Thumb Woods BH90-X Hyd Thumb pics

[son69]

Did that price include subframe and hose kit or pto pump

 

[BJN644]

I was quoted $5200 for the BH80X, $900 for the subframe and $500 to ship it. No hydraulic thumb available for the BH80, they have a mechanical thumb for $400. Is a mechanical thumb very useful? I know a hydraulic one is.Pretty much on par with what I have been quoted for a Kioti hoe, now which one is better?

 

[IslandTractor]

No hydraulic thumb available for the BH80, they have a mechanical thumb for $400. Is a mechanical thumb very useful?

I have the BH90x with mechanical thumb. I also have a grapple for my FEL. If I were to do it again I would not get the mechanical thumb but would have to think real hard to decide if the expense of a hydraulic thumb was worthwhile. I use my mechanical thumb occasionally but find it gets in the way when digging and not so labor saving if I need to get off the tractor each time I want to use it to pin it into position then again to raise it out of the way.

A grapple on the front loader can do many of the tasks that a thumb does and it is a more versatile piece of equipment. If I were primarily digging with a BH then I would not bother with the expense and hassle of a thumb. If I ran a wood lot and was using the BH to stack logs then by all means I would get a thumb. Same if I were building a long stone wall. I find it next to useless for digging out stumps however. Much easier to dig around the stump then use the grapple to lift it out and move it to whereever I want in a single step rather than using the BH to dig then get off the tractor to set the thumb to lift out the stump and then use the FEL anyway to move it.

Bottom line for me is that I would not order a mechanical thumb again and I would not pay close to $2000 for a hydraulic thumb. If a hydraulic thumb cost close to $1000 I'd probably get one.

On your other question, I used to have a Kioti BH. They are fine and I think generally comparable to Woods in quality especially since the new 24xx series came out. I found the Kioti subframe a bit quicker to hook up although I did need to dismount more often to do it (and I cheated the safety police a lot by operating the HST when I was on the ground). The Woods subframe/4pt system is nice but the tolerances are quite fine so it is a bit fussy in the lining up stage and requires finer control.

 

[BBull]

Thanks all for the great info on BH. I'm contemplating purchase of a Woods BH90X, installed with mechanical thumb for $7500. I have a grapple on my FEL and am still thinking the pros and cons of the mechanical thumb on the bucket. If/when I want to switch out bucket sizes, is the mechanical thumb a hinderance?

If want to dig a ditch, for a water line for example, do I manually remove the mechanical thumb or just latch it out of the way?

Finally, anyone know where a list of Woods buckets can be found for the BH90X? I think I want a narrow one as well as the "standard" 16" or so.

Thanks again for your shared experiences.

 

[IslandTractor]

The mechanical thumb just latches against the dipper and is pretty much out of the way. I have an 18 inch bucket which seems to be fine for general duties. I sometimes think of getting a narrower bucket but dirt can get clogged in those so I haven't. I'm sure Woods can tell you about their standard buckets.

 

[nickel plate]

Thanks all for the great info on BH. I'm contemplating purchase of a Woods BH90X, installed with mechanical thumb for $7500. I have a grapple on my FEL and am still thinking the pros and cons of the mechanical thumb on the bucket. If/when I want to switch out bucket sizes, is the mechanical thumb a hinderance?

If want to dig a ditch, for a water line for example, do I manually remove the mechanical thumb or just latch it out of the way?

Finally, anyone know where a list of Woods buckets can be found for the BH90X? I think I want a narrow one as well as the "standard" 16" or so.

Thanks again for your shared experiences.

BBull,
Not sure about the MECHANICAL thumb but I do know that the narrowest Gannon bucket offered by Woods for the BH90-X is 12" but it will not work with the optional HYDRAULIC thumb-a meshing problem. Call Woods tech support. 800-319) 6637.
Also-I am building a 4 wheeled concrete shop dolly with 6" wheels @ 800 lb per wheel for my BH90-X. I have NO welding experience but have extensive woodworking capabilities (homes, shops, sailboats and barns). The platform is done and I am now working on the bucket resting nest.

 

[BBull]

Checked on that smallest Woods bucket at 12" I 'bout fell off my chair when they said the list was over$700 for it!! Guess I'll make do with the 16" one that comes with the BH90x just fine.

N. Plate: Would like to see some pictures of your home built concrete shop dolly when complete. Sounds like it will be the perfect fit for the BH90x.

 

[nickel plate]

Checked on that smallest Woods bucket at 12" I 'bout fell off my chair when they said the list was over$700 for it!! Guess I'll make do with the 16" one that comes with the BH90x just fine.

N. Plate: Would like to see some pictures of your home built concrete shop dolly when complete. Sounds like it will be the perfect fit for the BH90x.

Please let me clarify-the dolly is being built out of "glued and screwed" lumber and plywood. It will be rolled about on a concrete floor. I will post pics of the finished product but for now it structurallychanges periodically due to being a prototype.
Base price of my Woods BH90-X including Hydraulic thumb and 18" bucket (my choice of any bucket 12" to 24") was $7000.00 6/09.

 

[wedge40]

Base price of my Woods BH90-X including Hydraulic thumb and 18" bucket (my choice of any bucket 12" to 24") was $7000.00 6/09.

They have dropped their prices considerably since the last time I looked. That system would have cost between $9-$10K a few years ago.. I'm guessing the mini excavator business has put a dent in sales.

Wedge

 

[Charles Billings]

Today was sunny and hot. Perhaps, summer has arrived in Vermont. Not sure why, but today I started to worry about getting started on firewood. I removed the 3 pt hitch BX42 chipper and re-installed the Woods BH90-X with mechanical thumb onto its subframe. A little over a year ago I paid $9400 installed with taxes from the local dealer. It looks like there are better deals out there this year, but my cost pain is now almost gone and forgotten. I don't have a grapple bucket, so I can't comment on hoe with thumb versus grapple. However, I have found that the reach, lift and grasp of this backhoe with thumb suits it well for picking up logs out of a pile mixed with brush, and then holding the log while being chain sawed to firewood length. I have also used it for brush removal, and transporting quite large boulders. Because of this I am very happy with my decision to purchase the mechanical thumb, and find that it performs very well without needing to do much seat hopping to make adjustments. The hydraulic version would have been nice, too. However, I decided against that because of the added cost (about $2000 at the time) and the fact that it would have required adding another remote. I have used the BH with a 24" bucket to ditch both sides of an approximately 1/4 mile driveway and have done many more excavations. During that time I have not found a real problem with the thumb being in the way. Someday, I will probably own a bucket grapple, but still think that I will also be using the BH/thumb to pick and hold firewood logs, and to do other chores.

 

[BBull]

A great long weekend with the newly rec'd Woods BX90 backhoe. Out the door price for hoe, subframe for Kubota 5240, 12" bucket, mechanical thumb, Kubota dealer installation of all, and pick up and delivery of tractor was $7500. (No sales tax in Oregon.) Here's my report:

Spent the weekend digging small fir stumps out of the forest. Of what fun it is! Son and I were talking about adding lights to the ROPS so we could continue working way after dark. The 12" bucket will work fine for digging the stumps and digging the ditches I'll need for water and electrical.

Only used the mechanical thumb a few times, but since I have grapple on the FEL don't feel too deprived not getting the hydraulic. It is a bit of an exercise to get off and set in in place, then put it back up when digging. Better than not having one at all. I have a whole new appreciation for those of you who REALLY know how to make the hoe work smoothly and effortlessly. I kept my tractor RPMs around 1800 and felt that was plenty of power (and speed) for a beginner.

It is a luxury birthday gift. I am going to need to investigate how you folks are best storing these beasts in your shop.

 

[newbury]

It is a luxury birthday gift. I am going to need to investigate how you folks are best storing these beasts in your shop.

Happy Birthday!
Thumbs are great!
Is that how women pick up guys in Oregon?
Where are the safety police?

 

[IslandTractor]

Has anyone with a mechanical thumb thought of converting it to hydraulic? I was discussing this with another TBN member a couple of weeks ago and it seems it would be a pretty simple operation. No welding as you would use the mounts already in place for the mechanical thumb and you'd obviously reuse the mechanical thumb itself. You'd just need to replace the mechanical lengthening rod with a hydraulic cylinder ($100-150) and then run hydraulic hoses ($100-200) back to a simple two way valve ($50-100) on the operator station and either power it from an extra remote ($0) or tap into the hydraulics for the stabilizers (which I think is what Woods does in the factory version). There would be some labor and hassle but it seems the conversion could be made for less than $500 which is way cheaper than the premium charged by Woods. The only difference is that Woods has a nifty foot operated control which could be hard to source so you'd need to use a simple hand operated valve.

 

[nickel plate]

Hello BBULL,
I should have my Woods BH90-X dolly finished pretty soon as this has been over a month in production. Being a glue and screw project, there is a lot of down time waiting for the glue to set and there is a gallon of glue in the project.

 

[dfkrug]

Has anyone with a mechanical thumb thought of converting it to hydraulic? I was discussing this with another TBN member a couple of weeks ago and it seems it would be a pretty simple operation. No welding as you would use the mounts already in place for the mechanical thumb and you'd obviously reuse the mechanical thumb itself.

Not to rain on your parade, ISLAND, but consider that a mechanical thumb's
three pivots are not likely to be set up for continuous (greasable) pivoting
duty. Second, the long stroke required of a hyd cylinder to put the thumb
in fully retracted position as well as fully extended position may require
a different boom bracket.

I dealt with both issues when I went from mechanical fixed, to mechanical
articulated, to hydraulic. I WAS able to use the same thumb, but the pivots
and brackets were all different. You can still view my thread.

 

[IslandTractor]

You can still view my thread.

Thanks, I will check it out.

 

[Ductape]

Actually, Island is right. The pins for the mechanical thumb pivots have the through-bolt already, so it would be a matter of having the grease fittings on the hydraulic cylinder ends. My hoe is buried right now, so I can't run right to it with a tape measure......... but at one time I even measured the other cylinders on the hoe and IIRC one of them is already the correct length. I think its the bucket cylinder...... but it may have been the dipper cylinder. I have thought about this many times, but have yet to act on it at all. I hadn't figured out which way I'd operate the thumb cylinder yet.

 

[Ductape]

P.S. The mechanical thumb uses an inner and outer tube with pin holes to set the length, so I see no reason you wouldn't get full throw out of the thumb when you replaced that with a hydraulic cylinder. Honestly...... it looks to me like it was engineered to have a hydraulic thumb even though Woods doesn't sell a kit for the BH80X.

 

[Ductape]

OK....... now my brain is in overdrive on this. Since the only difference between a 70X and an 80X is the length of the dipper stick (and related parts).......... anyone know if the 90X uses the same dipper as the 80X? Anyone with a 90X want to take some measurements so I can compare with mine? If, by chance the 80 and 90 use the same dipper, then everything for the hydraulic thumb kit on the 90 fits the 80.

 

[dfkrug]

The pins for the mechanical thumb pivots have the through-bolt already, so it would be a matter of having the grease fittings on the hydraulic cylinder ends.

It is not the pins I am talking about, it is the bushings.

This is a photo of a BH80X, and I see it DOES use bushings, even though
there is no hyd thumb option for this model. That is good, even though
it looks like they use only a 3/4" pin. Adding a pin anti-spin feature is not
hard.

As for greasing, putting zerks on your cyl cross tubes is fine. I does look like
you should be able to convert this to hyd with your own cyl, and not have
to deal with Woods.