I have been having problems with the outside teeth breaking off the the toothbar on my JD325 ss. The first time it happened I thought maybe I had overdone it but the new teeth broke off in soft dirt. I'm certainly not an expert but it seems to me that the design of the outside tooth are weak. A friend, who is more experienced looked at the break and said that the steel didn't look very good. The outside teeth on the toothbar are just supported by two side straps which straddle the side of the bucket and the bolt goes through the straps. In every situation, it's been the straps that failed, not the welds. #1 -- has anyone else had similar problems with the Deere design? #2 -- I am thinking of getting center replacement teeth and welding them onto the bar slightly inside from the edge, not using outside teeth. Good idea or bad? Attached are photos. Broken tooth: underside. It's been sitting for several months, that's why it's rusty. Comments or suggestions are appreciated. Ken
In my experience, tooth bars are really only good for light work. In heavy use, I have destroyed every one I ever had. I would advise you to spend the money and buy a dedicated tooth bucket.
I mounted the same bar on my 310g bucket and broke the same teeth. They are not designed very well with the slot and bolt idea. Rest of the teeth are ok so far.
They are junk IMHO. You are not the only one that is having this exact problem. I solved this by using their HD construction bucket. No bolt on toothbars that I have ever seen seem to work regardless of brand/make or manufacturer. Buy the construction bucket and problem solved IMHO.........Too much flex in the bolt on bars. The teeth closest to the end of the bar take the brunt of the flex and tend to snap or crack. Only good for light duty work. :usa
Thanks for the replies everyone. Well at least I know that it's not me I've looked at the prices for heavy duty tooth buckets At this point I'm leaning more toward welding a solid tooth onto the toothbar and maybe welding the toothbar onto the bucket since I assume the bar itself gives some strength to the bucket edge. I'm just using the SS around the farm, it's not something that spends 8 hours a day in heavy work. Ken