Thumbs up (hydraulic or manual)!

S

Steve Blackdog

Active member
Afternoon folks,

I have a big pile of rocks to move between 10-200 kg. There’s about 100 tonnes of them.

This seems like an excellent excuse to get a thumb/grab for my U17. There are some cheap kits available for the price of a decent set of hydraulic hoses, so I am ignoring them on principle. I want something robust and reliable, but not so heavy the stick will be unbalanced.

I’m thinking hydraulic rather than manual - I know it’s meant to be easy to set up a manual thumb, but I am notoriously lazy. Also the price doesn’t look that much more for hydraulic.

having looked around online, I am thinking about the JB Raptor 600 (https://www.jbequipment.co.uk/colle.../products/hydraulic-excavator-thumb-1-2-tonne), the Hardlife 010-TH or the RSL (https://rsl-engineering.myshopwired.co.uk/thumb-grabs/hydraulic-thumb-grab/hydraulic-thumb-grab-1). They are all around £550 + vat. I need to add hydraulic hoses and couplings to the cost, and, of course, fitting. Are any of these makes/models recommended?

Also, would you get the dealer to weld it on, or get the local blacksmith to do it?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience 🙏
 
V8Druid

V8Druid

do it as well as you can,but learn to do it better
Steve Blackdog said:
Afternoon folks,

I have a big pile of rocks to move between 10-200 kg. There’s about 100 tonnes of them.

This seems like an excellent excuse to get a thumb/grab for my U17. There are some cheap kits available for the price of a decent set of hydraulic hoses, so I am ignoring them on principle. I want something robust and reliable, but not so heavy the stick will be unbalanced.

I’m thinking hydraulic rather than manual - I know it’s meant to be easy to set up a manual thumb, but I am notoriously lazy. Also the price doesn’t look that much more for hydraulic.

having looked around online, I am thinking about the JB Raptor 600 (https://www.jbequipment.co.uk/colle.../products/hydraulic-excavator-thumb-1-2-tonne), the Hardlife 010-TH or the RSL (https://rsl-engineering.myshopwired.co.uk/thumb-grabs/hydraulic-thumb-grab/hydraulic-thumb-grab-1). They are all around £550 + vat. I need to add hydraulic hoses and couplings to the cost, and, of course, fitting. Are any of these makes/models recommended?

Also, would you get the dealer to weld it on, or get the local blacksmith to do it?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experience 🙏
Click to expand...
I like the fact that the JB is on one mount plate and can't be wrongly installed, centres-wise .. plus it will pin up when not in use/disconnected
personally I'd find a decent welder/fabby to install it
 
Storrsy

Storrsy

Well-known member
I would ask RSL myself. I've had 5 thumbs off them now. What I like is they require measurements which means you actually get a thumb which matches your dipper and buckets. They are also very strong, the single braced fork design is stronger than the likes of the JB ones and being narrower doesn't foul visibility or get on the way. I have a hard life one on my 8t Duck which it came with and whilst still very handy it's not as strong- already cracked a weld, ram is about the same size as the RSLs one on my 3 tonner
 
groundworker

groundworker

Well-known member
I've got a hydraulic Hardlife one on my u17.

Had a few issues with it initially and their service was crap but now that's sorted it's fine. It's got plenty of power, usually I'm limited by the lifting power of the digger rather than the grip of the thumb.

When I first looked into it the RSL seemed to be the one to go for but I was in a hurry and could get the HL sooner.

It is heavy and bulky though, you will definitely notice it making your machine more tippy. It gets in the way in certain situations - easy enough to take off but I never do.

A mate welded it on for me. We set it up with the grading bucket on which was a mistake really as I'm normally using a trenching bucket - the different profile means the thumb doesn't meet the bucket edge nicely.

You will also need to make sure your machine has double acting hydraulic lines which I don't think is common on these Kubotas, luckily mine did for some reason.

As @Storrsy says they're a brilliant tool, impossible to go back to not having one.

Can't see the point in the manual thumbs. If you only wanted it for moving the pile of rocks around and nothing else, you could try one of these manual grapples which would save you the welding and hydraulic work - but it loses the convenience of a thumb that's always there. https://www.bucketwarehouse.com/hardlife---15-8-ton-manual-mechanical-excavator-grapple-38-p.asp
 
Storrsy

Storrsy

Well-known member
I'm not saying they have the dexterity of a grab (especially rotating) and if you are only handling then a grab is better. But I can turn up to a job rake and move brash, clear a pile of boulders dig out and grab/load away stumps, pinch out fence posts, build a wall, move a dead sheep out the way, pickup my water bottle, move a cone, shift a load of timber all with one bucket and a thumb and no getting out the cab. There's nothing to go wrong with them, cost very little, and always there when you need it- what's not to love!
 
R

Russell

Well-known member
I would like one but I prefer idea of one that uses the pin on the end of the dipper so it goes beyond 180 degrees and follows the bucket. That or a grab bucket but have only seen them from Australia.
 
Storrsy

Storrsy

Well-known member
Russell said:
I would like one but I prefer idea of one that uses the pin on the end of the dipper so it goes beyond 180 degrees and follows the bucket. That or a grab bucket but have only seen them from Australia.
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My dad has one like that on his Cat. I'm not a fan of it sharing the bucket pin as it makes the thumb very wide and clumsy. Unless you go for one of those progressive motion ones then simply sharing the bucket pin makes the arc of motion no better. I think keeping it separate from the hitch and bucket pi. is better myself and actually enable you to get a better grab full with the thumb being set back a bit
 
S

Steve Blackdog

Active member
Storrsy said:
I'm not saying they have the dexterity of a grab (especially rotating) and if you are only handling then a grab is better. But I can turn up to a job rake and move brash, clear a pile of boulders dig out and grab/load away stumps, pinch out fence posts, build a wall, move a dead sheep out the way, pickup my water bottle, move a cone, shift a load of timber all with one bucket and a thumb and no getting out the cab. There's nothing to go wrong with them, cost very little, and always there when you need it- what's not to love!
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I’m reckoning my digger will be dead in a ditch before I get the skills to pick up a water bottle!
 
R

Russell

Well-known member
Storrsy

Storrsy

Well-known member
Here's my dad's. The thumb has also worn the hitch out where the red arrow is. Because rather than the dipper pin being fixed to the hitch it is fixed to the thumb so constantly rotating ungreased in the hitch (if you know what I mean)
 

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Storrsy

Storrsy

Well-known member
Russell said:
What about a Donghong
www.dhgmachinery.com

Wholesale Reasonable Price 1 Ton Mini Excavator Attachments - Hydraulic Thumb Bucket Excavator Grab bucket – Donghong factory and manufacturers | Donghong

description The hydraulic thumb for backhoes, excavators and mini-excavators are easy to control and open and close with speed and accuracy. Hydraulic thumbs for excavators provide added flexibility over mechanical models and prove more efficient when using the thumb and bucket frequent...
www.dhgmachinery.com www.dhgmachinery.com
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The principle of that is quite nice as get to use bucket and be able to curl the bucket whilst grabbing but not convinced the geometry of it is ideal- I'd have to use it to say for sure but could be the a bit on an awkward thing to use if your just needing to use bucket without the "thumb" but fouling operations. Plus your limited to one bucket, a thumb will work with any bucket- not so great with a grading bucket but any digging bucket is fine
 
S

Steve Blackdog

Active member
I was hoping to use the aux lines. No idea whether they are single or double acting. Better read the manual.
 
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