Are Excavator Tilt Grading Buckets Really Worth the Price Tag?
If you're looking for the answer to whether a tilt grading bucket is worth the price tag then chances are you're a regular to landscape projects or general excavator ground shaping. You're probably trying to find a better and easier solution to using your standard grading bucket to grade those awkward slopes and complex angles, but want to know whether they're worth the money. So, we're here to help with your search for answers! In this post we're going to talk about the main uses and benefits to you of purchasing a tilt grading bucket and the main features that effect the price tag. Keep reading to find out more.
When should I use a Tilt Grading Bucket?
The tilt grading bucket is the solution to grading on an angle. These buckets are usually able to tilt between 35 - 45 degrees in both directions, depending on the manufacturer. This gives you greater flexibility for grading more complex shapes, like trench edges, lake slopes, flower beds in the garden, golf course bunkers and even creating the camber of a road. These buckets are a really good edition to any landscaper's attachments range, as they allow you to sit on a level surface and tilt only your bucket to get the same outcome as you would when unevenly balanced up or down a slope.
What makes a Tilt Grading Bucket so expensive?
In comparison to your standard grading bucket, tilt grading buckets are a lot more expensive! But why? As you can imagine, making a standard grading bucket is much quicker, easier and involves less engineering than building a tilting bucket. The process of manufacturing a tilt grading bucket goes beyond the initial welding of the bucket, it also requires the design, fitting and testing of the complex hydraulics that go into making the bucket move on command.
Tilt grading buckets have additional components, like rams and hydraulic hoses, that have a huge impact on the product price. As well as the cost of making the standard bucket shell, these hydraulic components are not cheap. The quality of these hydraulic components will also influence the overall price of the product - a manufacturer that uses cheaper components will be able to sell the attachment cheaper. The price is usually based on the quality of product you're receiving and this will determine how long your attachment will last.
For example: the Rhinox tilt grading bucket is manufactured with either one or two rams (depending on the size of the machine), a double acting check valve and cartridge, a piston, thermoplastic hoses and multiple grease nipples. We also prefill the hydraulics with hydraulic oil to test the tilt grading bucket before it's dispatched. This means we can guarantee that it operates correctly before delivery, ensuring there are no faulty components in use.
What are the alternatives to a Tilt Grading Bucket?
If you're certain that a tilting attachment is the attachment you need for your projects, then a tilting or rotating coupler might be something you should consider. There are numerous brands of tilting or rotating coupler, such as Engcon, Rototilt and Steelwrist, which all let you move, tilt and rotate your buckets and attachments from the same spot. These types of couplers are usually a lot more expensive than a standard tilt gradin bucket because they allow you to pick up a variety of attachments and spin them 360 degrees and position them at an angle from left to right. They are a good long term investment that can step up your manoeuvrability, flexibility and control from within the excavator.
Besides your standard digging and grading buckets, rotating and tilting couplers are commonly used with pallet forks attachments so you can move pallets, stillages and bales from one spot. This is extremely useful in narrow spaces, like between buildings, where there is no room to reposition the digger, swing the cab or manoeuvre into other spaces. Click here for more information about Pallet Fork Attachments.
If you only need an attachment to dig shallow trenches with slanted sides then a V-shaped bucket might be a good option. The V bucket is a triangular shaped bucket made to dig clean sided, sloped trenches and are commonly used for laying pipes, cables or digging sloped ditches for drainage. These buckets usually start from around $500 based on the machine size and manufacturer.
Unfortunately, if you're looking for a cheaper alternative than this you're unlikely to be able to find one, unless you go to somebody who can custom make a bucket that is designed with a slanted edge. There aren't any standard excavator attachments that will tilt to the angle you need to be able to grade slope edges or similar.
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We hope you have found this post useful and it has given you the information that you need to answer the question "Are Tilt Grading Buckets Really Worth the Price Tag?". If you want to know more information about the Rhinox tilt grading bucket or our other buckets and attachments, check out some more of our content below:
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