Hydraulic Bucket & Thumb Operation

[dfkrug]

I agree yours would have been better off with a common pivot....Isn't hindsight great!?

Maybe I was not clear. There are advantages to using the same
pivot, but also there are disadvantages. The pivot "ears" on my thumb
are only 1/2" steel, and I would have to add bushings to them to make
them greasable, if I used the same pin as the bucket. I could easily have
made a longer bkt pin. By using a separate pivot for the thumb, I could
keep the pin fixed to the thumb, and greasable on the dipper. So, in
using a separate pivot, it was somewhat less work, with minimal functional
disadvantage. Also, my bkt pin is only 25mm, and I think it is not strong
enough to lengthen and use for both bkt and thumb.

I am glad to hear that Kubota has made the thumb ears wide enough to
be greasable.

As for the term "shock RV", I see that name on some of the hoe valve
parts drawings. Often they are set somewhere in the 3000psi range
and primarily used to avoid damage from shocks due to lowering the boom
too fast with a big load in it. Often you see them on 3-pt hitch hydraulics,
too.