Selecting a Manual Thumb for my Komatsu PC60-7

[uffex]

Good day
Im sure Dave can expand on the attached, whilst most of the illustrations are of a hydraulic thumb the same advice applies to fixed thumb. I do not have any costs as we do not operate as a sales outfit.
Kind regards
Uffex

 

[Tinkerer]

I cannot think of any reason a manual thumb can't be converted to a hydraulic thumb.
Unless the dipper isn't long enough to allow the hydraulic cylinder to be added to the manual thumb.
I did it on my T/L/B.
I connected a diverter valve to an existing section of the backhoe control valve to operate it.

It isn't as handy as a dedicated valve for it, but it was cheap to install.
I posted a thread in the T/L/B forum that showed the step by step procedure I used.
Be careful when moving logs with a thumb. If the weight isn't centered on them the thumb can be bent.
I found that out the hard way.

 

[Mark A Weiss]

How much welding experience do you have and what do you have for a welder?

I started with a flux core welder 3 years ago and feel pretty comfortable welding.
I've got my heart set on a top of the line multi-process welder (220 amp) and plan to do a lot of practice with stick welding before I attempt it. I can lay down a pretty uniform bead with the flux core (that took some practice) and I'm pretty sure I can master stick welding.

 

[Mark A Weiss]

I cannot think of any reason a manual thumb can't be converted to a hydraulic thumb.
Unless the dipper isn't long enough to allow the hydraulic cylinder to be added to the manual thumb.
I did it on my T/L/B.
I connected a diverter valve to an existing section of the backhoe control valve to operate it.

It isn't as handy as a dedicated valve for it, but it was cheap to install.
I posted a thread in the T/L/B forum that showed the step by step procedure I used.
Be careful when moving logs with a thumb. If the weight isn't centered on them the thumb can be bent.
I found that out the hard way.

That would be my thinking as well, but the machine has to have aux hydraulics in order to run that extra cylinder. I see no evidence that my PC60-7 has them, so it's pointless for me to consider a hydraulic thumb.
Good point on the balancing of logs. To me, that's common sense, but not everyone has common sense.

 

[Welder Dave]

It will be more difficult to weld on the stick and not be in a nice position like if you were welding at a bench and could position the piece for the easiest welding.

 

[Mark A Weiss]

Yes, that's a given with this, but I still can have it at a good height to work on.

 

[davejo]

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[kboxx]

So to clarify - it still is possible to get a hydraulic thumb if you don't have aux hydraulics. It is possible to add a valve to the valve stack, and also possible to add a control valve that connects to the LS2 port which gets its oil from the P2 port. They are not necessarily inexpensive solutions but certainly doable. I'm currently adding the capability to a PC60-8. You might contact hkx.com if you're looking for more information. They are quite knowledgeable.