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 The bucket is the tool that moves the earth and the excavator is the tool that moves. A simple statement that has major implications. Optimum bucket shape and teeth condition can increase productivity and decrease costs. Just as a drilling machine works best with a hardened, sharp drilling head, an excavator works best with optimum bucket and teeth; The bucket and its teeth are the front line, where all forces meet. Modern excavators are very powerful, but earth material has tremendous resistance. Neglecting your bucket and teeth will result in lower productivity. |
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 One of the reasons that poorly shaped buckets and teeth are sometimes used is the range of forces that an excavator can exert. If the bucket doesn't penetrate well, the operator just applies more power. But this isn't efficient. This practice uses more fuel, and leads to premature component fatigue. As the machine moves through its working cycles, there are several steps where thebucket and teeth can make all the difference. Initiating the digging phase (1), curling the bucket (2), collecting material (3), loading up (4) and dumping (5). |
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 Sharp teeth make the initiation and collection much easier by increasing the pressure per square centimetre. Streamlined bucket shapes facilitate collection, loading and dumping, by decreasing the resistance to earth material. Take, for example, an excavator that loads 2,8 tonnes in a 22 second cycle time using a mediocre bucket. If this bucket is replaced with an optimum bucket, productivity can potentially increase by almost 20%, with a reduced cycle time of 20 seconds and an increased load of 3,0 tonnes. So yes, shape matters! Unsuitable bucket shapes and bad teeth can seriously hamper your machine's performance. Because of this, Komatsu offers a new range of buckets that are specifically designed to help your machine achieve optimum productivity. Your Komatsu sales and service centre can tell you more. |
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