adding Hyd for thumb to PC 220-5

[farm]

Is it possible to add the needed hydraulic lines for a hydraulic thumb to a PC 220-5? this machine has no quick hitch. I'm thinking it is possible but I'm not sure where to get oil from or where to return it to for this job. Also what would the best way to control it? Electric solenoid? Lever?

Thanks for any advice/criticism/abuse

steve

 

[John C.]

There is already and extra spool in the control valve to work a thumb. You need the fittings for the connection to the valve, tubing to go over the boom and hoses to connect the valve to the tubes. You will need to install relief valve cartridges in the main valve or put a DRAC valve block between the tubing going up the boom. I always installed a pilot control valve that was electrically controlled from switches in the new control handle I installed in the cab. I put the thumb control handle on the right side joy stick.

Talk to a hydraulic component supplier to get help on the valves and fittings you will need. When I was doing a lot of them it usually took about twenty five hours to install all that plus the thumb brackets and install the bucket on the thumb. I did have matched thumbs to the buckets to start with. If you are installing a thumb on an old bucket you have some more work to do.

Good Luck

 

[farm]

John C. thanks for your advice, you appear to have an enormous knowledge of these machines and also to make it freely available is awesome, thanks again.

I have decided to just go for a fixed thumb at this point and leave the hyd stuff for another day....maybe. I did have a thought though, would it be possible to power a thumb with the bucket curl circuit? We have a little front end loader that has a 4 in 1 bucket on it, the opening/closing action of the bucket is powered by the crowd circuit with an electric diverter operated by a button on the joy stick. Could something like this be done with an excavator or am I over simplifying things?

Steve

 

[jughead]

have u though about Amulet. i have one on my 655 ford. not as good as a hydraulic but head and shoulders above the fixed thumb. i have used all of them on smaller equip.

 

[John C.]

You could power the thumb that way but the problem is the hard parts of the thumb would not be able to take the pressure of the bucket circuit. Bucket circuit runs at around 4,500 PSI normally and I usually set thumb circuits at 2,100 PSI.