Thumbs can be a good thing to have.

hankus · May 27, 2009

Recently I got tired of hitting what I though was a little rock at the edge of my yard. The property rolls off into a small revine and when mowing along its edge I've frequently dropped a wheel a little too far down the side and scalped the grass and this rock with the blade of my riding mower. Since only about 2 sq/inches of rock was showing where my blade had scalped the tip of it, I thought a shovel would be all I needed to pry it loose. I couldn't begin to budge it when I slid the shovel down to lift it out. Time for the back hoe. It didn't take long to expose the upper third or so of this rock, so I extended the thumb, and grabbed on as you can see by the pictures. I was like pulling a tooth, but it came out first try. This is a Rankin thumb and just the right size for the JD 447 BH. Just thought I'd share.

mrutkaus · May 27, 2009

Nice of you to share thumb-thing!

Mike

Coyote machine · May 27, 2009

Nice thumby!
Are the Rankin thumbs specifically for JD tractors, and did your bh come with the mounting brackets for the thumb or did you add those?
Thanks....

hankus · May 27, 2009

Rankin offers 4 different sizes of thumbs. The model choosen for my JD 447 was their UAT-100-R. The thumb comes ready to install, with a flat mounting base that aligns with the flat on the BH. The dealer welded the thumb to the dipper stick and painted to match. Here's a link to the Rankin site and all their products. Rankin Equipment Co. BTW, this particular thumb only weighs 56lbs, their biggest weighs a whopping 281 lbs.