Backhoe Converting BH76 thumb to hydraulic

[Monster5601]

Has anyone converted their BH76 mechanical thumb to hydraulic? What I am looking for are recommendations of a hydraulic cylinder.

It looks like I need a 19" long cylinder, collapsed, 24" fully extented with 1 1/2 inch deep mounts.

 

[MattN03]

Did you come up with a setup for a hydraulic thumb? I just picked up a used B3200 with a BH76 and would like to add a hydraulic thumb.

 

[bdhsfz6]

Has anyone converted their BH76 mechanical thumb to hydraulic? What I am looking for are recommendations of a hydraulic cylinder.

It looks like I need a 19" long cylinder, collapsed, 24" fully extented with 1 1/2 inch deep mounts.

A few years back, I converted my BH90 mechanical thumb to hydraulic using a Lion 20TL08-112 cylinder I ordered from Northern Tool. Here are the specs: TL 25 PSI (Discontinued) – Product Availability - Lion Hydraulics | Monarch Industries

It's a 2" bore, 8 inch stroke tie rod type cylinder. The pin center min. is 18 1/4 and max. 26 1/4 . The product has since been discontinued but I'm sure Lion has a replacement.

In my case, I had to weld mounting tabs on the boom and I located them to match the cylinder. The boom on the BH76 is already equipped with tabs but it looks like the above cylinder should fit.

The biggest problem I had with the conversion was the control valve. The factory foot operated unit was too expensive and I didn't like the awkward location on the deck floor. I wound up using one of the tractor hyd. outlet ports. It's a stretch but I can reach the lever from the BH seat without taking my eye off the thumb.

I traded the BH90 for a BH92 this spring which has a factory installed mechanical thumb. I haven't checked for sure but in looks like the Lion cylinder will work on the BH92 as well. I'm not sure if any of this helps you with your BH76 project though. Good Luck!