Excavator..manual vs hydraulic thumb

[WoodChuckDad]

I am looking to make the purchase of an excavator in the 18,000-30,000 lb size range. I am leaning toward the 18,000 area since it will be more fuel efficient and I think a bit easier to control since I have no current experience. My primary reason is clearing stumps from several acres of small pine that I will be clearing...3-10 inchs in diameter. Since I will have the excavator, I will use it to dig out some stumps that will be much larger in the future, and digging out the foundation and septic for my house I will build, but my immediate need is clearing about 3 acres of "scrub" pine. I am pretty sure I want a thumb. I think a hydraulic thumb would be great but have not been seeing those machines come on the market. I'm wondering, besides the PITA of changing the the position, what advantage or disadvantage one has over the other. And If I was going to buy one with a hydraulic thumb, how much more should I pay for that? I'm probably gonna pull the trigger in the next month. I have already started cutting the trees....as a side note, I have had no luck getting a logger to clear the land so I'm just going to burn it all.

 

[4570Man]

I have a manual thumb on me tractor backhoe. I really want a hydraulic thumb. With a manual thumb you have to push a the thumb again the item to be picked up and then close the bucket. With a hydraulic thumb you could clamp with either one. The manual thumb is a PITA to change positions. It would be even more PITA on a good sized excavator.

 

[CurlyDave]

You will quickly come to regret a manual thumb.

Getting out to reposition it will soon become a chore and then you will start picking things up with it in the wrong position. This will eventually become a safety issue.

While you can start with a manual one and later add hydraulics, the cost will be higher than just starting off with the hydraulic one right away. And, the result will be better because it was designed to be hydraulic from the beginning.

 

[treemuncher]

Try taping one of your hands' thumbs up with a splint stick or something similar that is rigid. Now try to use your fixed thumb to pick up items without bending any joints of the thumb. Compare that to your thumb working as is normally does. That is the difference between a fixed thumb vs a hydraulic thumb. With a hydraulic thumb, you just get more done and work more efficiently. Personally, after owning the Mann hydraulic thumb that I have on the PC200 when needed, I would never even consider owning a rigid thumb.

 

[newbury]

In the true spirit of TBN spend more and get a hydraulic thumb.

BUT do you REALLY want an excavator? Digging stumps is fun, but if I had 3 to clear acres I'd rent a bulldozer and "get 'er done".

 

[WoodChuckDad]

I have 50 acres. The plan was to get 25 cleared. Loggers around here have been stacked up with jobs. And my property is remote so it offers less profit. There is about 4 acres of pine that is less than 10 years old. I started cutting it 2 weeks ago. Since I have started cutting the scrub pine I will still need to pop the stumps. I also have foundation to dig and several other tasks associated with building a house.
And the end game involves another 7-10 acres cleared and planted. And you would need a big darned dozer to handle some of the trees in those areas.

 

[Rustyiron]

In the used market, sometimes your choices are limited. A ridgid thumb is 100 times better than no thumb!
You will get used to it, and it sounds like you have a lot of stumping & stacking work right away anyway. Just pin it up when your not stumping and mainly diggging. It will dig when down, it's just in the way (mainly) when your digging a square corner or loading trucks.

 

[CurlyDave]

...Since I have started cutting the scrub pine I will still need to pop the stumps. I also have foundation to dig and several other tasks associated with building a house.
And the end game involves another 7-10 acres cleared and planted. And you would need a big darned dozer to handle some of the trees in those areas.

When they cleared for our house, the excavator operator was able to lever most of the trees out of the ground and just lay them down. No cutting first and then poping out stumps.

He would carefully place the bucket as high on the tree as practical, and then rotate the machine to one side. Placement depended on the type of tree, oaks were stiff trunks and had weak roots, pine and fir had more flexible trunks so the bucket placement was lower, but they didn't saw until the tree was down and the corpse had to be moved.

I suspect a large enough machine would pull entire scrub pines out faster than taking the stumps out.

 

[Trials]

When they cleared for our house, the excavator operator was able to lever most of the trees out of the ground and just lay them down. No cutting first and then poping out stumps.
...

I was thinking the same thing :/ I would expect it's a lot easier to remove a tree stump if the tree is still attached.

My excavator has a mechanical thumb, it's being delivered in a few hours and I have never used one before so I'll let you know if it's any good later.

 

[Rustyiron]

Well congrats, be carefull, and have a fun day Trials!!