Backhoe Hydraulic thumb kit?

[Luke'sScreenName]

I have gone through a bunch of old threads and have not found what I am looking for.

I have a Woods BH90X with no thumb. I'd like a hydraulic thumb. The dipper stick has factory mounts for a piston.

I inquired at my dealer about a Woods thumb. They want $2500! Plus another $800 if they were to install it!

So I went looking for an aftermarket thumb. I've found nothing designed for the BH90X.

I called Michigan Iron and Equipment today as everyone recommends them. The lady who aswered the phone had NO intrest in talking to me (surprisingly rude actually). She just said "we don't do one for that backhoe."

Anyone know of anyone else know of a kit? Bro-tek has nothing on their website.

 

[BAP]

Bro-Tek lists a mechanical thumb and if you follow this thread you could adapt it to be hydraulic.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/125912-custom-hydraulic-backhoe-thumb.html

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Ya, I looked at that thread and it appeared to me that no one had found a good solution. Plus I don't think anyone had tried to find a cylinder for the Bro-tek/BH90X combo. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Since you're in NH; do you know if Addington Equipment is still in buisness?

 

[BAP]

Never heard of Addington Equipment, where are they located?

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Chichester

 

[IXLR8]

I have gone through a bunch of old threads and have not found what I am looking for.

I have a Woods BH90X with no thumb. I'd like a hydraulic thumb. The dipper stick has factory mounts for a piston.

I inquired at my dealer about a Woods thumb. They want $2500! Plus another $800 if they were to install it!


I called Michigan Iron and Equipment today as everyone recommends them. The lady who answered the phone had NO interest in talking to me (surprisingly rude actually). She just said "we don't do one for that backhoe."

I have an aftermarket hydraulic thumb on my BH90x... I got it from MIE. I am surprised that you got the response you did from them. They were very helpful to me. I got the hand operated valve and mounted it in a different position than they recommend. Mounting where I did caused one of the hose fittings to be 90deg off from where I needed it to be. They made a new hose for me with the correct orientation, no charge, as long as I sent the old one back.
Here is a link to their 'aftermarket' stuff. It shows a Woods BH thumb but not for the BH90. They listed it in the past, not sure why they don't now.
Hound Dog Attachments

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I have an aftermarket hydraulic thumb on my BH90x... I got it from MIE. I am surprised that you got the response you did from them. They were very helpful to me. I got the hand operated valve and mounted it in a different position than they recommend. Mounting where I did caused one of the hose fittings to be 90deg off from where I needed it to be. They made a new hose for me with the correct orientation, no charge, as long as I sent the old one back.
Here is a link to their 'aftermarket' stuff. It shows a Woods BH thumb but not for the BH90. They listed it in the past, not sure why they don't now.
Hound Dog Attachments

Bummer. I guess they stopped making it?

 

[BAP]

Ya, I looked at that thread and it appeared to me that no one had found a good solution. Plus I don't think anyone had tried to find a cylinder for the Bro-tek/BH90X combo. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Since you're in NH; do you know if Addington Equipment is still in buisness?

I am in western NH but I see they have a website still. Thumb Kits, Addington Equipment

 

[Tags]

For a homeowner machine thats not generating income i can see how $2500.00 is a lot of money for the convenience of picking stuff up with your backhoe. It doesn't sound that bad to me especially if it comes with all the hoses and the valve and the pedal to tap into your hoe hydraulics. You could try this place too Gallery | Northsaw.com a friend of mine has thumb from them on a mini ex and has been happy with it...

 

[downsizingnow48]

The Woods website also shows a mechanical thumb for the bh90. Maybe it is in the range of $400 like other mechanical thumbs. If so you could buy that. Install and wire in place. Then measure between your factory cylinder mount and the thumb pivot pin. That gives you the retracted length of the cylinder. Probably a 2" cylinder with 18-20" retracted length will do the job and cost about $80-150. Valve and hoses not cheap maybe another $300-500. The Woods foot pedal is likely a higher productivity option than a hand operated valve. So figure about $1000 or maybe more, plus a fair amount of work, and slightly less productivity, if you go the semi-DIY route vs $2500 kit.