Watch this video before you read below

One of the most common questions that gets asked when buying a new machine is, “why should I specify a bucket manufacturer?”. There are many issues that surround bucket and attachment management, some are obvious, but others are not. Mismanagement can be very costly and time consuming, not to mention the frustration and extra work it gives the plant manager and plant fitter. At Rhinox, we help individuals and businesses consistently purchase digger buckets for their new machines. We have a great understanding of the benefits and pitfalls, and with our extensive knowledge and experience in the industry we can guide you through this decision to make sure you benefit both physically and financially and avoid these pain points. So, keep reading to find out how specifying one bucket manufacturer will benefit you as an individual or as a business.

Key points that we will cover:

• What does it mean to specify a bucket manufacturer?
• Benefits of Specifying
• Common problems that occur if you don’t specify a bucket manufacturer
• And the question, “will it cost me more to specify a bucket manufacturer”

What does it mean to specify a bucket manufacturer?

Simply, when you place an order for a new machine or a bulk order for new machines, you state on your order that you want a specific manufacturer of buckets. As the customer, you have every right to say what buckets you want with your machine. If you don’t specify what you want, you will get the buckets of the preferred supplier to the dealer - this will vary from dealer to dealer. In the main, the market is a level playing field, so unless you ask for purpose-built buckets, there is no reason why specifying should be an issue.

Benefits of Specifying

1) A consistent supply of buckets across your fleet

What this means for you is, it’s easier to identify your buckets when on site or when collecting your machine at the end of a hire. Often a Bucket Manufacturer will have some way of making their buckets stand out or unique to them to make this easier for you. For example, Rhinox Buckets are easily identified by the Rhinox badge on the side of all buckets – these double up as an additional wear plate to protect against use in harsh conditions. As simple as it may seem, it makes it much easier for the driver collecting your equipment to identify. This saves time…and time is money after all. Getting the wrong buckets back from a hire, is frustrating - we’re sure you can relate! And it’s often buckets that are in a worse state than your original buckets, and it often ends up giving you a fitment issue.

2) Easier to manage Replacement Parts, such as Teeth or Bolt on Blades

If you have a consistent supply of buckets across your fleet, it gives you more confidence to hold a stock of a few replacement teeth, and even some replacement bolt on blades. This can be extremely beneficial to you and your plant fitters or operators. It’s no surprise that they don’t tend to like the hassle of measuring up for bolt on blades, and making sure you get the right teeth to suite your buckets. I can hear you saying, “but they should be standard!” . Yes, bolt holes and teeth should be standard, but if you have a variety of different manufacturers buckets, there will be differences as every manufacturer has their own specifications. A good example of this is, here at Rhinox, we have standardised the bolt hole measurements for all of our buckets. This means that you don’t have to worry about sorting measurements on site, because we already have them. All we require from you is: 1) What type of bucket you have – e.g. Rhinox Grading Bucket, 2) Machine Size – e.g. 3 Ton, 3) How many holes are in the blade – e.g. 9 holes. Once we have this information, we do the rest. The operator could do this from the cab - simple right? And it removes the worry of “where is my tape measure?” and “have I measured that right?”. Coinford Ltd specify Rhinox with their new machines, hear how this is beneficial to them in the video below.

3) Benefitting from key features the manufacturer offers - gives the end user or Plant Manager peace of mind

This one may not seem so obvious, because a bucket is just a bucket, right? Yes and no. A good example of this is shown in the case of the Rhinox Buckets. Rhinox give lifetime guarantee on all the welds on our buckets. Obviously, we must take into consideration misuse, but if a weld fails, and they do from time to time, this means you have a fall back. Also, all Rhinox Digging Buckets come with transportation / lifting hooks on the front of the bucket hangers as standard. This means the operator or plant manager are protected from manual handling - a massive health and safety plus! It’s a much safer way to lock in your buckets when transporting your machines or move multiple buckets at one around site. All manufacturers will offer different key features with their buckets so make sure to check what you are getting before deciding on who you want to specify. If you want to know more information about Bucket Transportation / Lifting Hooks, watch the video below.

Common problems that occur if you DON’T specify a bucket manufacturer

This is where it gets interesting. All too often we hear, “I don’t specify, it’s all part of the deal”. That is true, unless you buy your machines bear stick, then buckets are normally included, and you get whatever the dealer supplies as standard. Obviously, the dealer will have a preferred supplier and this could be for multiple reasons:

1) It’s cheaper for them to buy their buckets from that manufacturer

2) They’ve always used that manufacturer

3) They’ve got a good relationship with them so they don't want to risk losing that

4) The machine manufacturer supply their own brand of buckets with their machines

Does this mean you have to take what comes? No, you always are in control. Most companies will have a few different brands of machines in their fleet, coming from different dealers, meaning a whole load of different buckets. Straightaway this will pose a problem with spare parts, replacement blades and different standards of manufacturing. To give you an example of how you benefit by specifying, as previously mentioned, at Rhinox we adhere to a high standard of manufacturing to be able to offer lifetime guarantees on all our welds. We also standardised the bolt hole patterns across all their buckets making it easy to order replacement teeth and replacement bolt on blades. We manufacture all our buckets to OEM dimensions to ensure correct fitment. I’m sure you could add to this list, and I guess it is starting to make sense to. 

And the question, “Will it cost me more to specify a bucket manufacturer”

This is a very good question, and the simple answer is no. As a rule, bucket manufacturers are on a level playing field when it comes to price. There is a general expectation within the industry of what buckets should cost, so in the main every manufacturer is able to work within the parameters. That said, if you as the end user or plant hire company have specific requirements like, colour coding, fleet ID or additional wear straps, this will obviously have implications to the overall cost. So, I will ask, have you checked what you are getting as standard? For example, Rhinox adds the transport/ lifting hooks to the front of the hangers on ALL digging buckets, a reinforced leading edge on ALL buckets from 1.5 ton upwards, wear straps on ALL digging buckets from 1.5 ton upwards, and the list goes on. Therefore, it is so important you understand what you are getting, and why it’s so important to specify your buckets.

We trust you have found this information helpful but if you have any further question, please get in touch and we would value the opportunity to share more.