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Up Topic AWS.org / Forum News & Help / Closing gap between wear bars and bottom of bent bucket
- - By Toby C. Date 01-01-2019 05:04
Putting 3/8 x3 AR400 horizontally on backhoe bucket. Bottom of bucket is dented in leaving 3/4-1” gap between wear bar and bucket. What is the best way to pull bottom of bucket to wear bar ?
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 01-02-2019 11:43
Have you put the wear bar on the bucket yet? If not, I would take a piece of angle or something straight and use a couple of c-clamps to pull the bottom of the bucket back flat. It may take some heat to make it move. After you get it back somewhat flat add your wear bar.
Parent - - By Toby C. Date 01-04-2019 02:28
I’m in the process of putting the 2nd one on. I used a 12 ton jack before I put the wear bars on to try to flatten the bottom out. It bent my bracing, which was 3/4” flat steel. At this point I think I’m going to use bolts to draw it up then tack it and take the bolts out and weld the holes shut. I’m a little green on this bucket work , but it’s been a learning experience , which is what it’s all about. Thank you kindly for your input , I’ll try and post a picture when I get it done. It’ll be awhile till I can work on it because I have other jobs to get done with higher priority.
Parent - - By jwright650 (*****) Date 01-04-2019 03:16
Can't wait to see the pictures. My experience comes from borrowing my FIL's front end loader. I was popping up stumps and hooked the corner of the bucket under a big ole oak. I rolled the bucket back to pry it out of the ground and tore out the entire corner plus two teeth and the cutting edge. I spent all day straightening and welding that bucket back.
Parent - By Toby C. Date 01-06-2019 13:12
I probably should’ve just put a new bottom in it , but i really don’t have the proper equipment in the welding shop to do that. I would’ve improvised I’m sure , but its good experience nevertheless
Parent - - By 803056 (*****) Date 01-02-2019 14:58 Edited 01-02-2019 15:23
Hello Toby;

I thought I responded to this the other day. I don't see it, so it must have slipped between the cracks so to speak.

Assuming the old cutting edge is removed and the bucket is prepared to receive the new cutting edge, a "bridge" with a hydraulic jack can be used to bend the bucket back into alignment.

Measure the height of the jack in the collapsed position. Weld ears on the sides of the bucket extending down. Then, weld a channel or small beam across to support the jack. The jack will have to be strong enough to bow the bucket into alignment. I would straighten the bucket when the jack is released, so you will have to go past straight to get the plate to yield.

Once straightened, the bucket will bow again when you weld on the new cutting edge. Prebend the edge of the bucket maybe a 1/2 inch or so to allow for the bending that will result when welding the new edge. There are different shapes of the cutting edge, some go below the bucket and I've seen them placed along the top edge. You will have to determine which way to prebow the bucket based on when the cutting edge is placed (above or below).

The attached sketch is crude, but provides an idea of what I'm talking about. If you don't have a good jack, you can use wedges, just reduce the clearance between the "bridge" and the bucket.

Al
Parent - By Toby C. Date 01-03-2019 10:34
I appreciate your reply , I probably wasn’t clear explaining my issue. I’m putting wear bars on the bottom of the bucket, cutting edge is fine other than some hard surfacing I plan to do between the teeth. I’m putting the wear bars across the bottom of the bucket opposite the direction of the teeth. The problem is the bottom of the bucket is dented from pounding post and packing large stone in ditches. I did try jacking the bottom down from the inside with a bottle jack. I braced the jack with 3/4” flat bar with a brace from that to the top of the bucket. It bent all the bracing, which I was surprised to see. So I then cut holes in the wear bar and the bottom of the bucket and ran bolts through and drew them up, which did work. I was just wondering if there was a better way.
Up Topic AWS.org / Forum News & Help / Closing gap between wear bars and bottom of bent bucket

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