Hi Eddie,
I bolted it on because I did not want to weld or drill the dipper. I was afraid of changing the strength of the metal.
It also allowed me to remove it if there were some sort of problem or interference. Turns out I did have to remove the original mount because it had a catastrophic failure.
The new bracket, however is much better, it does not interfere with normal bucket operation when the bucket thumb is removed. I have more confidence in its design and robustness.
In short I was afraid to weld it to the dipper until I was sure I had a good working design. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif