To get the most out of your machine and excavator bucket, it is important to select the right ground engagement tool (G.E.T) for the application. Here are four key factors to keep in mind when choosing the right excavator tooth for your application.

Unfortunately, when you buy your own excavator bucket, it is generally limited to the tooth and adapter system provided by the specific bucket manufacturer. Some manufacturers, in order to get the cheapest price or get the biggest profit, put the cheapest excavator teeth on the bucket instead of the efficient working tooth sleeve system.

Maintaining sharp excavator teeth will help increase productivity, reduce stress on your machine, protect your machine and excavator bucket, thereby extending machine life and reducing maintenance costs.

The design and assembly of bucket teeth are very important to the service life, performance and application of bucket teeth.

As many G.E.T wholesalers are more price focused, some manufacturers have to lower the quality of their products to meet these price demands. These reductions result in poorer cast steel quality, die assembly and shorter heat treatment processes, so they are not as hard or wear-resistant.

All the manufacturing shortcuts lead to poor assembly of teeth and adapters, easy breakage and premature wear. Keep these four factors in mind when choosing the best excavator tooth for your application. The right excavator bucket teeth can make all the difference!

4 key factors when choosing the right tooth of excavator

1. Manufacturer

The structure and material of excavator teeth and adapters is a major criterion, as this will directly determine their wear life and strength, but so is the shape and design.

Due to cost and pollution, teeth are cast in foundries, currently mostly in third world countries. The materials used in the casting process and the type of mold used will determine when the tooth is used, broken and assembled. In addition, the heat treatment process can affect hardness and thus wear life.

2. Wear life

The wear life of excavator teeth is affected by different materials. Sand is a very abrasive material, rock, soil and other excavated or loaded materials will affect their wear life according to their quartz content. The greater the wear surface, the longer the tooth will last before replacement.

These excavator teeth are best suited for loading and material handling applications, rather than for digging or ditching, which require high penetration and impact. Larger wear surfaces tend to be less efficient when penetrating hard, compacted surfaces.

3. The penetration

The amount of surface area in contact with the ground during penetration determines the efficiency of the tooth. If the teeth are wide, blunt or have a “ball” surface area, extra power from the excavator is needed to penetrate the material, so more fuel is used and more pressure is generated in all parts of the machine.

The ideal design is for teeth to sharpen themselves, that is, to continue to sharpen themselves as they wear and tear.

To penetrate tight, hard or frozen ground, you may need sharp “V” teeth, or “double tiger teeth.” These are ideal for digging and ditching because they make the bucket power through the material easily, however, because they have less material in them, their service life is short and they cannot provide a smooth bottom to the hole or ditch.

4. The impact

Bucket teeth have high impact resistance and will withstand penetrating impact and high breaking force. These are best suited for digging and ditching applications, especially in rocky environments or quarries, when excavators, backhoes or other machines with high breaking forces are used.

The fit of the tooth to the adapter is important because an improper fit can put pressure back on the pin, which may create a weakness or the pin may fall off under pressure.

Engineering bucket tooth class

We stock all major G.E.T brands that meet EIEngineering’s strict toughness and durability criteria.

Our collection of excavator teeth and adapters enables optimal use of excavator power, minimizes power loss, improves performance, and reduces completion time and fuel consumption.

View our entire range of excavator teeth and adapters and contact us for a more comprehensive sourcing programme.