Having finally brought our Link Belt LS4300 CII back to life after a 10 year coma I need to address the teeth on our bucket. They appear to be worn to a nub. I was told that this is an older type YSTD bucket (ser #RH31106) and that our local source couldn't help with finding replacement teeth. We are dealing with softer and decomposed slate bedrock beneath the overburden. Also, I'm not familiar with how the locks work and how to pull them. They appear to be U-shaped from what i can see. Any help in locating new teeth and tips on how to pull the locks is most appreciated. -Tom
I called Fraley Tractor today to see if they could enlighten me any and Sean told me that the tooth retainer might be a horseshoe clip that can be pried or driven up and removed, then the tooth can be rotated 90 degrees and driven off with some heavy hammer blows. Identifying and locating replacements will be the next step.
Those are ESCO Heliloc teeth. There is a horseshoe retainer and they are a bugger to get out if they have been in there for any amount of time. ESCO had a special bar for removing the retainers. It had a short nub that fit under the horseshoe and then you could pry back on the bar end. My bar got stolen with my work trailer some years ago so I can't even take a photo of one to show you what they look like. They didn't work real well anyway. Sean is telling you straight that the teeth rotate counterclockwise when the retainer is out to come off. We used to cut the horseshoe in half to get the stuck ones out. Once the retainer is out the teeth come right off.
Thanks as always John. I need to replace all five teeth and it looks like the "SYL" Omniloc teeth would be suitable for our ground. As excavators are new to me should I use the same tooth style all across, or use a different style tooth for the two outer teeth? Last question... are all Omniloc teeth the same size for fitting the bucket end? -Tom
Do you have to replace the shanks then in order to use different teeth?
I'm not clear about your question John. I assume the shank is on the bucket side and the Omniloc teeth "twist" onto the shank, then secured with the U clip. I saw online several styles of Omniloc teeth including the flat chisel style labeled as "SYL style", and another called "TVIP style" which is twin forked. Both are shown as Omniloc system teeth. My gut tells me to go all five teeth with the SYL style. But my backhoe has the fork style teeth on the outer two ends with chisel teeth in the middle. I don't think the forked style teeth on the outer sides of the excavator would last long considering the nature of the slate bedrock that we're working. I'm just looking for practical advice before placing my order. -Tom
SYL as I recall is just the shape of the tooth. Your shanks are welded to the bucket. What you need to be sure of is the retainer types for the teeth that you purchase. ESCO went to using different types when troubles showed up with the horseshoes.
If you look at the first picture at the start of this thread you can see two square "pins" that might be the locks. When I looked at the horseshoe clip images it appears that the clip is inserted with the "U" up to lock in place. That doesn't seem to jibe with what I'm seeing unless the "U" goes down. The taper on the outside edges of the clip of the is what seems wrong, but I didn't get a good look at the underside of the teeth to see if they can be punched from the other side.. I'll go up tomorrow or Saturday armed with various picks and punches, and a small air compressor to blow the dirt out and see if I can figure this out. Thanks again John.
I just located a photo that shows the underside of the bucket teeth and it looks like horseshoe clips. -Tom
Just found this photo from when we first evaluated the machine. Looks like horseshoe clip:
Okay, I got twisted around on the style and confused "Omniloc" with John's "Heliloc". But after-market Heliloc teeth seem to be plentiful at around $100 +/- each, and clips around $10. Once I have one of our existing teeth pulled to verify I'll place my order. I'm trying to beat the wet weather and dredge our big pond before the winter rains hit.
I’m with you John ,the tool didn’t work for crap .i would cut them in half and knock the pieces out from the bottom with a punch , the owner started crying about having to buy new clips all the time.told me to buy removal tool ,about 45-50 dollars in 85 . First time I used it ,it broke. The owner really cried when he heard that . Back to cutting in half
Okay, before I beat myself silly and ruin good tools how do you cut them in half?
Okay, before I beat myself silly and ruin good tools how do you cut them in half?
I used a torch , a grinder may work
I was envisioning a sharp cold chisel and a four pounder but the gas axe is handy and might be quicker! Thanks! -Tom
The horseshoes are hardened spring steel. A torch is probably your best tool.
Here's the latest update. The first horseshoe clip I cut ended with me unknowingly cutting off the nubs on the spud. I don't think it will matter but if it does after replacing the tooth and new keeper I'll weld up new nubs and shape them with a cutoff wheel on my grinder. Our teeth are type 37 SYL size and style, and verified as being the Esco Heliloc/Vertiloc style teeth. I found a set of five H&L compatible teeth with horseshoe keepers with free shipping from Washington for $350 from Construction Parts LLC. Seemed to be the best deal and should arrive in a couple of days. As for some guy bitching about the price of a new keeper? The price of around $10 for a new one is hard to compare with the cost and time of labor trying to salvage an old one. The gas axe is the way to go now that I see how the teeth are attached to the spud. And they DO have to be knocked a 1/4 turn or so counterclockwise to help unseat the tooth from the spud. I had a little trouble with two of the five but after a good soak with PB Blaster and some swinging the 8-pounder on them they gave up and surrendered. In all honesty I'm better suited at my age sitting back with a cold beer and watching the other guy swinging large hammers. But if It's only me then I have to give in and give it a whack! The beast should be ready to roll and work in a few days after its 10-year hibernation.
Update: That last tooth just wouldn't budge or give even a fraction of an inch in trying to get it off. Numerous blows with first the 4 pounder, then many good swings with the 8 pounder were to no avail. i tried wedges between the spud ears and the back of the tooth with no luck. I finally resorted to using the torch, first by trying heat (no luck) and then just started cutting/scarfing from the back toward the front, being careful not to hit the spud. I got up to the pocket area of the tooth and had one side almost completely cut away before it finally broke free. I had my grinder and wire wheel with me and hit all the surfaces of all five spuds in preparation for installing the new tooth and lock set. Another day or two for the new teeth to arrive and we'll be ready to put the old gal back to work, just in time as the first rains of the season are about to arrive.
One of my favorite sayings “when in doubt cut it out”
"Worn to a nub" is no exaggeration in this side by side comparison of one of the old teeth next to a new one!
That’s like new ,I’ve seen where they’ve worn through the teeth and quarter way into the shanks
We would never replace them until they were just about worn through the bottom of the tooth and then we would turn them over and wear the other side almost through. We would swap the outside teeth into the middle as well. That is why we got a bit upset when we had to cut the horseshoes just to swap the teeth around. Letting them go like that though meant you give up a bunch of penetration potential. Our thought process was that they were worth a lot more on the machine than in the scrap pile.