Repairing the cutting edge on a skid steer bucket

[Hell on wheels]

I have a 60inch wide bucket for my JD bobcat and the floor needs to be replaced and the cutting edge is worn down really bad. To fix the floor I have got some 1/4inch mild steel plate to put in, which I have done before on other bobcat buckets and had sucess with them. Only thing I'm not sure of is how to fix the cutting edge on it.
I think the whole cutting edge itself could use some welding on it across the whole thing and then reshape it with a grinder but the really bad spots on it are the ends of it where it meets the sides of the bucket itself.

The thing I am asking is would it be easier to find a new cutting edge and weld it on the bucket or is possible to save this one and if so how would I go about fixing the corners where its worn down so bad???

I tried to post some pix of it on here but couldn't make it work even tried to go thru photo bucket but I can't figure it out I am not good with computers. If somebody wants to see the pictures private message me and gimme ur email address and I can email them to you.

Thanks,
Daniel

[SidecarFlip]

Don't weld it on, bolt it on. That's accepted practice and when the replacement wears out (and it will), replacement is much easier. Mount the replacement edge with dome head plow bolts, A-325 variety.

[urch55]

Dan,
Cut the old one off, clean up with the grinder then weld new one on. Get a replacement edge that has holes in it this way you can bolt another cutting edge to it so it acts as a wear plate. But the first one has to be welded on in order to give some strength to the bottom of the bucket up in front and along the sides in front. It should be a fully welded across the top and then you can stitch weld it on the bottom. The only problem with bolts is you will have the nuts sticking up inside your bucket and can interfere with loading or scraping some thing up.

[SidecarFlip]

I'm presuming that the old one is attached to the bucket already.....

[urch55]

Flip,
He is asking how to fix the corners of the old cutting edge..

I am saying you don't fix cutting edges, you replace them.
Of course you can always install wear strips/bars to protect the new one. Anything else it's like putting a bandage on cancer.

[Blacksmith]

Is this something that would benefit from hard-facing after being repaired (bolt on or weld on) to forestall the next repair? Maybe too expensive for the OEM to offer, but if you've got the welder out ...

[SidecarFlip]

Flip,
He is asking how to fix the corners of the old cutting edge..

I am saying you don't fix cutting edges, you replace them.
Of course you can always install wear strips/bars to protect the new one. Anything else it's like putting a bandage on cancer.

I tend to install removable edges right off. We have sandy loam here and it's death on any cutting edge.

I quit buying alloy steel edges and just go with hot rolled. Once bolted up, changeout is quick and easy. I weld my nuts (that sounds terrible in itself....) to the inner lip (after drilling) and size my A-325's so they just engage 3/4 of the welded in nut. There isn't nuch of interference in th bucket rhat way.

I believe ATI offers pre-drilled alloy edges in any length that come with A-325 DHPB's or flat head counrersunk hex caps.

[urch55]

This is what I am talking about. Weld the first one on then bolt (if you want) the second one on. You have to have some "meat" to bolt the cutting edge to. Other wise the bucket don't have much to support the edge, since most skid steered buckets are only 3/16Th" thick bottoms. I have seen them get jammed full of asphalt, dirt concrete, etc. and it puckers up the bucket. That is why you need to fully weld the first edge on to keep "debris" from puckering up the bucket bottom.

[Hell on wheels]

Thank you for all the replies!

That may be the best thing to do if I'm gonna invest the time and money of putting a new floor in it and repainting it is to cut the old one off and replace it with one that has holes in it to bolt the second edge on it. I have seen a bucket for a caterpillar bobcat that is that way and I have seen buckets for new holland bobcats that the cutting edge has holes in it to put plow bolts through to bolt another cutting edge on.

The edge that is on it now doesn't have any holes in it to bolt another one on. I thought about it alot today and I think they may be the best thing is to trash the old edge and weld a new one on.

When I get the edge for it I'm gonna have to use my stick welder to weld it with. What rod should I use???
Is preheating or postheating necessary???

Thanks,
Daniel

[urch55]

Dan,
I would use 7018. You may want to hit it with a torch for heat but what I have found is by the time you grind and prepare the edge for welding the grinding builds up some heat. At least we are on a warming trend, and not 30 degrees. No post heat is needed. Times I do preheat I only do it until the sweat burns off.

[Hell on wheels]

Okay. I have got plenty of 7018 and I think I got some 11018 left over from another job I can use on it. After I get done with all the grinding and I get it tacked up I'll take the torch and heat it up a little bit I have a digital temperature gun I can use to get it heated evenly.

I did a google search of new 60inch wide edges for it they run around $110-$160 depending on which one u get. One company had a kit u can buy that has a new weld on cutting edge and then they give u another one that bolts on to it. It ran around $260.
Northern tool and equipment wants around $1,000 for a new bucket. I dunno if the one's they have r good or not. I'm not even gonna call JD and ask what they want for a new bucket.

Even though this whole project is for me personally it will b good practice and when people come in the shop and c it they will b like "Oh that bucket looks good!"

Thanks,
Daniel

[urch55]

Yes Dan,
If others see your skid steer bucket, they would want theirs done as well. Just keep track of time, materials and consumables, add profit now you know how much to charge them.
That kit with two edges and bolts sounds like a winner. You will have to post pictures during and after the repair. I wish you success with your project..

[Hell on wheels]

Oh yea,and the thing about myne is it will stay looking new for awhile because I don't use it that much,most of the time it will sitting in the shop collecting dust. I use the forks on the skid steer most of all for moving material and heavy things around with.
The bucket came with the machine and I have never done anything with it except use it once in a great while for something.

Most likely sometime later this week I'll start cutting the old floor out and get started on it.

I have before and after pictures on my phone of a bucket I replaced the floor in that was for a guys New Holland LS185 I think. It was one of the big bobcats had like a 72inch wide bucket on it maybe bigger. I welded in new 1/4inch steel plate for the floor and then repainted it with some oil based paint and it came out looking sharp. When he brought it in it was a heap of rust u step in the floor of it and fall through. And I chipped and grinded off freaking layers of rust to get that thing back in action.

If I can't get pix posted on here I'll have them up on my facebook page and everyone can c them there. But I will get them on the internet somehow.

Thanks,
Daniel