How to choose a bucket？

General task or multipurpose? Clearing or ditch cleaning? Digging or grading? When it comes to choosing a bucket for your excavator or loader, the options seem endless. It can be very appealing to choose the bucket that best suits your machine and hope for the best results. However, the wrong choice can have dire consequences – reducing your productivity, increasing your fuel consumption, and causing premature wear and tear. That’s why it’s important to be strategic in your bucket selection process. First, ask these three questions.

What kind of material are you carrying?
The density of the material you handle will probably play the biggest role in bucket selection. It’s a good idea to base your choice on the heaviest material you handle most of the time – remember, you may not be able to fill very heavy and hard-to-pass material. In this case, a smaller bucket may be more advantageous than a larger one because it will allow your machine to cycle faster.
Here are some common bucket options that match the type of material. This is only a small sampling, so talk to your equipment dealer about specific options that may be better suited for your job.
General purpose type: If you want to work with a variety of materials, a general purpose bucket is a good choice and is designed for lighter materials – sand, gravel, soil, loose coal or crushed stone.
Heavy duty buckets:Heavy duty buckets are designed for more rugged applications and are ideal for loading or moving blasted rock, hard rock, clay or other dense materials in a quarry. You’ll find some variations, such as extreme load and severe load buckets, that are designed for more difficult jobs.
Rocks. Rock buckets are designed to move: sand, gravel, coal seams, limestone, gypsum, etc. There are also special rock buckets made specifically for iron ore and granite.
How many buckets do you need?
Bigger buckets mean more production, right? Not necessarily. Any short-term revenue can be offset by maintenance and downtime. That’s because if you’re using a bucket that puts your machine over the recommended capacity limit – even by a few percentage points – it will accelerate wear, reduce the life of parts, and possibly cause accidents.
Which bucket machine is built for your needs?
When you buy a machine, you pay close attention to its features and options – make sure you do the same when you choose a shovel. (After all, it’s a tough job.) A scraper with these qualities will help you get more work done in less time and at a lower cost
Hardness and thickness. You’ll pay more for harder, thicker sheets, but your buckets will last longer.