Loader Bx thumb

[twinsticks]

What is the best thumb for the bx23

 

[RayCo]

There is no factual answer, just opinions.

I chose a Wallenstein thumb for a couple of reasons. One, I liked the way it could be tucked away. And two, I liked that design over the other one that uses a toplink. I leave my Wallenstein thumb on all the time, and it's never in the way. It also offers nice protection for the dipperstick when I pull a rock out while doing some ordinary backhoe digging.

So, the question posed can only be answered by you.

 

[Shmudda]

The Bro-Tek design is superior to the Wallenstein design to my opinion. The Wallenstein had some real problems with the fit as it would slide up the tapered dipper stick and cause problems and interferences with some hydraulic fittings. I would believe by now those problems have been fixed, but my money is still on the Bro-Tek design.

Whatever you do, don't weld anything to your dipper stick! The material gage is to thin and you will have problems with the welds cracking and breaking.

I made the one attached, and it has performed well. The key to any of them is to use the tapered dipper stick to wedge the unit so it can't slide up.

Do a search on BX Thumbs and you will find all sorts of things.

Craig

 

[RayCo]

Uh oh, now I'm paranoid about my dipperstick. I welded the backplate for my thumb to the dipperstick after crushing a hydraulic fitting!

 

[Deano]

Wallenstein here. Welded also. No issues!! Used and abused!!:thumbsup:

 

[Hedgy]

For a quick overview you can also look at the Thumbs page on the BX Wiki

 

[BXinNH]

I love the Wallenstein thumb on my BX. Have used it a lot, it does show very slight (<1/16inch) movement on the dipper stick. That's over two and a half years. Once you have a thumb on your BH, you'll wonder what you did without it.

Matt.

 

[radair]

Wallenstein for me too, put it on over 3 1/2 years ago. No welding, no movement.

 

[radair]

For a quick overview you can also look at the Thumbs page on the BX Wiki

I picked up some nasty malware on my laptop from that site about a year ago. I knew exactly when it happened as the laptop made an audible click as I scrolled past an ad at the top of the page. I didn't even click on the ad but it acted like I did. Was a PITA to clean out.

Maybe it's been fixed but I'd be careful.

 

[Hedgy]

Hi Radair, I run the BX Wiki site at bxtractors.info, or more accurately I create the tractor-related stuff on the site. The underlying software is a Wetpaint site, and the ads, layout of banners and menus etc is controlled by Wetpaint. I'm sorry you had trouble with it - your case is the first I've heard of anyone blaming it for malware.

Wetpaint allows people to create wiki sites like this for free any topic - but as a site creator I have to put up with ads on the site. I have no control over these ads but from what I've seen they seem to be from respectable companies and I've never noticed any malware. I could pay Wetpaint to make the site ad-free but as I get no revenue from the site I'd be out of pocket.

The creators of malware are clever at hoodwinking people and exploiting vulnerabilities in web browsers and other software.

The best advice for any web surfing is to make sure browser and other software is always up to date and to run well-rated anti-malware software. I can recommend some but this is tractor site - not a PC site.

Radair - you think you acquired the malware simply by mousing over an ad, and not clicking anything. That type of infection is rare, my research suggests it is more likely if you are using an older browser, or one with some of the recommended security settings (especially javascript settings) disabled.

Probably the safest thing to do if you mouseover something and a suspicious popup appears is to ignore the popup and close the browser completely.

Also advisable, but sadly not practised by the average user, is to create two users on your computer - one an Administrator which you only use when you need to install some software, and one a Standard user which you use for everything especially web browsing. That way, if you visit a site that tries to install malware it will not have the administrative permissions to do so.

Finally, there are websites where you can check if a website is distributing malware or not. The AVG Online Web Page Scanner is one such. There is also the Google Safe Browsing tool which is apparently built in to the chrome and Firefox browsers, but you can also use it by entering this URL into your browser, followed by the website you want to test ...

http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/diagnostic?site=

so to check the BX wiki you would enter

Google Safe Browsing diagnostic page for bxtractors.info

Apologies for the long and technical post - but I've put a lot of time into the BX wiki site creating an supplementary online manual for other owners and I'd hate to think it would go to waste because people are worried about malware on the site.

Also if anyone thinks they found a malware-infected page on bxtractors.info please let me know and I'll flag it with the Wetpaint administrators. If it's on that site then it's almost certainly on hundreds of other Wetpaint sites and they will be keen to eradicate it.

 

[adjusterr]

I'll vote for the Bro-tek thumb. have been using one on my Kubota L2250 with a Woods Groundbreaker 7500, to pickup and hold logs for firewood cutting. The thumb works perfectly, no sliding on the boom and no real learning time required. I just placed the thumb against a 25' log, roataed the bucket down against the log and it picked it up just like I knew what I was doing. Richard at Bro-Tek is great to work with and backs up his product. Check out their site at Bro-Tek: Tractor Add Ons. Good luck with your thumb.

 

[radioman]

hedgy- thanks for your input- I am glad to see someone to put in the time and effort to make sure its top notch the best you can- and all this for free? Kudos! :thumbsup:

 

[Ken_CT]

I have had the Bro-Tek thumb on my BX23 for about 3 years and I am happy with it, no problems. I can't compare it with the Wallenstein as I have never seen one in use.

 

[TonyF]

...Whatever you do, don't weld anything to your dipper stick! The material gage is to thin and you will have problems with the welds cracking and breaking....

I'd suggest that the cause for the cracking is not so much the welding itself, but the manner in which its welded.

Many aftermarket thumb providers offer a thumb hinge or cylinder mount perfectly square. The welded straight edges across the dipperstick create a huge stress point for the dipperstick during digging. Rather the mounts should be vee'd or otherwise angled. Some of the more knowledgeable thumb shops will instruct you to not weld across the dipperstick , only vertically along the sides.

Here's a pic of the thumb cylinder mount for my mini-ex. Kubota has it right.

Tony

 

[Tollster]

I'd suggest that the cause for the cracking is not so much the welding itself, but the manner in which its welded.

Many aftermarket thumb providers offer a thumb hinge or cylinder mount perfectly square. The welded straight edges across the dipperstick create a huge stress point for the dipperstick during digging. Rather the mounts should be vee'd or otherwise angled. Some of the more knowledgeable thumb shops will instruct you to not weld across the dipperstick , only vertically along the sides.

Here's a pic of the thumb cylinder mount for my mini-ex. Kubota has it right.

Tony

As a welding inspector, I say he's right!

 

[Shmudda]

This is the same theory we use in the mill when attaching something to structural steel building columns. We can weld along the length of the column, but not across the face as thats the tension or compression side depending how it's loaded.

I agree with this welding procedure too......

Craig

 

[Tom_H]

There must be 50 threads on this topic in the archives, some of which go on for pages and pages and pages. If you care to read all the discussion, just do a search for "BX" and "thumb" together in the first 2 Kubota forums. I think I can sum it all up pretty succinctly in saying this: The Bro-tek has always had nothing but positive reports. The early Wallensteins had design flaws and many buckled under the hydraulic pressure. The manufacturer kept trying, however, and apparently, the fourth generation was the charm. Generations 1-3 had failures, but the 4th (current) generation, which has now been on the market for several years, has not had any failures reported here that I can remember. If you are buying new, either should do fine. If you are buying used, any Bro-tek is o.k., but if it's Wallenstein, find out what generation before purchasing.

 

[twinsticks]

Thanks guys

 

[twinsticks]

Thanks for the help just ordered the brotek.,