Here is a couple of before & after photos of the bucket rebuild we did on an old and beat up 36" Cat bucket we just purchased cheap for our 318B Excavator. The bottom was worn paper thin. Replaced the floor with a new 3/8" plate & 1/2" x 4" wear bars. Should be good for a while now.
Looks good
In addition to this bucket (see above) we have, which has the K90 style shanks & work well for us, we are actually looking at another wider used bucket offered for sale, with the Cat style shanks & teeth, the ones where the pins drive out crossways. What is the vote on the Cat style shanks/teeth as far as removal & reinstall? Will the ones located at the center of the bucket mean trouble when changing out?
I had the k style before I really liked them. Never lost a tooth. I can't say the same for the older style with the pins and retainers. You will not be as happy with them.
Did you make it out of mild steel or something diffrent?
The repair was all mild steel.
I honestly have no use for the K series teeth. Can't keep them from falling off unless you keep welding up the shanks. We primarily dig in hard rock, the old J series with crossppins treats us best. New pis and retainers everytime and never have an issue.
Most of the time I can't get the miserable damn things off. End up cutting the tooth, then blasting out the old pin. I have the pin driving tools. Useless pieces of scrap. Did you consider AR400?
Yes we did consider the 400 AR Plate, however with the reduced usage expected on the 36" bucket (100 Hrs annual) we will be fine with that. Also, in our shop we can shear the 3/8" Mild steel as apposed to hand cutting the AR, hence a nice clean job shearing. We are currently looking at a used 42" bucket which if we buy it, will on the machine the majority of the time.
I love the K series teeth, never had a problem with them and very easy to change out. Have the J series on the 953 and hate them. They are a pain to change out. One day I'm going to change the J's out on the loader to K's. Had a job in the mid 2000's in very abrasive material. We'd swap the teeth on the track hoe bucket at lunch to evenly wear the teeth, put a new set on every day when we were loading trucks on a 10 hour shift. The K series made the job so much easier and quicker.