What are your thoughts on a zero turn excavator with a thumb and coupler?

[roysbigtoys]

I am thinking of buying a 2011 Hyundai R235LC-9 excavator and then mounting a hyd. thumb (maybe progressive link ) and a coupler. What do you all think of Hyundai's? What brands of thumbs and couplers do you like? I would like to have 42" to 50" bucket......is that going to be to much weight for a zero turn with a thumb and coupler? Thanks for your time and thoughts.

 

[JGS Parts]

mate if its a true zero swing the thumb and quick hitch will not be and issue for it at all , the hyundai gear has come a long way in a short while that is for sure. mate also the buckets sound fine for what that size machine.

 

[uffex]

Good day Roy
A few points that may not be obvious in first thoughts, zero swing tail machines often weigh more than the standard excavator or indeed the model numbers indicate. Adding additional weight to the front end always decreases the actual capacity making the machine less stable. I would suggest that a machine in the format you imply will have quite a narrow application being less able to complete with a normal standard 360 excavator. We have a few documents relating to the subject if it is of interest drop a mail to bucketsense@gmail.com
Kind regards
uffex

 

[Big Iron]

you might consider the WBM wedge style coupler (either hydraulic or manual) the advantage for a zero tail swing machine is that they maintain the factory pivot radius and breakout force. the disadvantage is that you can't turn your bucket around backwards which is nice sometimes. imo they are considerably stronger the the pin grabber as well. i have one on my 320 and use it with a 5k breaker with no problems. what ever you do go with the progressive link. good luck

 

[mike_b]

I used to run a cat 321C for my last employer, it was equipped with a a progressive link thumb and pin grabber and it handled a 42-48" bucket no problem. I believe it had the medium dipper (9'11" ? of something like that) It was a beast! Sometimes the rear of the machine would "skip" when coming out of a swing at full speed, but that is easily corrected by operator technique and only mildly annoying. I don't know what dipper lengths hyundai offers but i would stick to the short/medium option as the combo thumb/coupler does add alot of weight to the end of the stick.

 

[roysbigtoys]

I bought the Hyundai with a 44" bucket ( with small side cutters ) and a Esco coupler ( was on the machine ). After reading the responses above, I am going to proceed and get a progressive link thumb.........now just have to decide what brand. Any thoughts to make and width I should get? Thanks again for your help.

 

[Big Iron]

again i am a big fan of WBM. Not the cheapest but as you can see on this thumb they stay together, this one has 8k hrs road building and logging on it and has never been welded on! To give you an idea of the size that is a 46" CAT bucket.
View attachment 99633

 

[mxsledder]

I really like PSM thumbs. Most of the demo company's around here use them and they just hold up even under extreme conditions.

 

[Oxbow]

I like the PSM thumbs as well. I do not like any quick coupler that adds as much weight as the pin grabbers and places the bucket that much further away. I prefer the wedge quick couplers if one must have a quick coupler. A progressive link is a must!