Needed the cutting edge freshened, this was suggested so I tried it. So far it's working perfectly. The segments are intended for a 943 and are 1" thick which matches the wear plates added to the bottom of the bucket. I just torched the holes and bolted them on. The space between the teeth is 7.25" and the segments were 7.50, so I modified them slightly in the pantograph torch, the shape is so they will be reversible. Grades like a brand new machine again. Cost for the segments and bolts was about $575.
Nice job. I think I would have drilled the holes in the lip but that's just me. What do you plan to do on the outside of the corners..? There are lots of bolt-on corner bits available, that's what we use on our loaders.
How do you drill a cutting edge? When I need to replace the entire edge I'll put the corner bits on and respace the teeth. With the 200 hrs/yr this machine gets that's going to be a while.
Mag drill nice and steady would drill through there. Nice cutting bench.
Nice work. My 953 has center wear plates and it really helps save the lip. The corner teeth/shank on the '53 sits at the corner. I have used old D5 cutting edges on the vertical edge of the bucket for extra wear protection as well. What do you use the loader for?
One thing I like to do when installing bolt on edges is to use hardened washers under the nuts. That way if you need to torch the nuts off to remove the edges there is less chance of cutting into the base edge.
Ah, good ideas all, I should have asked here first. The shop I consulted for a quote about rebuilding the bucket said there was no way to drill the edge, I took his word as knowledgeable - I've never done it. I'd need longer bolts to use washers, too late now with the price of bolts from CAT. The OEM holes for the teeth are somewhat loose, I figured this would be OK as well. I have a clean fill site, this machine runs 5-10 hrs/week to push off and clear land, less in the winter. Only has 3500 hrs on it, we bought it new in '72 for use in a landfill that closed in '80. I don't do a lot of digging, mostly grading and clearing trees, not having the corner teeth doesn't seem to be a handicap at the moment. I might weld some AR400 on the corners.
Well with that kind of use I don't see you having problems like we can have with equipment running 8-10 hours a day working in a stone quarry loading shot rock with a 988H!