FEL "Front" hoe or thumb ?

[bcarwell]

I have seen a lot of plans/kits/attachments for back hoes attached to a three point hitch.

Since a FEL already has some controllable movements, has anybody ever seen some sort of "front" hoe attachment, e.g. something that attaches to the FEL with or without bucket for digging, using auxiliary hydraulics and the FEL movement controls ?

Or is the movement of a FEL so different from a backhoe as to provide no usable movement or anything else useable for that matter other than the moveable arms to attach a hoe to, the tractor mass and mobility, etc.

And come to think of it, I've also seen static "thumbs" for back hoes using the movement of the hoe bucket for grasping against the thumb.

Has anyone ever seen a similar thumb below a FEL bucket for grasping against, using the movement of the bucket against a static lower FEL "thumb" ? ? I have seen hydraulic grapples that attach to the <top> of the bucket, but they use auxiliary hydraulics.

Farmer Bob

 

[DAP]

Bob ... Power Trac machines have front monunted hoes .. otherwise we call these machines excavators! You can put a grapple on a loader, as a big horizontal thumb. I've also seen a backhoe style thumb on a loader as well.

So yea, there out there! Quite useful if you can arrange the hydraulic plumbing ...

 

[3RRL]

Bob,
Just yesterday I saw a Bobcat with a backhoe mounted up front instead of a bucket. Adding a grapple to the front bucket is like adding a hydraulic thumb to the backhoe. Just flip the backhoe bucket and thumb upside down in your mind and there's the front bucket and thumb (grapple attachment.