We have a 299D that this is the second bucket that has only lasted 1 year and then this happens are we the only ones that this has happened to? I saw in CM1995's thread about how he did the teeth and that looks good to me and I had thought of rebuilding this bucket and doing that on it. My boss is worried that it will take to much power with that style of teeth rather then the ones that come from factory in my mind it wont make that much difference. Any ideas suggestions? TIA
I've been very happy with the results of the first bucket we built, it's still going strong with some wear. It's now in semiretirement attached to the T250, who is also in semiretirement.
The reason we built the first bucket is for the same reasons and failures you posted. Back when we built the first bucket we were also going through tooth buckets at a rate of 1 per year at $850 -$1K a piece. We patched those buckets up but the same working conditions that wore the new buckets and the design of the bucket in the first place, still took it's toll.
The problem is the tooth placement on the bucket you posted a pic of. Moving the shank out to the edge takes the wear away from the bucket and to the tooth where you want it.
The first bucket we built cost around $2300 including new base bucket, shanks, teeth and labor. I would estimate that bucket has 5K plus hours on 3 different CTL's, it's been in service for over 8 years. We have around $2800 in the new bucket for the 279 and expect the same production.
The bucket doesn't rob any power from the machine. Now it does take a minute to learn how to cut with it if one is used to using a bucket in your pic. The design is more aggressive in cutting but it's like sharpening your knife, it takes less effort to cut the same amount of material. It will not reduce the power required to make a cut due to the geometry. The learning curve, although slight, is learning to not cut too much in fine grading.