I am fortunate enough to have a speciality manufacturer 10 miles away that does everything from the big trackhoes down to Kubota B21's (a 4000lb tractor loader backhoe) I have talked to him a number of times about a hydraulic unit for my Kubota L35 and looked through his picture book of L35's he has done, haven't had time to visit a previous client to see if there's any change I'd make (love those speciality manufacturers!) On a small hoe you have to mount it all the way up the dipper stick but theres a little bit of adjustment depending what you are doing with it. If you are setting a lot of rockery rocks you'd want one that was configured a little different then the "average" one, so the thumb "closed" farther.
One that is built to work best setting rocks would have a thumb that wouldn't open as far however which would be a problem in other applications. This fellow is pretty economical compared to other companies I have found but he does not do any mail order everything is built on the spot. Check with your local dealers, there's probably a local guy that does this somewhere near you. They may not tell you who it is if you go to a JD dealer and ask about your JD. Tell them you have something they don't work on, like a track hoe, or tell the track hoe dealer you have a 2000 lb backhoe maybe they'll tell you! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
I haven't decided on what kind of valve to use, I've seen separate levers, foot controls. Coolest of course are those buttons in the center of the knobs on the track hoes! Also the most expensive I think they are electrical.
I found one company that makes a mechanical thumb it was darned near as expensive as the hydraulic one I want this guy to make. I'm don't use my tractor as a business so there's no rational reason for another toy, I'm just tired of getting off and picking stuff up, some of it's really too heavy, no room to get loader in without dragging it away from the trees with the hoe. Even the lighter stuff I figure I've only got so many "toe touches" in a day before I'm ready for the showers. Anything you add to the dipper will of course take away lift since it's out there towards the end of the backhoe, and may slow down your overall operation somewhat depending on your hydraulic flow etc. I've heard this isn't a problem with my unit (L35) but I want to talk some owners with installed thumbs first to see. It's somewhat of a luxury item I guess but I'm worth it! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
del
[email]oldcarparts@mygarage.com [/email]
