Remove teeth and dig?

[marko13]

Rented a tb216 yesterday with a 12" bucket but the teeth are almost 13" and by time I dig the sides are 14" at best.
That's adding a lot of concrete.
Can I remove the teeth and dig with the "plain" bucket...I know there's a little stub that holds the teeth what ever that's called but will digging 3' deep in soft dirt not rocky hurt the bucket?
and is that just roll pins holding the teeth on and will I be able to reuse them if I punch them out?
Thanks

 

[cosmaar1]

Rented a tb216 yesterday with a 12" bucket but the teeth are almost 13" and by time I dig the sides are 14" at best.
That's adding a lot of concrete.
Can I remove the teeth and dig with the "plain" bucket...I know there's a little stub that holds the teeth what ever that's called but will digging 3' deep in soft dirt not rocky hurt the bucket?
and is that just roll pins holding the teeth on and will I be able to reuse them if I punch them out?
Thanks

Do not remove the teeth. Unless you want to pay hundreds of dollars in repairs and new parts.

You can easily dig to the desired depth minus a few inches and scrape the bottom of the bucket along the bottom of the ditch. It’s not hard you just need to learn how to do it.

 

[Welder Dave]

I think he's talking about the width being too wide but regardless don't remove the teeth. It will cause wear on the adaptors. Go back to the place you rented the machine and see if they have a smooth 12" bucket or a narrower bucket. I'm guessing the outside teeth are angled outwards. Maybe they have some worn teeth that wouldn't stick out as far as new teeth.

 

[CM1995]

Post a pic of the bucket

 

[marko13]

Post a pic of the bucket

 

[CM1995]

If you were to take the teeth off (which you shouldn't for reasons already posted) it wouldn't make much of a difference, if any on the dug width of the trench.

When I'm figuring stone backfill I'll add a 15% waste factor for the unknowns like this. On the rare occasion we pour structure concrete like this I use the same 15% factor.

Pour it out and move on at this point.

 

[cuttin edge]

So just keep what you have and dig the hole 30 inches instead of 36

 

[marko13]

thanks guys for your responses, on another note have you ever tried to burn out a root that you haven't been able to cut out after 4 hours of working on it?

 

[CM1995]

thanks guys for your responses, on another note have you ever tried to burn out a root that you haven't been able to cut out after 4 hours of working on it?

You can cut through it??

 

[terex herder]

Ok, so you can't break it with the hoe. Chain saw or sawsall. There are pruning blades for sawsalls. Do you really want organic matter that large inside the building footprint? It will decompose.

 

[joe--h]

Sawzall.

 

[Acoals]

I mean, a TB216 . . . you might just get off and attack the root with a pickaxe

 

[marko13]

thanks everyone. The roots have been handled. there were some big ones, I just gotten frustrated after a few hours of working on them with sawzalls and pick mattocks.