vic4news
Gold Member
I purchased the Woods kit to convert the mechanical thumb to hydraulic on my BH80-X. The hardest and most time consuming part of the install was cutting the console for the foot pedal. The metal cut easily with a jig saw, but I couldn't get the saw close enough to the vertical part of the console to finish the cut. It took some drilling and grinding to complete the cut.
A couple of square holes were required. One for a carriage bolt another for a nut. After drilling the hole I used a triangular bastard file to square the corners. I was pleased that it took less than a minute to square up the hole. After the install I realized that the nut could have just been welded in place instead of squaring the hole for the clip the nut was housed in, but it turned out quicker just to square the hole.
One part of the instructions that I didn't follow had you grind the ears where the bucket hose clamps were installed to fit the new plastic hose clamps. I decided to just trim the plastic clamps to the fit the ears.
The rest of the install was just bolting things on and connecting fittings.
I've found the mechanical thumb very useful, but it is totally different having a hydraulic one. Now, it's an extra function that I have when using the hoe instead of an extra step that I could take to pick up rocks, logs, etc.
Vic
A couple of square holes were required. One for a carriage bolt another for a nut. After drilling the hole I used a triangular bastard file to square the corners. I was pleased that it took less than a minute to square up the hole. After the install I realized that the nut could have just been welded in place instead of squaring the hole for the clip the nut was housed in, but it turned out quicker just to square the hole.
One part of the instructions that I didn't follow had you grind the ears where the bucket hose clamps were installed to fit the new plastic hose clamps. I decided to just trim the plastic clamps to the fit the ears.
The rest of the install was just bolting things on and connecting fittings.
I've found the mechanical thumb very useful, but it is totally different having a hydraulic one. Now, it's an extra function that I have when using the hoe instead of an extra step that I could take to pick up rocks, logs, etc.
Vic