The Multi-Ripper, SCARC (SHanks-on-an-ARC) products, are the most powerful excavator rock rippers and rock ripper bucket combinations on the market.
These products rip rock up to 4 times faster than a hammer. They rip 10 times faster than a single pointed ripper. They exceed all other designs of frost rock, or ripper buckets on the market. They rip to all depths leaving relatively flat bottom and side walls in the trench.
The staggered shanks on an arc hit one at a time allowing the maximum breakout to be applied to each tooth. The tooth force is about 8.5 times that of a standard 5 tooth bucket because the shanks are short. Also, the shanks are the same distance from the stick pivot, so the shanks rip a relatively flat bottom.
These products are patented in the US and in many countries throughout the world. This design won several design awards. Many customers have claimed this is the best attachment I've ever bought.
(not a bucket) The MR has three or four short shanks that are wider than the stick, arranged such that each tooth hits one at a time at the optimum ripping angle. The MR is great for general rock or frost ripping, or open areas, or when the excavator has a quick change coupler installed.
The MRB is almost as powerful as the MR but allows the operator to rip and scoop with the same attachment. The MRB is about half the capacity of a conventional bucket, but has the ripping force of about 7.5 times that of a conventional (5) tooth bucket. The capacity is usually not an issue when ripping rock anyway, because the operator will be happy to be able to rip and fill the bucket with rock.
The HCMRB is about 10% less powerful as the MRB, but has the capacity of about equal to that of a conventional bucket, (but still about 7 times more breakout force). This bucket is great if the job is large and there will be at least two weeks of rock ripping involved. This bucket can be used with a coupler, however, it works best if pinned directly to the machine to achieve the shortest tip radius for maximum breakout forces.
A single pointed ripper is usually longer and has only one ripper. The shank is longer because the operator must move the tool over to clear the linkage as the ripping gets deeper. This longer length causes a loss of breakout force. There are still good applications for these such as picking out boulders and ripping very narrow trenches.
A Single Pointed Ripper Bucket, now called our V-Raptor Bucket, is a narrow Vee bucket used for ripping narrow V trenches in rock, plus having a capacity for removing the ripped rock. The bucket is also good for stump removal, prying boulders or slabs.
A DigNRip Bucket is the predecessor to the Multi-Ripper Bucket. There are shanks on the back. The severe ripping effect is similar except the front leading edge is about the same as a conventional bucket so the teeth do not hit one at a time. Because the teeth are on the back, the tip radius is a little longer and the visibility is less because the operator cannot see the rippers. Plus, the DigNRip bucket always leaves a layer of ripped material in the trench because the rippers are behind the front leading edge. The Multi-Ripper Bucket rips the material and then the loose material goes into the bucket leaving the trench clean. DigNRip buckets are great for digging and loading such as a quarry or a rock pit where high productivity removal of medium hardness rock is required.
The Multi-Ripper Tooth is a vast improvement over the conventional twin tiger rock ripping tooth. The tooth is similar to a twin tiger style except twistedin order to produce high penetration, yet still effectively rip the sides of the trench. No other tooth provides the penetration of a single spike and the side wall ripping like that of the Multi-Ripper Tooth.
Rock is usually very strong in compression, but weak in tension. Concrete for example, is extremely strong in compression, but like a piece of chalk, if pulled or bent, will break much easier. Hammers put the material in compression, so the hammer has to be very forceful in order to break the material. A ripper pulls the material apart, so the force can be substantially less. As long as there is a place for the material to go, the ripping can occur.
If the rock is rippable, the products will work. So, if a dozer will rip the material, or, you can gouge the material with a corner tooth of your bucket, then the Multi-Ripper Products will work. If however, a corner bucket tooth only glides over the surface, and cannot even scratch the material (like New Hampshire bedrock granite slabs), then the Multi-Ripper products will not work. We have found that most rock is rippable.
No. There has not been a good scientific method of comparing these compressive measures with the rock strength in tension. Most of these measures relate to the rocks compressive strength. Seismic velocity has been generally compared to rippability, and this chart can be found in documents on the internet.
HARDOX is the brand name of a Swedish steel that has been vacuum purified to give the steel not only hardness, but toughness. AR400 for example, has not been vacuum purified, and has a tendency to de-laminate and crack if used as structural member. Most uses of AR400 are for armored products that need hard flat surfaces for wear and not necessarily for structure. HARDOX is great for wear, and for toughness. Adding extra plates or adding hard-facing is not necessary, and not recommended. Hard-facing can actually cause damage to the HARDOX material by inducing tiny cracks in the material, and will thus void our warranty. If any welding is required or desired, please contact LEA, Inc. Engineering for the special HARDOX welding procedure..
Leading Edge Attachments, Inc. products are manufactured in Wisconsin, and the Multi-Ripper Teeth are manufactured for us by MTG of Spain.
Most rock is rippable, however, some is not, so many contractors may have a machine that is plumbed for a hammer ready for those applications. Non rippable rock must be broken using a hammer, or, with blasting. The more rock that can be ripped with a Multi-Ripper Product, the better off you are because a Multi-Ripper product is far more productive and requires far cost less to operate, but, sometimes the use of a hammer is not avoidable.
We have tested many teeth that are on the market, and because the force produced at by a Multi-Ripper Product is so high, only the strongest teeth survive.
If we do not have the unit in stock, we will have to manufacture the unit to order. We many times have the base portion built up in advance so that we only have to add the top lugging to fit your machine. Our manufacturing lead times are better than most companies in our industry, so please call to find out how fast we can provide one for your machine.
We do make some units for stock, however, because we make them to fit all of the excavators and backhoes per OEM specifications, it is hard to predetermine in advance what will be ordered, so please call to find out what is available for your machine. Our lead times are much shorter than the industry average.
The units do come with one set of teeth, but they do not come automatically with coupler dead pins. Coupler non-greasable pins can be ordered separately if you have a coupler.
We make them for almost all coupler types except Bobcat. We do make them for the Bobcat skid steer units however. Please call to find out more.
We are affiliated with Woods Equipment Company, so we can provide almost any common excavator, backhoe, skid steer or wheel loader attachment. We also make attachments by special order, so please call to find out if we can make the attachment for your special application.
