Howdy all, Im doing some research on the tips and adapters that go on the buckets of wheel loaders and excavators. I created a survey on Qualtrics and would appreciate if any of you could take some time to fill it out. I'm using personal links to stop bots from auto filling in a million responses but if you comment below or message me I will get a link sent out to you ASAP. Happy to jump on the phone and talk you through the survey or answer any questions as well. The survey should take ~10 minutes and really focuses on brand selection and switching behaviors, essentially trying to understand what would make someone switch over their adapters and what brands are doing the best in the industry.
Cross posting the same thing in multiple forums is considered poor "netiquette". I've closed the other threads, but left a link to this one in case anybody is interested in your offer.
Cat GET easy to get works does the trick and that's what all out stuff came with
It's a little hard to up and "switch". It's not like we are talking about where we buy a cup of coffee. The bucket on my excavator is $10,000. The shanks should last thousands of hours. It's not like I am just going to start torching my Esco shanks off because some salesman convinced me to switch to H&L's or something . . .
It would take alot of convincing and maybe some free parts and a welder to come install them. Let's face it who in there right mind enjoys welding on or cutting off shanks
Maybe if you were rebuilding a bucket?
Who are you doing the survey for? The teeth and adaptors in your pic. look to be the wrong ones for that bucket or installed too far back in the bucket. Teeth should either be flush with the bucket bottom or a little below it. Those teeth are clearly above the cutting edge. I think teeth are generally a get what you pay for type of deal but it depends on what you're digging and how often. Something working full time in abrasive soil would benefit from more expensive but much long lasting teeth.
That's they only time we would actually cut out the old and weld in new. Otherwise it was buying whatever aftermarket we could find.
The picture is on a site for Ironclad company in Washington State. They seem to sell wear parts. I think we get our stuff from LSW wear parts. Nothing like a fresh set of tiger teeth.
It is a double blind study so unfortunately I can not disclose the sponsor of the work, but the picture was just something off of google to grab some attention but wouldn't have caught that the tips were placed above the cutting edge, definitely not my area of expertise and would really appreciate a few minutes to talk more on the subject if you have it.
We are all here, what would you like to talk about?
If anyone has anything to say about any of the following it would be really helpful, - What brands are better, which are worse, is there a noticable difference among brands of tips? - Are you always matching brands of tips to brands of adapters or can you use aftermarket or other OEM tips on adapters? - What has caused you to switch adapters in the past? Sounds like it isnt common to just take the adapter or shanks off so would it only be at the end of life of the adapter or when rebuilding a bucket - How often are you changing out tips and what material are you digging into - How big of an issue is availability right now? which brands are doing better or worse with availability - What would make someone switch away from sticking with OEM tips/adapters and switch over to something like ESCO or Black Cat? - Is there alot of research done when you consider switching or do you count on someone like a wear part supplier? Any feedback is much appreciated
I don't notice much difference among brands, though I generally steer clear of real cheap stuff. I am just an owner/operator with a few machines, though, some of the guys with big fleets might have more to say. The brand, or style of the shank dictates the tooth; a J200 shank takes a J200 tooth, doesn't matter if its a Cat tooth, HL, Romec or whatever. We have used Romec teeth mostly, but in both Cat J and H&L style. I doubt Cat makes there own teeth anyway. The soils in my area are pretty mild, teeth can last a long time. I just changed the J series teeth on my mini ex at about 1000 hours, but they could have gone longer. Usually the biggest problem I have had with teeth is when we get into a job with a lot of rock periodically we have to start replacing retainers, especially on the J series teeth. On the J's there is a steel retaining clip that wears out after awhile, we keep a handful of them in the truck. Generally teeth aren't something I get too excited about. Teeth are teeth . . .
It's a big job to swap out shanks on an excavator bucket. If the bucket is rebuilt, it might be time to replace them. Any of our loaders that are toothed, they are easier to change, as they are bolted on. Everything wears out eventually. Some of our larger hoes are purchased without a bucket, and the outgoing machine bucket is fitted to the new machine. Duration for teeth depends on what type of material you are in. Some teeth last a whole season, we dig sandstone for a local peatmoss plant every year for their stock piles to maintain their roads. The operator digs blind as the pit is full of water, but he was going through a set of tiger teeth every 3 days on a 470 Hitachi. Lucky for us, Berger Peat moss didn't mind paying for the teeth, as the just really needed the material.
Definitely, no ESCO. Everytime I need to weld in/ on a new adapter, it's either discontinued or extremely backordered. And, since I started in '96, they've changed styles, what, seven times? I've switched most over to Cat J or K series. If I predict more usage, I'll stock the teeth, otherwise, I'll have them next day from my Cat dealer. No more obsolescence or waiting or having the teeth on the wrong jobsite. Every other brand requires shipping. Aftermarket supports the J series. It helps to be on their G.E.T. program (additional discount), and my sales rep let's me know when promos are going on, like buy two sets of teeth and the edge is free, or vice versa.
I knew a guy who dug pipeline and swore by Hensley teeth. Welded teeth are garbage and can break. I don't do a lot of digging so generally look for the best price. However, I made a heavy scarifier out of a 14" H beam with 15 23 series teeth adaptors and teeth. Driving around at 5 mph or even faster wears teeth out considerably faster than when mounted on a bucket. I'm going to hardface the tips on some small cultivator spikes and make it so they can bolt on to the teeth. If they wear out too fast, I'm going to look for the best deal on standard 23 series teeth and hard face the tips of them. I was reading there are cast teeth and forged teeth and I think the forged last longer so it might be worth spending a little more for forged teeth. The highest priced teeth are usually made from better alloys but unless your constantly working in tough and abrasive conditions they might not be worth spending more for.
Does anyone have any experience with the newer hammerless retention systems? I think for Cat its called Advansys or with ESCO it would be Ultralock. Is that something that is actually wanted or does a pin retention system do the job well enough?
Do you know if that G.E.T. program is a discount program from Cat corporate or from your dealer?
I believe it's through Cat corp. Currently my offer through the dealer is 35% off all GET through the end of this year. The K series patent has obviously expired as one can buy aftermarket K series teeth. We buy J and K series aftermarket teeth from our Kommie dealer for 30-40% less than Cat.
1 - Used to be Cat teeth wore the best but the last couple of years even the Cat teeth are stamped made in China and it seems the quality of the steel has went down. We can buy aftermarket J and K series that last around the same time and are much cheaper. The material we dig in varies from highly abrasive rock to muck. 2 - We've always bought Cat equipment with Cat buckets with the exception of a few Bobcats along the way. If you buy Cat teeth they come with a warranty if you break one. Back in the mid 2000's Cat replaced under warranty an entire 48" bucket lip with new edge, shanks and teeth. The shank broke and since we had bought Cat teeth it was covered. 3- We haven't switched shanks so haven't switched teeth. 4 - Depends on what we are digging in. In chert we'll go through a set in 3-5 days of heavy digging. In sandstone or clay a set may last months. 5 - No issue with availability. Cat or aftermarket 6 - It would take a free edge complete with shanks and teeth with a certified welder to install on our buckets. All free of charge. 7 - We just use the years of experience we have digging in the soils we dig in.
^^^^^ That's right ^^^^^
Perhaps a question to ask might be: if you were to spec a custom bucket, what teeth would you use?
I'm assuming here that you mean what brand of teeth would be preferred, not what type of tooth.? Answer: It all depends on the material where the bucket is going to be used. Pretty much every brand of GET works better in some condtions and not quite so good in others. There is no "one size fits all" where GET is concerned.
Well if anyone wants the yeti mug you better be buying the teeth, wrench monkeys don't qualify haha.
The Yeti mug is scam bait . . . pretty sure they aren't handing out Yeti mugs at $30 a pop to answer a survey. Maybe you get your name in a hat if you are lucky . . .
Yeah who knows. I'm more curious what the end goal for the information is for.