one more hydraulic question

[fiddler kelly]

Ronmar I remember when I disconnected my backhoe from the tractor for the first time there is one line coming back, well actually two , but this one when disconnected foaled back to the tractor and connected to the other line coming from it. That other line which I connect to when backhoe is diconnected goes back to the side of the tractor and into the side of the tractor /transmission, would that be the return line.

I am going to attach a pic of where the lines all come off where they connect into this block am I am wondering if what I am see are two extra ports for hooking up extra lines.Where would be a good place to mount the valve to control the hydraulics for the thumb on the BH.

These two extra ports I am wondering about are the two bolt heads in the center of that block with lines on the top and bottom coming off from it.

 

[RonMar]

Those bolt heads in the picture look like the bolts that hold that interface block in place. An adapter block is used to interface from basically bare holes in the side of a machine or valve body to particular threaded ports, or a machined feedthru plate can be bolted into place to allow the fluid to flow from one port to another if no connection is needed at that location. As for plumbing on your tractor, I would consult with a dealer or manual as to the particular suitability of a port to add a valve into.

I still think the easiest way to add a thumb circuit in your case would be to add a dual selector valve to one of your other functions. An outrigger control seems the most likley candidate to me, as it is only used when moving/setting up the hoe, not really during actual operation. Setting up one of the outrigger levers to be able to switch between control of the outrigger or the thumb with the push of a lever, would be relatively easy and not require any changes to the main lines between hoe valve and tractor.

Since the main hoe valve probably has parallel passages which allow multiple functions at the same time such as boom up and boom left/right, using one of the valves on the main hoe valve to control the thumb seems like a good idea to me. This would allow you to curl the bucket and thumb at the same time. Placing a separate valve on either side of the main valve would most likley give priority to one valve or the other allowing only one to move at a time as the upstream valve robbs fluid from the next valve in line.