Takeuchi tb216 bucket manufacturers and sizing

[Kapster]

Hello all, first post here. I recently purchased a used Takeuchi tb216 and I'm looking for buckets and a coupler, the uk seems to have more options on these then we do in the states.

I'm looking at a 9", 12" and 18" digging buckets with a 36" ditching bucket. Is it worth getting a 24" as well or a different combination?

I have reached out to Rhinox, Harford, BMC and Keen. I've seen quite a few recommend a wedge lock coupler, that narrows it to Harford and BMC couplers. Rhinox seem to be the largest, followed by the Keen, BMC and Harford. Does anyone have experience with buckets from any of these manufactures, is the size variance noticeable or am I overthinking this?

The best value would be Harford or BMC. The BMC couper is the lowest profile so leaning towards it. I like the Keen buckets the best by spec but are more expensive than BMC. I'm waiting to hear if the BMC are welded in pins, that might be why they're cheaper.

I apologize for all the info, I'd appreciate any experience with any of these that you have. Thank you!

 

[Steve]

Hello all, first post here. I recently purchased a used Takeuchi tb216 and I'm looking for buckets and a coupler, the uk seems to have more options on these then we do in the states.

I'm looking at a 9", 12" and 18" digging buckets with a 36" ditching bucket. Is it worth getting a 24" as well or a different combination?

I have reached out to Rhinox, Harford, BMC and Keen. I've seen quite a few recommend a wedge lock coupler, that narrows it to Harford and BMC couplers. Rhinox seem to be the largest, followed by the Keen, BMC and Harford. Does anyone have experience with buckets from any of these manufactures, is the size variance noticeable or am I overthinking this?

The best value would be Harford or BMC. The BMC couper is the lowest profile so leaning towards it. I like the Keen buckets the best by spec but are more expensive than BMC. I'm waiting to hear if the BMC are welded in pins, that might be why they're cheaper.

I apologize for all the info, I'd appreciate any experience with any of these that you have. Thank you!

I have had Harford & Rhinox buckets & been pleased with both. Bucket sizing is going to depend on the work that you do. I have 12” 24” digging buckets with & without teeth & see no need for an 18”” bucket. I also have a 36” ditching bucket all under a harford wedge lock which I am relatively happy with.

 

[6feetdown]

I've bmc buckets and hitch. Prefer it to the Harford as you don't need to use a ratchet and a lot quicker too

 

[Storrsy]

I've bmc buckets and hitch. Prefer it to the Harford as you don't need to use a ratchet and a lot quicker too

How does the Bmc hitch work then?

 

[V8Druid]

How does the Bmc hitch work then?

gert big knockometer

 

[Kapster]

Bucket sizing is going to depend on the work that you do. I have 12” 24” digging buckets with & without teeth & see no need for an 18”” bucket.

I should have been more specific. There is some size different in the buckets besides the width. They all have 9,12,18 and 24" buckets but the front to back dimension changes some (the height is pretty consistent). The Rhinox is about 3 inches deeper than the Harford. The Keen is about an inch shallower than the Rhinox, the BMC 2" shallower. They do show capacity difference as we'll but who knows how each one is measuring that.

Is this something to look out for or wouldn't make a huge difference in practice? I'm new to this so I don't have a feel for that.

 

[6feetdown]

How does the Bmc hitch work then?

Like the Harford but there is a big nut on the back of the hitch

 

[V8Druid]

I should have been more specific. There is some size different in the buckets besides the width. They all have 9,12,18 and 24" buckets but the front to back dimension changes some (the height is pretty consistent). The Rhinox is about 3 inches deeper than the Harford. The Keen is about an inch shallower than the Rhinox, the BMC 2" shallower. They do show capacity difference as we'll but who knows how each one is measuring that.

Is this something to look out for or wouldn't make a huge difference in practice? I'm new to this so I don't have a feel for that.

the boys at BMC will make you whatever spec. you want

 

[doobin]

Don't touch Rhinox with a bargepole- cheap crap that bends easily.

The only type of hitch you should consider is a wedgelock, or S30. Forget any other kind of manual spring hitch.

Both Hardford and BMC make good wedge couplers, I've run both. Having switched to S30, I wouldn't go back though.

S30 is the Scandinavian standard, and is used in the UK for anything that hosts a tiltrotator. Even though you will probably never use one, the other benefits mean you should go S30. Also, as you are stateside, you will find it far, far easier in the future to get another bucket or hitch plate for S30 than your specific machine.

Much lower build height- more breakout and far, far better geometry. You have to experience it to truly appreciate it, but trust me on this (others will be along shortly). Basically, things that would be impossible with a normal hitch are suddenly possible. I couldn't belive it the first time I easilly got a full bucket of shingle from the top of a pile at reach, and then put it into a dumper that I thought I'd parked far too close (and it would have been too close for the old hitch)
Pretty much zero wear
Manual hitch only needs you to get out of the cab and pull a lever to unlock

BMC buckets are excellent, that's where my S30 1.9t size buckets came from and they are ideal. I woudn't look anywhere else. Perfect shell size for a 1.9t. Their spec sheets are accurate and as Druid says, they'll build you whatever you want. I would spec teeth on each bucket and an additional bolt on blade for each, plus have the grader with a reversible bolt on cutting edge.

As you need a full set of buckets alongside the hitch, now is an ideal time to get the best setup you can (as it looks like you are trying to)

Here’s a photo of a 2.7t whites quick hitch vs a hurricane attachments s30 for the same machine. Later on possibly tomorrow when I unload it I’ll post you a photo of my bobcat e19 with a Steelwrist s30 hitch and bmc buckets.

 

[doobin]

Like the Harford but there is a big nut on the back of the hitch

Yes, it's on the back (facing away from the digger) which could be considered a touch easier to get to, and you can get an impact wrench to it which you can't on the Hardford as there isn't space.

@JD450A will be along shortly to tell you that impact guns will wreck wedge hitches. That's not true in my experience, you're not going to damage the size of thread that takes a 30mm nut with the torque a 1/2" battery gun puts out...

 

[Weaknee]

Yes, it's on the back (facing away from the digger) which could be considered a touch easier to get to, and you can get an impact wrench to it which you can't on the Hardford as there isn't space.

@JD450A will be along shortly to tell you that impact guns will wreck wedge hitches. That's not true in my experience, you're not going to damage the size of thread that takes a 30mm nut with the torque a 1/2" battery gun puts out...

I often use a battery ratchet on my harford hitch to undo take 2 seconds

 

[doobin]

I often use a battery ratchet on my harford hitch to undo take 2 seconds

I can't fit the 90° Milwaukee impact wrench into mine, but it is on a micro so tight access.

 

[Weaknee]

I can't fit the 90° Milwaukee impact wrench into mine, but it is on a micro so tight access.

Makita ratchet wrench works on mine i assume the 90 impact wrench is far fatter than the milwaukee ratchet wrench

 

[Weaknee]

Has anyone bought digbits ripper tooth and rake or is there a better brand out there?

 

[JerryRtilt]

Has anyone bought digbits ripper tooth and rake or is there a better brand out there?

Digbits rake with Hardox tines highly recommended, just bought a ripper from Keen attachments as i liked the saw tooth type they do, Digbits would probably build one also.

 

[Kapster]

Don't touch Rhinox with a bargepole- cheap crap that bends easily.

S30 is the Scandinavian standard, and is used in the UK for anything that hosts a tiltrotator. Even though you will probably never use one, the other benefits mean you should go S30. Also, as you are stateside, you will find it far, far easier in the future to get another bucket or hitch plate for S30 than your specific machine.

Much lower build height- more breakout and far, far better geometry. You have to experience it to truly appreciate it, but trust me on this (others will be along shortly). Basically, things that would be impossible with a normal hitch are suddenly possible. I couldn't belive it the first time I easilly got a full bucket of shingle from the top of a pile at reach, and then put it into a dumper that I thought I'd parked far too close (and it would have been too close for the old hitch)
Pretty much zero wear
Manual hitch only needs you to get out of the cab and pull a lever to unlock

BMC buckets are excellent, that's where my S30 1.9t size buckets came from and they are ideal. I woudn't look anywhere else. Perfect shell size for a 1.9t. Their spec sheets are accurate and as Druid says, they'll build you whatever you want. I would spec teeth on each bucket and an additional bolt on blade for each, plus have the grader with a reversible bolt on cutting edge.

Later on possibly tomorrow when I unload it I’ll post you a photo of my bobcat e19 with a Steelwrist s30 hitch and bmc buckets.

Yea I've ruled out Rhinox, to expensive and wouldn't say where exactly they're made, UK or India (I'm guessing the later).

What's the deal with s30, is it basically a pin grabber wedgelock but to a set pin space? Would a BMC s30 be lower profile than they're hitch for my machine?

BMC did get back to me and they would do removable pins for a little more money. That's good to hear on the BMC shell size, I'm guessing they are the same shell as what they quoted me.

I thought about the cutting edges, but considered making my own to keep cost down (machinist by trade). I'm assuming these are mild steel / not hard?

I would love to see your hitch / bucket setup!

 

[Kapster]

Is keen or BMC a better product? I could get at 24" bucket on top of the 9,12,18 and 36 with money left over from BMC for the price of the 4 Keen buckets.

 

[doobin]

Yea I've ruled out Rhinox, to expensive and wouldn't say where exactly they're made, UK or India (I'm guessing the later).

What's the deal with s30, is it basically a pin grabber wedgelock but to a set pin space? Would a BMC s30 be lower profile than they're hitch for my machine?

BMC did get back to me and they would do removable pins for a little more money. That's good to hear on the BMC shell size, I'm guessing they are the same shell as what they quoted me.

I thought about the cutting edges, but considered making my own to keep cost down (machinist by trade). I'm assuming these are mild steel / not hard?

I would love to see your hitch / bucket setup!

No, bucket edges are hardened steel. Just get a set shipped on the pallet, they are not much money at all and certainly far cheaper than putting a toothed bucket through a water or gas main!

S30 is basically an optimised pin grabber. Will sent photos of the mechanism when I am next near one.

I don’t see why you want removable pins if you are using a pin grabber hitch?

 

[Furniss]

Digbits rake with Hardox tines highly recommended, just bought a ripper from Keen attachments as i liked the saw tooth type they do, Digbits would probably build one also.View attachment 63230

Yeah a ripper tooth is deff one thing that wont gather dust, mine fits inside the 600 bucket so is easy to transport around and that saw tooth keen do actually helps on roots and grip for a bit of leverage.

 

[Weaknee]

Yeah a ripper tooth is deff one thing that wont gather dust, mine fits inside the 600 bucket so is easy to transport around and that saw tooth keen do actually helps on roots and grip for a bit of leverage.
View attachment 63234

Since buying my digger ive found myself digging out far more stumps than i thought i would so thought ripper would be much better than digging all around the stumps and making more mess