1. Manufacture
The construction and material of the excavator teeth and adaptor is a major criteria, as this will directly determine its wear life and strength, but so is the shape and design.
Teeth are cast in foundries, mostly in third world countries these days, for both cost and pollution reasons. The materials used in the casting process and the types of moulds used, will determine the time the teeth will last, breakage and fitment. Also, the heat treatment process will effect the hardness which in turn affects wear life.
2. Wear life
Wear life of excavator teeth are impacted differently by various materials. Sand is extremely abrasive, rock, dirt and other materials being excavated or loaded will impact on its wear life depending on their quartz content. The greater the wear surface, the longer the teeth will last before replacement.
These excavator teeth are most suited to loading and material handling applications and not for excavating or trenching as this requires high penetration and impact. Large wear surface areas tend to be less efficient when penetrating hard compacted ground.
3. Penetration
The amount of surface area that comes into contact with the ground during penetration, determines the efficiency of the tooth. If the tooth has a large width, blunt or “balled” surface area, extra power from the excavator is needed to penetrate the material, so more fuel is used and more stress is created on all parts of the machine.
An ideal design is for the tooth to be self-sharpening, that is designed to continue to sharpen itself as it wears.
To penetrate tight compacted, rocky or frozen ground, you may need sharp, pointed “V” teeth called ‘Twin Tiger Teeth’. These are ideal for digging and trenching, as they enable the bucket to power through the material easily, however because they have less material in them, their service life is short and they cannot deliver a smooth bottom to the hole or trench.
4. Impact
Bucket teeth with high impact resistance will withstand penetrating shocks and high breakout forces. These are best suited for digging and trenching applications when using an excavator, backhoe or other machine with high breakout force particularly in a rocky environment or rock quarry.
The fitment of the teeth to the adapter is very important as improper fitment puts the pressure back onto the pin which can create a weak point or the pin may even just drop out under pressure.
