Added thumb to FEL forks

[beenthere]

This past year, have been working on adding a thumb (The Thumb) to my Deere forks to hold brush, logs, and spruce trees while moving them around.
Have the 3rd SCV rear remotes and ran two hyd lines to the front of the FEL, with disconnects at the FEL mount, and also at the bucket/fork quicktach point. Did not secure the hyd. couplings so found it challenging with 80 yr old hands to pull back the female coupling sleeve while pushing the male into the female for connection.
Thought of a pliers of some kind to pull that sleeve back, and today fashioned a model 8R Vicegrip that has flats for sheet metal work to fit that female coupling (1/4" Pioneer couplings). Using angle grinder, managed to get something to fit and it works quite well with the vicegrips locking when the sleeve is pulled all the way back.

 

[dnw64]

My 55 YO hands could benefit from such...

Have you considered patenting it (before I do...) and selling it?

Very ingenious and I bet lots of people would love such a thing. Great job!

 

[beenthere]

Thanks, and no plan to patent.. go ahead.. with my blessing.

With my angle grinder, making the two notches in the flats turned out easier than I expected.

 

[Xfaxman]

Gooder-un :thumbsup:.

 

[Corkpuller]

Excellent work ! I like it.

 

[Tropical Jack]

Great solution! I hope that I am that ingenious and dexterious when I am 80! (At 63, not so very long to go!). Great addition to the tractor toolbox.

Jack

 

[fruitcakesa]

I was just commenting to my wife about this exact thing with the hydro couplers on my new snowplow.
Not only are they slippery and hard to engage with my sore hands, the fittings are 1/2 inch [not 1/4 like my old plow] and that much larger and difficult to hold.
Next trip to town I will pick up a pair.

 

[mike48130]

Nice. Every time the brush falls off my forks I think of doing this.

 

[AllDodge]

I like what you did, great idea
Never did like JD coupling, think there real cruddy. Think I would just change them out for older style (like air compressor) fittings

 

[beenthere]

AllDodge
These are 1/4" Pioneer couplings.. nothing to do with Deere.. sorry if I misled you.

They seem to have a very strong spring in back of the sleeve on the female coupling. Sliding it back with one hand and simultaneously pushing the two parts together just seemed awkward. Would have worked better if the female coupling was in a header as is usual, then no problem. But I could not figure out a way to make that header and put it in the appropriate location near where the loader attaches to the tractor frame, and where the forks attach to the quick attach on the loader arms. Until then, the modified ViceGrips will do well for me to hook up the hoses.