GET Smart
Ground engaging tools (GET) are designed to make the ultimate sacrifice—offering their service lives to promote better penetration and protect vulnerable bucket areas
By Russell A. Carter, Managing Editor


Earthmover ground engaging tools are designed to improve bucket penetration and protect vulnerable
bucket areas from wear and damage. Many newer GET systems use hammerless fastening methods
and allow teeth to be worn down further before replacement is required.
(Photo courtesy Thompson Creek Metals Co.)
Ground engaging tools, or GET, belong to a class of mine equipment consumables designed to grudgingly sacrifice themselves to maintain production and protect more valuable parts of earthmover buckets. GET components are specifically designed to wear out as they encounter the relentless abrasion incurred by buckets in a mining environment—while protecting vulnerable areas such as the bucket base edge, corners and bottom from damage and wear that can be extremely expensive to repair.

As with many major consumable items, such as tires, the overall cost of GET replacement during the lengthy service lives of mining equipment can be significant. In fact, Caterpillar has published data that show, in certain applications, the total cost of buying and replacing GET can eventually surpass the purchase price of machines, particularly road graders and wheel loaders.

The GET market—particularly during the current mining boom—is intense and competitive, said Esco Corp.’s Business Manager, Aaron Lian. Overall, customers and suppliers are looking for better ground penetration, improved wear life and lower total cost for the user, and because of the ease of installation/ replacement and safety inherent in hammerless component attachment systems, mines are increasingly asking for that type of product. According to Lian, Esco pioneered that technology with the release of its Posilock system in 1998. A number of hammerless systems have been introduced to the market since then by various suppliers.

What’s New
Esco’s most recent products include its SV2 mining tooth system and Eversharp bucket lip system.

The SV2 tooth line is offered in various point configurations for rope shovels, hydraulic backhoes and front shovels, and loaders. Principal characteristics include a slimmer nose profile that allows points to be worn back further than before. Many of the SV2 point shapes, according to Esco, provide up to 75% usable wear metal for less throwaway at the end of their service life. In addition to its hammerless locking system, the SV2 line’s wear caps have handgrips built in for safer installation. The fit areas of the teeth and wear caps are designed to minimize wedging, making them easier to replace at change-outs.

The EverSharp lip system for LHD buckets provides a continuous edge design that protects the plate lip, eliminating the need to rebuild the lip over the course of multiple bucket rebuild cycles. The bases contain stabilized bearing areas for the shrouds, transferring load pressures from the plate lip and onto the hardened cast base. The locking system is positioned to allow elimination of the top leg, which is in a low-wear area, and extra metal has been added across the lower leg in the highwear zone. Secondary corner wear shrouds are available to maintain the continuous edge profile when the primary corner shrouds wear out. A hammer is not required for installation or removal; workers simply pry the system’s one-piece pins in or out, and all components have built-in lifting eyes for safer, convenient installation.

Caterpillar’s K Series tooth system, introduced in 2004, offers a number of improvements over its previous GET products. Tooth life is extended by up to 15% and a lower tooth profile provides better penetration and longer sharpness. Tips can be changed in roughly half the time it took to change out the company’s J-Series components.


Caterpillar’s K Series GET system uses a
twist-on installation technique that allows teeth
to be changed in about half the time required
by previous Cat GET components.
A unique “twist-on” procedure makes installation easier and quicker, while reducing tip movement and enabling the tip to grip the adapter tighter the harder it digs into tough materials. This reduces tip vibration and loosening. The ability to use more wear material on K Series tips means that as the tip wears back, wear life can increase before the tip reaches its critical tip thickness or length.

Tips are secured with a one-piece retainer that installs vertically in the tooth. Opposing sloped side rails and flanks help keep the tip on the adapter nose when the retainer is installed and removed. Tips for larger wheel loaders and hydraulic excavators feature a hammerless retainer that can be removed with a standard prying tool.

Komatsu’s GET product lineup includes systems offered by Dallas, Texas-based Hensley Industries and by KVX, both of which are owned by Komatsu. Hensley, which manufactures a wide range of proprietary and directreplacement GET components, has introduced the KMAX system featuring a hammerless tooth attachment/detachment design in which teeth are held in place with lateral pins. Teeth can be changed by turning a socket wrench 90° to unlock and then relock the reusable pins after replacement. Teeth are typically replaced when wear reaches 40%, but Hensley claims that KMAX components can be used up to a maximum of 60% wear. The system has six varieties of teeth available, all of which can be retrofitted to match changing ground conditions.

Norway-based KVX offers a different approach to GET design. The KVX system includes an extremely hard and abrasionresistant wear plate, combined with teeth of a similar material that bolt directly to the bucket lip.

The KVX bucket lip is welded directly to the front of a standard bucket, and the teeth are fastened directly to the bucket lip using highly torqued bolts. Tooth adapters are not required, thus increasing the amount of wear material available and eliminating adapter-related problems. With a conventional system, teeth must be replaced or turned before wear reaches the adapters; with the KVX system, a tooth can wear almost all the way down to the lip; at that point, worn teeth are simply rotated, with the section of tooth that was previously under the bucket bottom becoming the new GET element. In addition to offering longer service life, these adapterless tooth systems serve as replaceable protection for the underside of the bucket lip and bottom.


With KVX’s one-bolt GET system, teeth are immobilized by
four dowels onto a threaded plate on the bucket, and then
securely clamped in place using a single bolt passing
through both bucket and tooth, requiring no adaptors.
What to Know
Although GET components are specifically designed to wear out, it’s important to know how to optimize their service life for maximum cost-effectiveness—and that requires management attention. Caterpillar, for example, emphasizes to its customers that selection, operation and maintenance are the three most important factors in extending GET service life.

Initially, the customer must define the application in which the components will be used in order to select an appropriate system, keeping in mind that penetration, strength and wear life are the three primary tradeoffs in GET performance.

Once a system is selected and installed, proper recordkeeping is important, but to completely understand the level of performance you’re getting out of GET and avoid premature replacement of components, a close examination of the GET boneyard is strongly recommended. Caterpillar’s Allen E. Pinkerman says, “Look at the used iron and if necessary, have a GET specialist help analyze what you see.” All that’s needed to conduct a thorough analysis of “worn iron,” according to Pinkerman, is a scale, set of calipers, a ruler or other measuring device and a camera to record wear patterns and problems.

In order to extract maximum life from GET components, follow these tips:
• Always rotate components when necessary.
• Pay attention to component damage and anticipate repairs. For example, replacing a damaged adapter on a large machine takes 14 to 20 hours to properly preheat the bucket floor—but a welder is often required to complete the job in much less time. Without the proper preheating, the installation won’t last as long, so it’s best to change-out GET prior to the point of damaging an adapter.
• Make sure operators use proper techniques. Avoid “corner loading“ of dozer blades or loader buckets, and maintain correct moldboard position on road graders and correct ripper position and angle on dozers.

As featured in Womp 08 Vol 2 - www.womp-int.com