Replacing a skid steer cutting edge

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Bought a skid steer a little while ago. A case 1840 in fantastic shape. The bucket on the other hand look like a banana. So I'm cutting out the old edge and putting a new one on. Replacement cutting edges a little short. So I'm going to negotiate that later. it's hard to get exactly what I want since the covid-19 has messed up suppliers. But this cutting-edge will work well enough when we're done.

this is the original cutting-edge as I purchased it. Welded some pipe to the bucket to keep it from twisting any more than it's already going to.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Here I have cut the old cutting edge out. And prepped the bucket for the new edge.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

I use the bottle jack and the pressure from the skid steer itself to pull the bucket flat to the new edge. The bucket is a little bent from the previous owners. But The cutting edge will be straight. So overall for used bucket it should work pretty well.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Here I am welding the backside of the bucket. And I am also welding The cutting edge to the top of the bucket. Heating up 4 to 5 inch sections at a time with the torch and then welding in hot. Hoping to minimize cracking from the hard cutting edge to the softer mild steel bucket.

Didn't get it all wrapped up today. But we'll have it all put together pretty soon. Will follow up with more pics as the project wraps up.

 

[doctordirt]

Nice work. Did that cutting edge come tapered as shown. Where and what did you source as I have a similar project. And finally what was cutting edge cost?

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Hey thanks. Yes The cutting edge had the taper and was already shaped. I got it from palletforks.com/Titan attachments. Really nice operation ship quick and shipping is free. I tried my local suppliers but never got a call back so I tried these guys and have been happy. It looks like they have got a new shipment in so they have more cutting-edges available. This is a 60 inch edge and 5/8 thick. It was only $70 with shipping included. Which seems pretty darn inexpensive.

 

[zkling]

BTDT, nice job!

 

[doctordirt]

Thank you for the reply. I am in the exact same situation. Have an old Toyota SD8 skid steer, no longer made or supported with the banana shaped bucket. This will do the trick. And I love the price on that too.

 

[AngryBeaver]

I really hope that is not mig wire....otherwise nice work.

Ive done this on white a few buckets now. the thing I find for cheap cutting edges is to get in good with the scrap yards. you can get industrial knives for 10-20 cents a pound. one end all be buggared up, but they are anywhere from 6-10' long. The one I am putting on my bobcat bucket is 3/4" and should outlast the rest of the bucket. I wish people would really stop using then when they get into the holes....or anywhere near that for that matter

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Yeah it is mig process. Lincoln ERS-70 which is a low hydrogen process. Could have used stick 7018, but opted for mig with all the stich welding. Will lay another stringer bead on cutting edge side and all will be good. If the edge cracks will be more concerned with a rough operator than the weld process. Will bolt a double cutting reversible edge to this one and avoid this process again.

 

[toplessHO]

Ive used old grader blades for this
only problem is the square holes,but thats OK by me

 

[dutchgray]

At work they usually just weld the new on the underside of the existing as it saves a load of time which they never have to spare.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Yeah I would go for a grader blade just don't have a local hook up. Once I get the bolt on blade installed should be good for a long while for my use.

 

[Bretny]

Very nice job. By the looks of the bucket before they where useing it to bang something in. You got that bucket very straight

 

[MoonRise]

Nice fix. And that looks like some nice clean cut on the old edge/bucket.

Checked the website, the 1/2" thick 1055 steel 60" cutting edge is $70, the 5/8" thick 60" is $100.

You pretty much had to preheat that prehardened 1055 so that it wouldn't insta-crack from welding. But that preheat probably softened it, so it's probably not fully hardened anymore.

But since it sounds like you're going to bolt on a 'wear' edge to that welded-on piece, should be no real problem.

And I see what looks like a HF magnetic MIG gun holder. Handy gadget, I like mine too.

 

[Bretny]

Unless your day in and out scraping on asphalt or concrete it takes a long time to wear and edge that's just mild steel. Also that machine isnt very big so I would t worry about it wearing. If you are worried or find your self doing such scraping you can hardface the bottom.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Yeah I thought the same thing that the pre-heating will probably make it lose some hardness. But that's going to be more towards the interior side. at any rate the double cutting-edge will take most of the wear anyways. we're remodeling contractors not driveway or paving contractors. So in all honestly I think it's going to take a very very long time for us to wear it down. I expect the machine's going to get more use as a forklift then as a digging machine..

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

A little follow up on the cutting edge. Herei drilled the holes to bolt the double cutting edge. Used this small drill press and it worked pretty decent. Spins to fast but got the job done.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Here I am cutting the premade tool bar apart. It was too wide and would not work with a bolted double edge. So I cut it to size and cut each tooth free from the bar.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Here it is all welded together with the teeth welded to the bottom of the tool bar versus on top. It would be better to have it set flush to the edge but was not possible due to the cutting-edge bolts. I could have welded the teeth to a removable edge but thought it too time consuming and heavy. We will see weather this setup will work well enough or not. I bolted the bar to the side of the bucket with nylock nuts and grade 8 bolts. The teeth were welded to the bar with 7018 due to the impact the teeth are likely to receive.

 

[welder4956]

Yeah I thought the same thing that the pre-heating will probably make it lose some hardness. But that's going to be more towards the interior side. at any rate the double cutting-edge will take most of the wear anyways. we're remodeling contractors not driveway or paving contractors. So in all honestly I think it's going to take a very very long time for us to wear it down. I expect the machine's going to get more use as a forklift then as a digging machine..

If you were preheating 1055 steel to 400-500 F, it would not affect the hardness on the wear edge. Preheat to that temperature would slow the weld cooling rate enough to keep the heat affected zone next to the weld from hardening to the point that cracking would occur during or after welding. If you preheated above the tempering temperature, say to 1000 F or so, you could soften the wear edge some, but not much. I would not worry about it at all.

 

[welder4956]

Here it is all welded together with the teeth welded to the bottom of the tool bar versus on top. It would be better to have it set flush to the edge but was not possible due to the cutting-edge bolts. I could have welded the teeth to a removable edge but thought it too time consuming and heavy. We will see weather this setup will work well enough or not. I bolted the bar to the side of the bucket with nylock nuts and grade 8 bolts. The teeth were welded to the bar with 7018 due to the impact the teeth are likely to receive.

Very nice work!

 

[metlmunchr]

Nice job. One recommendation though that's real cheap and easy. Replace those nylok nuts with Stover locknuts. Any fastener house should have them. The nyloks are dead soft where the stovers are heat treated to about the same hardness as grade 8 bolts. You don't need the extra strength of hardened nuts but the additional hardness will make them much more wear resistant than the soft nyloks.

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Thanks for the tips on the nuts metalmuncher. . They are grade 8 but will check out the stovers when they wear. Good to hear on the heat treating welder4956. Thanks.