Backhoe buckets attach to hydraulic backhoes or excavators for digging and grading tasks. They come in various sizes and can feature removable teeth or a smooth finish. Different types of buckets are available for specific tasks, such as leveling, grading, and rowing.
Used as a digging attachment, a backhoe bucket attaches to the end of the boom arm of a hydraulic backhoe or excavator. A variety of backhoe bucket attachments are available to cover a wide range of digging and grading tasks. A backhoe bucket can feature removable teeth or a smooth finish depending on the preferred application.
The sizing of a backhoe bucket is primarily determined by the size of the machine it will be attached to. A multitude of different bucket widths are available depending on the task required; most commonly used buckets range from 47 inches (120 centimeters) for a grading bucket up to 12 inches (30.4 centimeters) for a small digging bucket. Bucket attachments designed primarily for digging have steel teeth bolted to the leading edge. These tines help break through firm or well-compacted soil and can wear out over time, hence their removable feature for easy replacement.
A leveling bucket features no teeth and a plain, sharp, cutting edge. This type of backhoe bucket is designed to form sidings and to give smooth, level finishes to excavated surfaces. Grading buckets can also be used to cleanly remove layers of topsoil without disturbing the underlying subsoil, as can happen when using toothed buckets.
It is common for some grading buckets to have a series of holes drilled through the steel shell. This feature is often found on larger buckets that are used in conjunction with small backhoes or excavators as it reduces the overall weight of the bucket on the hydraulic arm of the boom. A backhoe bucket can be attached to the boom arm of the controlling machine via a quick coupler, which allows for hydraulic locking of the attachment, so operation is fully controlled by the operator. Alternatively, the traditional manual hitch method can be used, which requires a second person to insert a holding pin through the boom arm and bucket connection point.
Some specialist applications also have specific buckets designed for tasks; an example of this type of backhoe attachment is the rowing bucket. This backhoe variant is equipped with a vibrating arm and an exchangeable graduated sieve in the base. When a scoop of material is excavated, the screening bucket vibrates, causing small fragments of material to pass through the sieve. This type of backhoe can be used to separate rocks from topsoil and has also been used to remove reinforcing steel from rubble being demolished for recycling.
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