I have a ford 555e with a 2 foot buckek with rock teeth. I cann't dig some spotts on my farm because of very hard shell rock. I have seen rock fingers that replace the bucket I have also seen ones that weld to the back of the bucket on big hoes but have never seen on on a smaller hoe. Do they make them for backhoes? Any one ever made there own ? got any pictures? Any other idea to dig though the shell? I am trying to dig road ditches and just have a couple harder areas thanks Chris
My land has that tough first couple of feet, then it's easier. I'm on volcanic ash, and the air and water turn it into a low grade concrete. I used a 12" bucket on a 555, the stock 18" wouldn't touch it. Find a softer spot and dig down and pull the bucket up thru the hard stuff, you'll just make a lot of dust trying to dig down thru it. That rock tooth is also known as a frost tooth, break thru the frozen ground until you get to easier digging. I've seen them in catalogs, were pretty pricey, Ebay?
I bought a Vail ripper last year to help dig through frost and ditch through some bed rock. I am very happy with it. http://vailproducts.com/SiteResources/Data/Templates/t2.asp?docid=640&DocName=Case Rip-N-Pin
West Virginia is typical coal country rock, mostly sandstone, shale, and limestone. Most likely your getting into some limestone, it can be pretty hard to break with typical backhoe bucket. I kinda like the shank ripper on back of bucket posted by singletree, looks like a neat tool.