Extendahoe thumb

[Mark Conner]

I'm currently looking for a mechanical thumb for my JD 310D extendahoe. What I've found is the amult? with the kidney shaped acuator. Looks good but kinda pricey $2400. Any advice would be appreciated, I'm a rookie at this.

 

[Muhammad]

Welcome to TBN.

 

[Martian]

Welcome. I was considering getting a full size TLB before I got my 110 and one of my concerns was a thumb. I found these guys:
Hoeclamp

Pricey, but I think it looks like a quality product.

 

[ChiefLoneWolf]

A welcome to TBN. Have fun and enjoy hours of entertaining and educating reading. :welcome:

 

[moored4]

:welcome: to TBN! :thumbsup:

Happy :tractor: ing!

 

[kensnelling]

Welcome to the forums from Oklahoma.

Ken

 

[Briana03]

Welcome to TBN

I moved your thread to the Construction Equipment Forum.

 

[JasG]

I'm currently looking for a mechanical thumb for my JD 310D extendahoe. What I've found is the amult? with the kidney shaped acuator. Looks good but kinda pricey $2400. Any advice would be appreciated, I'm a rookie at this.

The only D series extendahoes I have seen the inner section is the extendable part instead of the outer. This may make make it harder to find one. Most of the newer machine the outer box extends and many now have mounts for a thumb.

Also many D series machines seem to have a short hoe, not sure why. My cousin had a 410D with exendahoe and it didn't reach much more than the regular hoe. This may make it hard to find a thumb that works.

Just keep that in mind when looking how it will mount and that it will work with your machine.

 

[Mark Conner]

Thanks for the welcome. Seems like a very informative site. New at this backhow stuff but I'm digging it. I'm probably going with the ammult? thumb because I want to keep the extendahoe usable.

 

[Taylortractornut]

Amult makes a good product. THe town where I work bought one for their Ford extenda hoe. It works great. I put one on a Cat with extendahoe withthe inner extension. We mounted it on the box section . It wouldnt run out with the bucket but it was goob about grabbing things that were really large like our hardwood stumps from storms. We had a similar set up on a Drott Cruz Air.

 

[Rustyiron]

I have an Amulet on a Hitachi excav. I didn't want to spend the $$ on a extra hyd circuit. I love it!

(it is the self actuating model with the "kidney link")
They do make a "ridgid" thumb as I think the above post is refering to.

 

[Mark Conner]

Thanks. It's nice to hear about something from someone that has it or has seen it work. Makes pulling the trigger on the purchase a lot easier.

 

[boggen]

Welcome. I was considering getting a full size TLB before I got my 110 and one of my concerns was a thumb. I found these guys:
Hoeclamp

Pricey, but I think it looks like a quality product.

i would be skiddish of this type of thumb. find it easier to control the bucket separately from the hyd thumb. so you can "scoop" tree or what not towards you, and then move bucket up underneath something, and then apply the hyd thumb down onto what ever. or vice vs. and work the thumb up under something and then bring bucket down to grab a hold of something. if moving logs to a trailer, having hyd thumb operate separately from bucket. can possibly make it easier to position a log down. and slightly move things around. so things lay good on the trailer.

that and with separate hyd thumb, being able to possibly contract the entire cylinder for thumb. to move thumb completely out of the way, so you can use bucket. without taking thumb off.

ya someone could state, adjusting the boom and dipper stick and/or reposition the entire machine. but sometimes, it is nice working out in the pasture / woods. and reaching up under a large branch of a tree, and then snagging a hold of a bush. or working right up near a house or shed. and pulling out a fence post or deck post. and no need to position entire machine so it is 1" from touching house or shed.

=============

not sure how far the "extend" gives you, but if it is only 1 to 3 feet. do you really need a thumb ability stick an extra 1 to 3 feet out there?

extend is awesome for digging trenchs, as in you can dig more trench without having to reposition machine as often. or if you are digging out a basement, the extend can help you reach further away from machine and down to get a little more, and then swing around and drop spoils further away from the hole.

but do you really need to reach an extra 1 to 3 feet with a thumb, when most likely once you grab a hold of something, you will be moving tractor any ways, to transport what ever you have some place else?

i could see if thumb was used to help unload trailers of various things, were machine stays in one spot and moves what ever onto something else.

i might see partial use of a thumb that extends out with bucket, for demolition work. were ya cleaning up a house that was destroyed by storms, and moving debris from one spot into a dumpster or into a dump truck.

================
i am all for keeping the extend operational when thumb is on. and could be very useful, but could you just buy a generic hyd thumb. and attach it to the part of dipper stick. that does not extend out?

 

[Mark Conner]

Thanks, you make some valid points I'm going to be clearing some downed trees this weekend and will try and evaluate thumb working with extension compared to using it when its fully retracted.

 

[rScotty]

Did you ever get that Amulet Hoeclamp? How did it work? Or what did you end up using for a thumb?
rScotty

 

[Mark Conner]

I did get the Amulet Hoeclamp. I love it. Very heavy quality construction, made in USA, works great. Lifting logs, stumps, big rocks and for clearing brush you just put it on a pile and grab it all. I would highly recommend it. It does limit the amount you can cup your bucket but its easy to disconnect and has a chain to hold it out of the way. I've had it two years now and really wouldn't want to be without it. The kidney shaped connector is pretty slick.

 

[norite]

JasG hit the nail on the head. If you want a mech. or hyd. thumb to use with the bucket on a deere you need a 310e model or newer. That is where they dropped the inner extension for the xtendahoe which I had on my old 74 310 and copied the outside slider at the bottom of the boom as in the case 580.

That's why I waited and bought a 310e, still need to build a thumb for it though.