Digging and ditching

Ripper teeth and rippers

A tooth fitted onto the nose of its adapter, the parting line between the two pieces visible, and the cross pin that goes through them and locks them. — Nothing pivots and nothing screws on:
the tooth slides on, and a cross pin holds it.
Synthetic image.

A single tooth concentrates the whole force of the machine on one point.
It loosens cracked rock, pulls out stumps and opens compact ground — with no hydraulic line at all.

Other names for this family: ripping tooth, ripper tooth, ripper, hook, anchor tooth, subsoiler, loosening tooth.
One range recorded covers everything from the micro-excavator to 60 tonnes.

The essentials

Family: Digging and ditching
Classes (t): Micro-excavator to 60 t
Coupler: All, by plate
Power source: None — passive tool

The case of rocky ground →

01 Use

What it is for

On the left, the tooth goes into the crack, the excavator pulls and the block comes loose. On the right, the breaker strikes the rock and needs a hydraulic line. Computer-generated image. — **Left:** the tooth goes into the crack, the excavator pulls and the block comes loose.
**Right:** the breaker strikes the rock and needs a hydraulic line.
What sets it apart:
it is leverage work, not percussion — the energy comes from the arm, not from a hammer.
Computer-generated image.

**Left:** the tooth goes into the crack, the excavator pulls and the block comes loose.
**Right:** the breaker strikes the rock and needs a hydraulic line.
What sets it apart:
it is leverage work, not percussion — the energy comes from the arm, not from a hammer.
Computer-generated image.

The tooth penetrates a crack or a plane of weakness, then the machine pulls.
The rock is loosened in whole blocks.
It is leverage work, not percussion:
the energy comes from the arm, not from a hammer.

It is also used for loosening hard ground before earthmoving, for pulling out stumps, and for opening a slot in ground too hard for a bucket.
On this work, it replaces a hydraulic tool with a passive tool — so with no consumption, no hose and no circuit maintenance.

It passes very high forces to the machine. Everything goes through a single point:
the dipper arm, its pins and its ram take the whole of the force.
This is the tool where undersizing the tooth is less dangerous than oversizing it.

02 Key technical data

On which machine?

They exist for machines from 0,5 to 52 t.
For example, on a 2 to 5 t mini-excavator, the weight is generally from 42 to 134 kg.
It is supplied with its coupler: type S30, S40 or S45, Martin, Morin, CW, Klac, Lehnhoff, or weld-on lugs.

What the tool does

It is available in wear-resistant steel.
For example, on a 2 to 5 t mini-excavator: thickness from 45 to 50 mm, pin diameter from 30 to 45 mm.

What is needed on the hydraulic side

It needs no hydraulic connection: it is a passive tool.

Figures taken from 60 models on the market.
Your study sets the exact value for your machine.

All the measurements found for this equipment →

How to read these values →

03 Your study

Have your machine checked.

Give us your excavator model and the nature of the ground.
If you are hesitating between a tooth and a breaker, say so:
that is exactly what the study settles.

What we need to answer you

Your machine Its make and its tonnage.
The auxiliary circuit Its flow in l/min, its pressure in bar, single- or double-acting.
The coupler in place Its system and its class.
The work The use, and the material.

Without these details, the study still begins: we will ask you for them.

Send my photos

or describe your need

Book an appointment with the specialist

Or call 01 84 16 55 49 · our lines are open 7 days a week, from 7h to 22h.

Written study within 3 working days, once the file is complete.

Not to be confused

Skeleton bucket Principle — a bucket with a perforated bottom, which separates fine soil from stones by shaking.
Use — it sorts spoil that is already dug out; it does not loosen rock in place.
Grid bucket Principle — a bucket whose bottom lets the fines through, with no motor or hydraulic line.
Use — it separates a heap already extracted, the coarse on one side and the fines on the other; it does not open up the ground.

Mounts on

Mounts on, in the manufacturer example: S30, S40, S45 · Martin · Morin

04 Choice

What determines the choice

The first point is not a criterion of choice, it is a test of eligibility:
if the answer is bad, the tool is of no use.

01 — The condition of the rock bed Cracked or splitting, it loosens and the tooth works continuously.
Sound and homogeneous, the tooth skids, wears out and does not penetrate.
Two or three boreholes settle the question.
02 — The force the dipper arm can take This is the real limit, and it comes from the machine, not from the tool.
A tooth that is too long multiplies the leverage beyond what the arm can take.
03 — The shape and profile of the point A slender point penetrates better, a massive point lasts longer.
The choice follows the material and how often it is used.
04 — Replacing the point It is a wear part.
A tooth whose point cannot be replaced is a disposable tool.

05 Check

What is checked before ordering

The real nature of the rock bed Before the tool.
It is the only check that can cancel the purchase, and it costs half a day of boring.
The force allowed at the end of the dipper arm A manufacturer's figure for the machine.
It limits the usable tooth length.
The condition of the pins and bushes Existing play gets much worse very quickly with a tool of this kind.
Better to deal with it beforehand.
The interface Coupler type and size, or pin dimensions.
The tool is supplied with the matching plate.

The economic comparison with the breaker is worth making. A tooth is a replaceable wear part.
A hammer wrongly used on rock that does not break damages its internal parts, and the bill is on quite another scale. See the breaker page.

In the same family

The alternative

On the interface

To go further

Family: Digging and ditching
Trade: Quarries and rock
Compatibility: The seven criteria in detail →