Anyone use/observe a 'Hoe-Clamp' ?

[AirBornOne]

I was cruising through my HE links and found this thumb made by Amulet.
What's neat is it articulates without using an additional cylinder by virtue of some trick 'kidney' Y-links.
From I can figure,one of two pin locations will adjust the swing ratio of the thumb.One location moves the thumb very slightly & out of the way for digging (then closing upon the bucket to hold heaped up spoil),the second pin location allows for more traditional thumb operation.
Does this sound gimmicky? If I was trenching all the time I could see it being in the way perhaps.IDK.
Thanks
Jay


http://www.amulet.com/hoeclamp.html

 

[580bruce]

We have a few on our county machines.They come in handy when you need them,but use with caution.It is possible to hook them up with the cams upsidedown-not good.We have ours labeled.When it is hooked up on our 420c, it does not allow you to curl the bucket up very far,kind of a pain in the butt.I have seen guys twist the crap out of them trying to move logs,but what they were doing would have wiped outa hyd thumb too!They have their place. They are better than a stiff-arm thumb I think.My two cents.

 

[ironjunkie]

I have one on a little Hitachi EX 60. It was cheaper than adding the hyd circuit. I love it. I've pinched many of big rocks, to the point of tipping and have not damaged it.

 

[AirBornOne]

I have one on a little Hitachi EX 60. It was cheaper than adding the hyd circuit. I love it. I've pinched many of big rocks, to the point of tipping and have not damaged it.

Thanks for the info ironjunkie.Any chance to get some pictures?
I'm wondering what the installation would be like,looks like a coupler of some kind would be needed to avoid modifying the stick.
Of course,if Amulet would respond to my email I could find out.Maybe a phone call.
Thanks again
Jay.
:usa

 

[dirtmonkey]

Call them. They were very pleasant and knowledgable to deal with. I do know they wont work on the Komatsu WB series backhoes.

 

[ironjunkie]

Thanks for the info ironjunkie.Any chance to get some pictures?
I'm wondering what the installation would be like,looks like a coupler of some kind would be needed to avoid modifying the stick.
Of course,if Amulet would respond to my email I could find out.Maybe a phone call.
Thanks again
Jay.

:usa

No coupler needed. They send new, longer pins. Study those pic's. The red parts (prolly a little different for each application) are all either new parts for the clamp or replacement parts to activate the clamp. Basically they repalce the bars guiding your bucket curl cyl. with a set that accomodated that little connecting bar that hooks to the grapple. There are 2 positions that you can attach these "little" bars. One position clamps "sooner" than the other. It works well. That longer chain (on my model) is used to "hang" it up abainst the dipper when not in use. I could send pic's but it looks the same as yours.