Questions about "The Thumb" for a loader

[cttractor]

Do any of you have "The Thumb" from Greens-Machine? I'm thinking of getting one and have questions. I have a JD 2320 with a 53" bucket. I've also looked at W.R. Long's offerings. They have both one and two thumb products. But on small machines like this, we need to be more conscious of the weight of an attachment because every extra pound there reduces our payload by the same amount. I've also considered getting a grapple. That would allow a larger opening for grabbing brush. But I only have occasional need to move brush, don't have room for storing another attachment of this size at the moment, and expect that a centered thumb will also help with carrying and holding logs, pulling large rocks into the bucket when there's nothing to push against, etc.

I'm going to get W.R. Long's electro-diverter because it includes everything I'll need to add another function using the tractor's SCV. But I'm open to other options if anyone feels they have some better suggestions and especially if you have experience with it on this machine or comparably-sized machines from any manufacturer.

Here are my questions:

1. What do you think of "The Thumb"? Is it working as expected?

2. How hard do you work it and how is it holding up? Has it broken or been a maintenance nightmare? If so, have you overdone or abused it or is it not well manufactured?

3. Did you have to "beef up" the top of your bucket before mounting it? I'm planning on welding a 5" x 52.5" x 1/4" thick steel plate along the inside-top before drilling and mounting the Thumb (yes, it will be primed and painted). Is this overkill?

4. Has anyone worked on a way to quickly install and remove the thumb so it doesn't have to be on the bucket all the time? If so, can you share your idea and some pics?

5. Does it open wide enough?

6. Does it get in the way when used for typical bucket loading of gravel, rocks, and other loose material when left open?

7. Does it hit any part of the grill guard or tractor when fully open while raising or lowering the bucket?

8. Was it difficult to determine the correct length to get for your bucket? Does it match the size of your bucket well or does it have too much of an "overbite"?

9. Has having just one thumb in the middle been a problem or does the load tend to be unbalanced and have you longed to have two side-by-side or is it working well?

10. Would you buy this product again now armed with some experience with it?

I appreciate any insights and thank you in advance for your input!

 

[dmay]

It is hard to tell from the website pics how the Thumb mounts to the base. It might use pins that would make it easy to remove from the base. I'd e-mail the manufacturer and ask for more details.

 

[cttractor]

Hi Dmay, I did contact them and they couldn't say whether fully curling the bucket with the thumb wide open will or will not catch the grill guard or some other part of the tractor. They say they obviously haven't personally tested the thumb on all machines. That's fair enough, but that's why I'm asking here.

In checking with them again, they said that the thumb mounts via a bracket and is fastened there by pins. To remove it, you pull the pins and the thumb comes off. Unfortunately, the cylinder goes with the thumb, so we need to keep breaking and re-attaching the hydraulic lines. While we all do that to install and remove loaders and other implements, I try to keep the breaking and re-attachment of lines to a minimum to reduce the chances of introducing contamination into the system. If the wide open thumb in any position coupled with the bucket in any position doesn't hit anything on the tractor, I'll just leave it installed for most work and remove it only when I'm doing snow removal during the winter. If it will hit parts of the tractor, I'm going to look harder at other products.

 

[Marveltone]

Do any of you have "The Thumb" from Greens-Machine? I'm thinking of getting one and have questions. I have a JD 2320 with a 53" bucket. I've also looked at W.R. Long's offerings. They have both one and two thumb products. But on small machines like this, we need to be more conscious of the weight of an attachment because every extra pound there reduces our payload by the same amount. I've also considered getting a grapple. That would allow a larger opening for grabbing brush. But I only have occasional need to move brush, don't have room for storing another attachment of this size at the moment, and expect that a centered thumb will also help with carrying and holding logs, pulling large rocks into the bucket when there's nothing to push against, etc.

I'm going to get W.R. Long's electro-diverter because it includes everything I'll need to add another function using the tractor's SCV. But I'm open to other options if anyone feels they have some better suggestions and especially if you have experience with it on this machine or comparably-sized machines from any manufacturer.

Here are my questions:

1. What do you think of "The Thumb"? Is it working as expected?

I have it and love it. I did extensive research before I shelled out hundreds of dollars for such a product.

2. How hard do you work it and how is it holding up? Has it broken or been a maintenance nightmare? If so, have you overdone or abused it or is it not well manufactured?

I use it for brush, firewood, (2-3 20' poles at a time) removing stumps and anything-else I can get it to grab onto. In short, I don't baby it. I'll work it as hard as the tractor will allow me. It is built extremely well out of very heavy steel and is gusseted where it needs to be. I can't imagine a compact tractor ever bending one under normal use. (pic. #4. This stump weighs between 700-800 lbs... maybe a bit more.).)

3. Did you have to "beef up" the top of your bucket before mounting it? I'm planning on welding a 5" x 52.5" x 1/4" thick steel plate along the inside-top before drilling and mounting the Thumb (yes, it will be primed and painted). Is this overkill?

Yes, I did. My bucket was homemade, and as such, I had no idea how much abuse it would take, plus,I needed to raise the mounting platform enough to get a proper fit. I personally don't think adding a top stiffener can ever be considered overkill when dealing with grapples.

4. Has anyone worked on a way to quickly install and remove the thumb so it doesn't have to be on the bucket all the time? If so, can you share your idea and some pics?

The mounting base is bolted on, but the hinges are actually very heavy pins that are held on with cotter keys, therefore, easily removed. I put quick connects in the lines and color coded them for such an occasion, so removal/reassembly is super simple. (pics. #2 )

5. Does it open wide enough?

It looks like it will swallow small countries! Seriously, it opens way wide, as my bucket is over-sized and as such, I bought the largest size they made. The combination will swallow huge loads. (pic. #1)

6. Does it get in the way when used for typical bucket loading of gravel, rocks, and other loose material when left open?

I can usually do all my normal loader work with the grapple attached and wide open. It only gets in the way if I need to back scrape stuff away from a building.

7. Does it hit any part of the grill guard or tractor when fully open while raising or lowering the bucket?

Never comes close on my tractor.

8. Was it difficult to determine the correct length to get for your bucket? Does it match the size of your bucket well or does it have too much of an "overbite"?

They have instructions on their website how to measure for proper fit. Not very hard to do at all. Overbite will be determined on the installer. You have full control on how you are going to mount it. We clamped an 1/8" piece of shim stock between the tip of the grapple and the cutting edge of the bucket to give a reference point at full travel. We then blocked the cylinder at full travel to find out where the base of the grapple needed to be. We then blocked that in place, measured what we needed for steel and manufactured our base accordingly. Sounds fussy, but well worth it. At no point, can my grapple contact and bend my cutting edge when empty, and it matches up very well.

9. Has having just one thumb in the middle been a problem or does the load tend to be unbalanced and have you longed to have two side-by-side or is it working well?

Balance is up to the operator. You can have a dangerously unbalanced load with a two grapple set-up and risk flipping your tractor because you insist on clamping both grapples on the load to keep it secure, when you really should have re-centered it. I think on these smaller tractors, we can lose too much lifting capacity with the added weight of two grapples, but that's just me. I've seen others with two and love the set-up. I've been plenty happy with one.

10. Would you buy this product again now armed with some experience with it?

Absolutely!

I appreciate any insights and thank you in advance for your input!

Hope this helps.

Joe

 

[cttractor]

Thanks much for the photos and comprehensive responses. You're making it easy for me to be comfortable with this product.

 

[teg]

I got WR Long one but ANY grapple is great to have. For me, I can weld but didn't want to beef up my bucket. The WR Long bolt on was the way I wanted to go. I mounted my bucket hooks on the grapple's cross bar. The larger opening with this grapple is the main reason I got it... I remove three pins and the grapple is off but the bar is still on.

 

[cttractor]

The larger opening with this grapple is the main reason I got it.

I noticed the larger opening on W.R. Long's Website. I feel as if I 'm forced to compromise one way or another. The advantage I see with the one you have is that you actually can hold more payload as you mention, such as a clump of brush. My concern was whether that larger opening would make it unable to grab smaller, but still heavy items items, such as a topped, long, but only 6 or 8 inch diameter tree. Are you able to grasp and lift such an item?

 

[Marveltone]

I noticed the larger opening on W.R. Long's Website. I feel as if I 'm forced to compromise one way or another. The advantage I see with the one you have is that you actually can hold more payload as you mention, such as a clump of brush. My concern was whether that larger opening would make it unable to grab smaller, but still heavy items items, such as a topped, long, but only 6 or 8 inch diameter tree. Are you able to grasp and lift such an item?

I had those same concerns about the W.R. Long grapple. It really came down to that or the Thumb, as they are both excellent products and were the top two I was considering. My personal feelings are the Thumb will grab smaller diameter logs more firmly than the Long. Perhaps teg or others can share their experiences with the Long. At any rate, you saw the size of the stump I was able to grab. I'm only limited by the weight capacity of my loader.

Joe

 

[638]

I have the "Thumb" on my BX23 and love it. Works great for moving brush and logs. Open it wide open with the bucket flat on the ground, drive forward gathering brush, then put FEL in float and roll the bucket to an almost full dump position over the brush. Close the "Thumb" , roll the bucket back as you reverse a little, and raise the FEL. You will be amazed at the amount of brush and limbs you can pick up. It's a very bullet proof unit. Four bolts hold it on to my reinforced bucket, and two quick disconnects on the hydrolic lines. Easy to put on and take off. I operate mine from rear remotes with long hoses with QD's on each end. I do use it with a tooth bar so as to maximise the volume of the load.

 

[cttractor]

At any rate, you saw the size of the stump I was able to grab.

Joe, I definitely did see it and it's impressive!

Open it wide open with the bucket flat on the ground, drive forward gathering brush, then put FEL in float and roll the bucket to an almost full dump position over the brush. Close the "Thumb" , roll the bucket back as you reverse a little, and raise the FEL. You will be amazed at the amount of brush and limbs you can pick up.

Ron, thanks for explaining how you've learned to grab a full load of brush! The more I hear, the more it seems the thumb will woork well and meet my needs.