Backhoe Bro-Tek Thumb for Chinese 7 Foot HW04X Backhoe

Smalljobs · Dec 19, 2011

I shopped everywhere and also searched TBN for thumb information. I wanted a high quality bolt-on thumb and the search led me to Bro-Tek. Working with Bro-Tek is just like the reviews on their website. It's a pleasure to deal with Bro-Tek and the thumb arrived in short order. Unlike another firm I found in TBN and online, Bro-Tek makes it so easy. The paint, welding, finishing, pins, and Grade 8 fasteners were all high quality. The thumb looks like it was included as OEM with the backhoe! It was easy to mount in minutes, has adjustable positions, and it folds neatly out of the way. What could be better than that

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I hope to post pictures tomorrow but I've already used it a lot to pick up and relocate boulders. This weekend was spent cutting up an 18" diameter oak tree and the thumb was a huge help in holding up the tree while we cut off pieces in 20" lengths. The Bro-Tek thumb plus a Stihl MS 362 chainsaw makes a great pair of "Wood Weapons".

Bob Rooks · Dec 20, 2011

"Like." :laughing:

Smalljobs · Dec 20, 2011

My new Bro-Tek Thumb thumb is working great.

Attached are a few pictures. The first one shows how nicely it folds up and fits under the dipper. The second one shows the high quality hardware and the third one shows how the link is adjustable for two positions.

Smalljobs · Dec 20, 2011

The thumb is becoming my best friend for cutting firewood because it easily picks up or moves the log for cutting to length. It's better than a portable sawhorse

Moving a stone wall is now a lot easier. It's no problem to just pick up the stones one by one and put them where I want them.

3RRL · Dec 21, 2011

Hey, very nice Steve.
Looks like you did a nice job installing it too. Did you modify the tips of the thumb to go inside your bucket after all?

Rich Waugh · Dec 21, 2011

Wow! It really is you! Haven't seen much of you lately, Rob. How are things going? Have you really quit breaking tractors, or have you just quit copping to it and sharing your repairs and mods? My guess would be that all your work in the past has resulted in nearly foolproof tractors that don't break anymore. :thumbsup:

Smalljobs · Dec 21, 2011

Rob -
Thanks for the compliment but it all goes to Bro-Tek because they are responsible for this neat compact design.

The working tip of the thumb is designed to fit nicely under the dipper and slip into the boom cavity when both the boom and dipper are folded up. If we shortened the thumb much more, the link would not fit inside the thumb when folded because it would interfere with the solid stiffening inside the thumb itself.

Sure we could have shortened it more so that the bucket could fully close over the thumb but then we'd need a solution for storage of the link.

3RRL · Dec 22, 2011

Thanks for the explanation Steve. It is a nice thumb indeed!

Rich Waugh said:
Wow! It really is you! Haven't seen much of you lately, Rob. How are things going? Have you really quit breaking tractors, or have you just quit copping to it and sharing your repairs and mods? My guess would be that all your work in the past has resulted in nearly foolproof tractors that don't break anymore. :thumbsup:

Yes Rich ... alive and well.
My tractors have performed flawlessly after all the custom upgrades and repairs, lol. Loretta's Jinma has nearly 400 hours on it now but I think I need to get a new set of glow plugs for it. Huge Kama has nearly 1,000 hours on it with zero problems since the engine rebuild.

Steve, thanks for letting me reply on your thread.

Rob-

Smalljobs · Dec 25, 2011

Some of you have asked questions of how much $, etc. Each and every case is different, including shipping costs, so I recommend that Bro-Tek be contacted directly.

It's unknown to me if an HW04 and JW04 and LW7 have common dipper cross sections. I would not even venture a guess that the dipper is the same from one LW7 to another LW7 and so on.

Since Bro-Tek makes it so easy to buy and confirm fit, it's faster, safer, and easier to just contact them directly.

Red55 · Dec 26, 2011

Smalljobs said:
Some of you have asked questions of how much $, etc. Each and every case is different, including shipping costs, so I recommend that Bro-Tek be contacted directly.

It's unknown to me if an HW04 and JW04 and LW7 have common dipper cross sections. I would not even venture a guess that the dipper is the same from one LW7 to another LW7 and so on.

Since Bro-Tek makes it so easy to buy and confirm fit, it's faster, safer, and easier to just contact them directly.

Yes absolutely correct that every case is different, but a ball park price is a reasonable request. I have no intention of wasting Bro-Tek's time if his pricing is beyond what I am willing to spent. Small business owners, don't need tire kickers wasting their time. Given out too many estimates that I knew as soon as I started that it wasn't going any where.

Thanks for your reply.