Cat Thumb disaster

[nonprod]

Hi.

So have another mess to resolve - maybe youse guys can throw me some ideas - forgive me for a lengthy rambling description:

I have a CAT 304 long-stick with the stock thumb cylinder head-end bracketry, fitted with WR buckets, with what I guess is the appropriate bucket adapter. But apparently the original customer requested a thumb, and the dealer had somebody fabricate a rod-end cylinder mount for the CAT 217-2103 thumb assembly - rather than use the normal 14" long pin, thru the end of the stick and bucket adapter, using that pin (208-1498) also for the thumb pivot. (This instead of the normal non-thumb pin, 203-1217). This all (I guess) because of the non-Cat bucket AR)

So, they did two rather ugly things (see the pictures): They welded on two 1" thick flanges to the stick with an abomination of a 'tube' (with no zerk) between them, and they lopped off the thumb frame flanges and welded them to the cross bar, about 6" apart. They dropped the bearings (204-4961) used with the 1.57" pins and used some random 2" flag pin. Then they went off to bash it around for some time, such that it is a crazy, wobbly mess.

So long story longer, I have to decide how best to fix it. Maybe there's some reasons to keep the thumb out of the bucket adapter pin design, and some physics I haven't studied as to the thumb pivoting on only a 6" width. But the removal of the bearing design, then having the raw steel bores riding directly on the pin with little or no grease. So with regard to $ and 'doing it correctly,' and as some might say: "It's only a the thumb" etc., what would you guys do - assuming you weren't made of money, like me....?

TIA - gibbs

 

[KSSS]

A lot depends on you. I have no idea what "not made of money" means to you. Personally I would cut it all off including the WR coupler and start over. If you are a home owner and just play around with it, and you don't plan on using the thumb much maybe try to clean it up and run it. If your a contractor, then I would cut it all off, and bypass the CAT thumb for this machine which in my view is a POS and use one from another vendor (just not Amulet/CAT). Put a pin grabber coupler on it and then in my view it would be good to go. The pictures don't paint a super clear picture to me, but what I can grasp is that it is a complete POS install and cutting it all off is the best "professional solution".

 

[nonprod]

A lot depends on you. I have no idea what "not made of money" means to you. Personally I would cut it all off including the WR coupler and start over. If you are a home owner and just play around with it, and you don't plan on using the thumb much maybe try to clean it up and run it. If your a contractor, then I would cut it all off, and bypass the CAT thumb for this machine which in my view is a POS and use one from another vendor (just not Amulet/CAT). Put a pin grabber coupler on it and then in my view it would be good to go. The pictures don't paint a super clear picture to me, but what I can grasp is that it is a complete POS install and cutting it all off is the best "professional solution".

Right, thanks for your thoughts - there's more to describe, but I didn't want to assume anyone had the time for a windbag story. The application is my remote property road maintenance, no more no less, but that's a long list of endless futile tasks I'll never talk my kids into continuing. In other words, there is no commercial use; the machine will retire when I do, should've done already, and it will never be seen again. According to the C.A.R.B., it need be scraped now.

That said, I need the thumb for endless downed trees and shifting rocks from here to there, but I agree with your assessment that the install reeks of cheap-ass, coupled with incompetence.

I guess there are 2 options really, minus the option of pulling the thumb off and leaning it against a shed. 1) Remove the crappy tube, rebore the sawn-off / repositioned thumbframe bores to fit the 2" pin properly, check the grease every few minutes or 2) weld the lopped off bores back where they started, get the proper pin and a pair of bearings that are supposed to be in the thumbframe bores, in other words, try to go back to square one. But that defiines my retirement income right there, for I can tell that's the pricey option. Such machines are indeed money-makers, at least in their day, but only if they're offered as part of active service in the world and this one is elderly, and will work the pasture until it becomes a relic out to pasture.

 

[KSSS]

Well that clarifies your situation. If the mickey mouse set up works well enough, then so be it, run it and hopefully it lasts at least as long as you do. It seems like a waste of time and money to redo what is there completely, but if you like fabrication it would provide you days of entertainment.

 

[nonprod]

if you like fabrication it would provide you days of entertainment.

Ha, yes, some of us do enjoy tinkering, or we likely wouldn't be here discussing and cussing such matters! You did suggest it was up to me, which is quite true; it's a matter of looking down at something like that and seeing it every time you're in the harness. It doesn't appeal to my German side I guess. I sort of envy those who just go forward without those distractions, assuming a machine continues to lurch forward at all. I digress off the mechanical details.

I had a machine some guy had hot-wired and run for years, without starter relay, fuel shut off timer, indicators or fuses... ...I just had to fix it for I couldn't bear looking down at the armrest and see the chaos therein.

 

[KSSS]

Ha, yes, some of us do enjoy tinkering, or we likely wouldn't be here discussing and cussing such matters! You did suggest it was up to me, which is quite true; it's a matter of looking down at something like that and seeing it every time you're in the harness. It doesn't appeal to my German side I guess. I sort of envy those who just go forward without those distractions, assuming a machine continues to lurch forward at all. I digress off the mechanical details.

I had a machine some guy had hot-wired and run for years, without starter relay, fuel shut off timer, indicators or fuses... ...I just had to fix it for I couldn't bear looking down at the armrest and see the chaos therein.

My last name is Kaiser. I can relate.

 

[Acoals]

If you are a good welder/fabricator it wouldn't really cost that much to fix, just the aforementioned days of entertainment . . .

 

[nonprod]

Yeah, I'm not so well equipped to do it right; I don't have a mill. The bores are oval and over .050" worn big. I like the idea of getting the 1.57" pin back in there so I can run the proper bearings again, restore the grease flow, they're only $22 a pair. But I'll have to cough up the line-bore fees. Not a bank break per se. I have to recover from the line-boring for the important stuff, the end of the stick and H-link are all bashed up too. But at least the design on that stuff wasn't altered by a Dr. Frankenstein.