The Thumb

[fruitcakesa]

Has anyone used one of these? Opinions about construction and materials.
For the money, it offers the "casual" grapple user a decent tool. It looks pretty good.
http://user1197575.sites.myregisteredsite.com/index.html

 

[George2615]

I have the thumb. I bought it with two base plates. mounted one on my forks and one on the bucket so I could switch the thumb between them. (05 of my thumb use has been on the forks. Somewhere in my posts here is pics of my install. At least two other members also bought and are happy with the thumb.

 

[Big Chief]

I have one on my emax its great. Built well. I will get some pics.

 

[nybirdman]

I have had mine + a tooth-bar for quite a while;works great.Easy removal(bolted) if needed.Cleared a lot of rock and brush with mine.

 

[Big Chief]

 

[fruitcakesa]

I have the thumb. I bought it with two base plates. mounted one on my forks and one on the bucket so I could switch the thumb between them. (05 of my thumb use has been on the forks. Somewhere in my posts here is pics of my install. At least two other members also bought and are happy with the thumb.

Thanks George , Chief and NY for the pics and reviews.
George, how did you choose the size thumb to get with your forks. My forks are similar in size and shape to yours.

 

[George2615]

Thanks George , Chief and NY for the pics and reviews.
George, how did you choose the size thumb to get with your forks. My forks are similar in size and shape to yours.

I ordered the 36" thumb. Pretty much a guess with a tape measure and where I was going to mount the base plate. Glad I didn't get the smaller ones.

 

[mykleh]

another Thumb fan.. as you see in some of the pics I also had to stiffen up the top of my bucket.. initially tried to just bolt it to the top lip and quickly found it was not near stiff enough..

 

[shooterdon]

I asked around here a while ago and got very good reviews. I will be adding a Piranha bar and Thumb to my machine FEL this spring. It might actually work better with forks but I have bolt on forks and no SSQA on my tractor so removing the FEL is not a good option for me. George2615 has a great idea above.

 

[fruitcakesa]

I have to drag the forks out of the frozen snow so I can take them to my friends shop.
He will reinforce them where the mounting plate will attach.

 

[George2615]

I have to drag the forks out of the frozen snow so I can take them to my friends shop.
He will reinforce them where the mounting plate will attach.

Here's the thread I started on my thumb install and how I reinforced and mounted the base to the fork back plate with pics. Hard to believe its been almost 5 years. For bucket mount I had to add angle to the bucket top (see post 7)

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/313144-added-thumb.html

 

[Foodplot]

I stopped by their shop and picked one up a few years ago. It's the best bang for your buck for such things. I use mine with forks constantly. I can grab a 16' log, lift it to working height, and cut firewood rounds off very quickly. It's been great. The cylinder is well matched for size and power.

 

[srs]

Has anyone used one of these? Opinions about construction and materials.
For the money, it offers the "casual" grapple user a decent tool. It looks pretty good.
http://user1197575.sites.myregisteredsite.com/index.html

Used their thumb when I built my grappler instead of making one, works great and highly recommend it.

 

[cre73]

Thanks guys, I think this is just what I have been looking for. Even better is they are about an hour south of me so I can hopefully save on the shipping and maybe a little cash discount. Now to decide on a 3rd function setup they aren't cheap.

 

[shooterdon]

Thanks guys, I think this is just what I have been looking for. Even better is they are about an hour south of me so I can hopefully save on the shipping and maybe a little cash discount. Now to decide on a 3rd function setup they aren't cheap.

To save money and simplify the install, I am going with a diverter valve set up off the curl circuit. I will not be able to curl and grab simultaneously but I can live with that...I think.

 

[Fiziksgeek]

I have one and love it. I had a piece of 3/8 flat bar welded to the top edge of the bucket as reinforcement before bolting it on.

 

[oldbones]

I have a Thumb, and like it fine. Does what I need. I had it on my regular fork attachment, with a slide-on mount. It worked OK, but not what I wanted. So I found another fork attachment and mounted the Thumb to that, and made it the dedicated "grapple unit". Pics show it on both fork attachments.