cruzair
New Member
Background: I have a drott/case cruz air 45 rubber tire excavator purchased for use as a site machine for landscaping projects. It has a digging and a ditching bucket with a separate knuckle, but I never switch buckets because of effort involved.
My current project is building a terrace using granite boulders too big to fit in the 30x50" bucket. Chaining boulders works, but is no fun for a single operator. I think that a hydraulic thumb would be a big improvement for speed and accuracy, but I'd hate to spend $5-10k for something that doesn't do the job.
Other possible use for this will be handling firewood logs.
I'm currently leaning towards a rockland bt-h which is 12x55". This narrow thumb is lighter (critical for high center of gravity rubber tired machine) and less than most thumbs. Since it's a weld-on, it wouldn't interfere with all-to-rare bucket changes like a pin mount.
I've also considered getting a used grapple, but the thumb seems like it would be more versatile since it would
always be on the machine.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
My current project is building a terrace using granite boulders too big to fit in the 30x50" bucket. Chaining boulders works, but is no fun for a single operator. I think that a hydraulic thumb would be a big improvement for speed and accuracy, but I'd hate to spend $5-10k for something that doesn't do the job.
Other possible use for this will be handling firewood logs.
I'm currently leaning towards a rockland bt-h which is 12x55". This narrow thumb is lighter (critical for high center of gravity rubber tired machine) and less than most thumbs. Since it's a weld-on, it wouldn't interfere with all-to-rare bucket changes like a pin mount.
I've also considered getting a used grapple, but the thumb seems like it would be more versatile since it would
always be on the machine.
Any advice would be much appreciated.