Aftermarket add-on BH thumb?

[IXLR8]

I had a quick chat with another, much more knowledgeable, Kioti dealer this afternoon and during the discussion I mentioned I wanted a thumb on the BH. He says he welds an after-market mechanical thumb on the Kioti BH, as there is no plumbing for a hydraulic thumb.
What are peoples feelings on welding on a thumb to the Kioti BH vs going with a Woods BH80xt? I have no information on the thumb or how it is mounted, I hope to go see one tomorrow.

 

[mauistardog]

I had a thumb put on my ck 30hst. very usefull for rock etc. Having a fixed one is best for such a small machine for weight reasons and less chance of breaking hydrolics. I have used backhoes with a hydrolic thumb and it is faster, but you have to be more carefull not to push to hard against each of the rams has you can break stuff.

aloha
joe

 

[KiotiDave]

Hi Jim,
If you are talking to Batchelder's, he wont steer you wrong. I use the same thumb as they do and I also weld it on with no come-backs. Customers love it. They are worth the investment.
KiotiDave

 

[IXLR8]

I have only been searching for a tractor for about 2 months, this is the first I have heard of adding on an aftermarket thumb. Was not sure what it would do to the integrity of the backhoe arm. My neighbor is having a driveway put in and the guy is using a mechanical thumb on his excavator. After watching that, and knowing what the SWMBO wants done around here.. I NEED a thumb! I was lead to believe by every dealer I had talked, JD, Kubota, Kioti, that the only way to get a thumb was to get a Woods BH. If this is a safe way to go.. then great, it opens up my options.

 

[gravel13]

If money is not an option, then I would probably go with the woods 80X. I got the KB2375 but thumbless . I like the woods subframe set-up. I couldn't afford the woods at the time of my purchase. I have been very pleased with the Kioti BH although I wish I had a thumb to aid with the rock and stump removal. Just my .02, but if you can swing it then get the woods with thumb if not there is nothing wrong with the Kioti and mechanical thumb.

 

[caver]

Bro Tek makes a bolt on thumb. He will most likely need measurements.
Bro-Tek: Tractor Add Ons
I decided I didn't need one but it would have come in handy last weekend when moving some logs around.

 

[IslandTractor]

I have a Woods BH90x with a manual thumb. I don't find it to be a critical addition to be honest. I have a grapple on my tractor which is part of the reason I say that. The thumb would certainly be nice for pickup of rocks, logs, stumps etc but I found out pretty quickly that it was even more efficient to just turn my tractor around and use the grapple for such tasks. On the downside a thumb can get in the way when digging and does require getting off the tractor to position.

 

[mrutkaus]

I have the BH-80X with factory mechanical thumb, it works great and I'm glad I got it.

However one tiny disadvantage is that it is pinned thru one of the bucket pins and that made it difficult to install the bucket (get the pin in and align it) and I can see that it will take longer to switch buckets than I thought. Just a little inconvenience to mention.

Mike