Guys what do you do to prevent clay cling to a bucket?
wait for it to dry up like concrete? wet clay, that'll stick to Teflon.
I was just wondering the same thing. I've dug some clay before with my neighbors miniexcavator, and remember having problems with stuff sticking in the bucket. It has a 18" bucket. I just started replacing the drain tile system on our house, and am having to dig a lot of clay. My backhoe has a 16" trenching bucket, which digs right through the clay without a problem, but the clay is stuck so hard in the bucket that I couldn't pry it out. I still have a lot of digging to do and would love some advise from some experienced operators. I would also love a wider hoe bucket, but that ain't going to happen anytime soon.
WE make a back side of a bucket, out of chains so when you turn it out it falls in and helps to empty it. Hope you got what i mean
Don't jam the bucket full just use the front 1/2 & it will fall right out.
Yeah, or a bucket with some holes in it to break the suction, I can see where not packing it full won't get it suctioned down.
Fill a pump-up sprayer with diesel fuel and spray the inside of the bucket with the diesel until inside is completely coated.. Repeat this procedure as needed. Depending on conditions, You may only have to do it a couple of times/day, or, you may have to do it once/hour.
I usually dig with arm, and avoid to twist bucket, it is like scrapping, then clay comes in in small pieces not in a single solid piece.
clay buckets great bits of kit
It got too packed today to get anything done. So I spent half an hour prying and hacking away at the bucket of clay. Then another half an hour pressure washing the rest out. This clay is pressure washer resistant. I had to work my way under it and get it off in chunks. I'll be trying to put together something to force it out, and hope it works.
I often end up working in wet sticky clay doing water leaks when the bucket gets jammed up with it I don't try and chisel it out I take a tiger torch to the bucket and heat it up the clay shrinks and falls out.
chains as suggested in other reply post,,, weld chains near the teeth leave chains long enough to fit inside of bucket, then weld cross bar above the swivel joints on stick and weld other end of chains to this, weld heavy expanded metal welded to chains to fit in bucket, in digging mode chains and metal will push to back of bucket when dumping chains will tighten as the bucket is opened up use at least 2 chains maybe 3 according to with of bucket may have to play with design to make work GL
I put a hinged plate in, attached to the boom with a chain. It sort of worked. If I was careful not to get anything behind it, it worked. But the clay got too sticky. So sticky it stuck in the dump bed of my truck. Almost picked the front wheels off the ground. Diesel spray helped for the first two buckets. The only thing that was helpful, ironically, was more water. I gave up when if got fully packed, and I had to use the backhoe to unload the truck. I'll clean it out in the morning and try a different approach.
Here is a pic of a 12" bucket I altered for digging in clay. I just installed it today. If it doesn't help the clay to fall out it should be easier to clean it out. My theory is there is less surface for it to stick to. I may not get a chance to try it for a while then I will post results.
I found something that worked. Water, and lots of it. It didn't stop it from sticking completely, but sure made a big difference. The trench I've been working on has been slowly filling with water. If I spread it around and got the bucket good and wet before every scoop, most of the clay would not stick. Today it was misting out all day. Not enough to accumulate, or even run down the gutters, but enough to keep everything wet. I had to stop using the dump truck, because it just slid and sank with a load. The loader was useless with the old 2wd case, and the mini-excavator couldn't even make a dent in the clay. So I used the backhoe to dig out the clay and create a big old pile of clay, but I couldn't get straight on to get the trench cleaned out. So the excavator was used to finish clearing out the loose stuff.
clay buckets some from the UK i have a 12" and 18" easy to use , no sticking at all
Those buckets look great. Especially that last one. I wish I had one like that. Apparently I have a lot of clay on my property.
you might get lucky and find an old rail road cribbing bucket they are almost the same shape maybe just a little bit longer.
Tried out my modified trenching bucket on Sunday. Had no problems keeping it cleaned out, however the clay was dry and temperature below freezing.