What Is a Tilt Rotator Grading Bucket?
A tilt rotator grading bucket, often called a GD bucket, is a grading bucket designed to be used on a tiltrotator. The tiltrotator does the tilting and turning, so the bucket has no tilt of its own. What it does have is a shape that suits that way of working: a long, flat floor, an extended mouth, sharp angles and cut-back rear corners.
The design comes from the ditch cleaning buckets used on Scandinavian machines. Tiltrotators arrived there in the late 1980s, and operators have been refining the bucket around them ever since.
Why Not Just Use a Standard Grading Bucket?
You can, but a standard grading or ditching bucket isn't shaped for rotation. Turn it through a cut and the rear corners can catch, and its sides make it harder to get in close to walls, kerbs and other obstacles. The tapered sides and cut-back corners on a tilt rotator grading bucket are there to stop that.
If your excavator doesn't have a tiltrotator, you're better off with one of our excavator grading buckets, or a Scandinavian tilt bucket if you want tilt without fitting a tiltrotator. Our guide to fixed vs tilt grading buckets explains the difference.
What They're Used For
- Final grading and levelling of sub-base and topsoil
- Trimming banks, batters and swales
- Cleaning out ditches
- Backfilling around pipes and foundations
- Working tight to walls, kerbs and posts
They'll handle light digging too, but for trenching or breaking into hard ground you'll want a toothed excavator digging bucket.
Choosing the Right Size
Go by your excavator's operating weight first. The range runs from a 1000mm bucket for 2 to 3.5 tonne machines up to 1900mm for 18 to 24 tonne machines. A tiltrotator already adds weight to the end of the arm, so stick to the size listed for your machine rather than going wider.
Then check the quick coupler on your tiltrotator, because the bucket has to match it. If you're not sure what you've got, send us your machine and tiltrotator details through our quote form and we'll confirm the fit.
Our guide on how to choose a bucket for a tiltrotator goes into coupler types, weight and when a different bucket makes more sense.
Tilt Rotator Grading Bucket FAQs
Do I need a tiltrotator to use one?
They're designed for one. Without a tiltrotator the bucket can only work square to the machine, so a standard grading bucket will usually do the job for less.
How is this different from a Scandinavian tilt bucket?
A Scandinavian tilt bucket has its own hydraulic tilt, so it can tilt on an excavator without a tiltrotator. A tilt rotator grading bucket has no tilt of its own, because the tiltrotator does the tilting and rotating.
What stops it leaving lines when grading?
Full-width wear strips along the base. They stop the side plates dragging, so the floor leaves a flat finish.
How long does delivery take?
Usually 7 to 10 working days. If you need one for a particular job, get in touch first and we'll confirm the lead time.
Browse our full range of excavator buckets.
