L48 or L5030 - My Jump Into The Tractor World?

[v8dave]

A hydraulic thumb is very versatile, especially if you are going to use it in a landscaping business. I rented an excavator with a thumb to tear down and then rebuild a boulder retaining wall. Attached is a picture of the excavator about to pickup a boulder.

The thumb needs to have the same pivot point as the bucket in order to be able to rotate the boulders when setting them into the wall. After a little practice you can set the rocks fairly accurately the first time. Get a 6' pinch/pry bar to move the rocks those few inches the hoe operator can't seem to get just right.

 

[v8dave]

Here is the same rock picked up.

 

[Rowski]

Get the thumb! You'lll love it!

I opted for the mechanical type. It can be completely removed easliy. Also with out the hydraulics it is less weight to take away from your overall lift/digging capacity.

Close up of thumb on 24" bucket.

Some of the rock work I have done.

Picture 1

Picture 2

I also use the thumb a lot to pick up brush piles and move them.

 

[Ursushorribilus]

Well, let me tell you all about my day...The fellow TBN member that I told you about who offered to let me try his L48 PMed me last night and told me he had a project today and that I was welcome to come and watch. Well, I did, and am glad of it, as I got to see what the L48 could accomplish. I was also impressed by the little piece of heaven that is the property which he calls home. The project involved digging out an old-growth stump that was a minimum of 2 feet in diameter. The root ball was the size of a pickup truck! My L48 mentor put me at the controls and let me have at it, which I thought was inordinately kind as well as brave in light of the fact that I am new to tractors, and I pulled at dirt and roots under his tutelage and actually began to feel comfortable with the controls. I have to tell you though, the skill of my mentor was extremely impressive: not only could he make the BH dance while sitting at the controls, he did so while standing in front of the machine with me in the seat, reaching up and working the controls standing backwards to the machine and looking the other way! Should I develop half this skill I will have accomplished much.

My teacher finally took charge of the machine and ripped the daylights out of the roots, and finally tore the stump out and pulled it and the gigantic rootball out of the hole. He then filled the hole and graded the driveway with the FEL bucket, pulling it backwards with the front wheels off the ground, sort of a reverse wheelie! The machine is everything I want, and watching this display of power (and skill) has convinced me to buy the L48. I have to add that my mentor tipped me off to a dealer who will save me a ton of money on the machine and attachments.

Gray, thanks for the info, it sounds like the machine will take care of heavy pallets. I will check out that SSS auger.

V8dave and Rowski - Boy, that thumb looks handy! Question: Does using the thumb compromise the structural integrity of the BH? Another option I'm considering either in place of or in addition to the thumb is a grapple on the FEL bucket. Thanks everyone...Tony

 

[gray]

Tony,

Consider the 4in1, I know you will not be disapointed. The weight will be less than a grapple and the dozer settup is usefull. You can add mods to the edges of the bucket if you need to have more agressive grapple action.

It is a powerful machine that is easy to use. Hard to evaluate it you have little or no experience on one. As I have gotten more experience I have found so many more things I can do and do well. The BH is so much more than most others but the Bradco it is hard to compare. The way it is set up with the rotating seat and quick- very quick BH removal is second to none.

Hope your shopping goes well and you get what you hoped for.

 

[v8dave]

Having the thumb on the boom or using the thumb did not hinder any other backhoe work I did with that excavator. The hydraulic thumb on that Bobcat excavator could be moved out of the way (folded back on the dipper).

You should check what the thumb does on the L48 backhoe. If it can't be folded back up out of the way, it should be easily removable.

 

[Rowski]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Boy, that thumb looks handy! Question: Does using the thumb compromise the structural integrity of the BH? )</font>

None that I have found. I have used it for stone for for approx 350 hrs. On the thumb pictures I posted the thumb can be stores flat against the dipper arm by removing the stiff arm.

In this picture you can see it in the storage position.

 

[Ursushorribilus]

Well, I made my first two purchases to pave the way for an L48: I bought a 1 ton Chevy cargo van with a 6.5 liter turbo diesel to pull it around, and today I bought a Contrail 12,000 lb. (13,800 actually) equipment hauling trailer with a beavertail to haul it on /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[gray]

Tony,

I figured out how to post pictures so I will put a couple up to show the L48 in action and the 4in1 bucket with new hooks I just put on it.

Gray.

 

[gray]

this one is the BH in action with the thumb used to lift and move a 12inch aspen tree. This cause a slight tweek of the hinge pin center plate showing a slight week point in the thumb design. Nothing to lose sleep about but I can see that a 2 plate design would be prefered. The thumb has shown me a great deal of function that I will be using often. Great for pulling brush out or even small trees with little ground disturbance. I used it to lift many large water logged logs out of a drainage ditch. I would have had to use a chain and lots of hard wader work to do this task.

More when weather allows..