although the toothbar is a great addition for most work, I discovered the loader worked a lot better without it for scooping rocks from a pile. A recent project was moving 10 tons of rocks form a pile to some washed-out banks.

When I started, it seemed impossible to get the FEL bucket full of the rocks. As the bucket was raised and curled it kinda combed through the material, rather than fill the bucket. The stones were what some call "shot rock". Range of size was from softball to football, and irregular in shape. Some of the rocks got caught between the teeth (which are spaced @about 7-1/2" on centers).

Out of curiosity, I removed the toothbar. This allowed the bucket to slide along the ground into the pile. On the way up, it filled up very nicely. Best efforts with the bar installed resulted in half full buckets....................chim

 

[EdKing]

I also noticed it is a lot easier to load loose material without the toothbar. Whenever I am moving topsoil, mulch, etc., I remove the toothbar.

 

[Freds]

Interesting. I've been trying to scoop up some larger rocks and pcs. of broken up, poured foundation and have been thinking I need a toothbar. I'm not talking about grabbing a few out of a pile, just a couple at a time (or even one for that matter) that were loosely scattered by my excavator. I was thinking a toothbar would help me get a better bite under the rock and let me curl it into the FEL. Right now I have been loading them by hand, which still beats a wheelbarrow.

Fred

 

[chim]

For a couple big rocks, or one / two at a time, the toothbar does help. When I was combing through the brush, I could pick stuff up easily. Had one concrete block I picked up with a tooth. A chimney block about 18" square flipped neatly into the bucket by levelling the bucket, pushing down on it hard and backing up slowly. Just like playing tiddleywinks. Besides scooping up the rocks, the only other time to NOT have a toothbar is when you need to scrape something clean with minimum "collateral damage" - dirt or snow from the driveway, backfilling a trench through the grass, etc................chim

 

[Freds]

Thanks for the tips, Chim. When I get around to getting a toothbar I'll have a better idea how to work it on larger rocks.

Fred

 

[Hawkflyer]

I have had mixed experiance with loose materials and the tooth bar. If the material is piled up its no problem. The trick is to move forward as you roll and lift the bucket. If you stay in one place a lot of the material will roll off the teeth and you will not get a full bucket. The same thing happens with mulch. But as long as you move into the pile as you lift the material will be pushed into the bucket by the stuff behind it in the pile.Single rocks and other things out in the open, particularly on a slight slope away from the machine, are a real pain. Usually you wind up pushing it along with a tooth until you can get under it.