hydraulic thumb on a 14 ton machine, worth the money?

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wendy_gradesOP

Owner-Op

Posts 19
Joined Sep 2025

West Fargo, ND

Sep 24, 2025 · 12:10 PM#1

eating lunch in the cab so i will type this out. 2019 313F, 3,600 hours, has aux hydraulics already. dealer in Fargo quoted 6,800 installed for a progressive link hydraulic thumb, or 2,900 for a manual pin-on thumb i would set myself. i do basements, ag tile in the fall, some demo, and every job in the valley has a pile of rock and old concrete in it somewhere.

i have run machines with thumbs on other people's crews and liked it. never paid for one. is 6,800 stupid money on a 14 ton machine or is it the kind of thing you use every day and forget you paid for?

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DeltaSwampRat

Owner-Op

Posts 12
Joined Sep 2025

Greenville, MS

Sep 24, 2025 · 6:44 PM#2

every day and forget you paid for it. i put one on a 315 in 2021 and i do not remember the last day i did not use it. demo, loading trucks with concrete, picking pipe, stacking stumps, setting rip rap. the manual thumb is fine if you have one job that needs it, but you will stop and pin it and unpin it and after the third time you will leave it folded and stop using it. spend the 6,800.

K

ken_on_a_pc360

Owner-Op

Posts 8
Joined Sep 2025

Duluth, MN

Sep 25, 2025 · 6:58 AM#3

other side of it. i have a hydraulic thumb on the 360 and i take it off for tile season because it is 900 pounds hanging on the end of the stick that i am not using and it kills my reach by a foot. so figure the weight. on a 313 a progressive link thumb is 500 to 600 pounds, you will notice it lifting at full reach. still worth it, just know.

get the progressive link, not the fixed cylinder type. the link keeps the thumb tip following the bucket through the whole curl, the cheap ones only meet the bucket in one spot.

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rookie_hunter_22

Greenhorn

Posts 6
Joined Sep 2025

Alexandria, MN

Sep 27, 2025 · 8:12 PM#4

dumb question from the new guy, if the machine already has aux hydraulics does the thumb just plug in or is there more to it? the 135G i just bought has the aux lines and a foot pedal and i am wondering if a thumb is a bolt on job.

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wendy_gradesOP

Owner-Op

Posts 19
Joined Sep 2025

West Fargo, ND

Sep 28, 2025 · 7:31 AM#5

rookie_hunter_22 wrotedoes the thumb just plug in or is there more to it?

if you have the aux circuit plumbed to the stick with the couplers and a control, it is mostly a bolt on, but the thumb bracket welds to the stick on most machines and that is where the labor is. it has to be located right so the thumb tip meets the bucket teeth, and welding on the stick is not a saturday job with a buzz box. that is most of the 6,800. the thumb itself is about 4,000 of it.

anyway i am pulling the trigger, delta and ken talked me into it. install is booked for the second week of october.

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wendy_gradesOP

Owner-Op

Posts 19
Joined Sep 2025

West Fargo, ND

Oct 22, 2025 · 6:05 PM#6

thumb has been on for ten days. loaded 14 trucks of broken concrete off a slab demo in Moorhead yesterday without the loader guy. that job alone was most of the thumb. ken was right about reach, i notice it at full stretch on the tile plow, so it will probably come off for november. no regrets on the 6,800.

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finalgrade_luis

Foreman

Posts 31
Joined Sep 2025

Amarillo, TX

Nov 14, 2025 · 9:20 AM#7

late add for the archive: grease the thumb pins every day you use it, same as the bucket pins. the thumb pivot takes a beating and the guys who skip it are the guys buying a new pin and bushing set at 1,500 hours. and if you park it folded against the stick, put a chunk of rubber in between or it will chew the paint off both.