hydraulic thumb for deere 270c

[thorns]

I bought a hydraulic thumb for my deere 270c. Now before I get too much hassle, I realize that my hoe does not have the wiring or even auxiliary hydraulics to run the thumb I knew this before I bought it but I bought it cheap enough I didnt care. I can always put the thumb on a simply leave the hydraulic ram off and make up a fixed arm and run the thumb as a mechanical thumb instead.

Now to my question, does anyone know of a cheap way to get the parts or hydraulic kit needed to run an aux line or thumb line to the end of the stick. Any quotes I have got for the kit are 15 to 20,000 Canadian, and that is 50% of the price I paid for the hoe so a none starter.( i will need lines, pilot valves, new hand control etc)

If there are not good answers for a cheap kit , what would be the problem with the following scenario. If I were to put a tee into the tilt lines for the cylinder that tilts the bucket and have either a hand valve located on them so when I want to adjust the thumb I simply switch the hand valve to actuate the thumb to where I want it then switch it back to run the bucket. Or better yet put a wireless actuator on the valve that I could control from the cab. What problems do people forsee in this situation, (the only one that pops into my mind is setting up a system to allow for pressure release back into the main lines when the thumb is isolated).

I know this is not a workable situation for a production enterprise, but this is for me on the farm and I typically only use the thumb when cleaning up some rock piles or some bush or old buildings, so it is not like I am using this day in and day out otherwise i would spring for the kit and put the proper hydraulic system in place.

Just wondering what I am missing as I have not put a lot of thought into this as of yet.

thanks

 

[cuttin edge]

Right off the bat, and I might be wrong, but you would need more than one T. Your thumb piston would have pressure both ways to open and close. So you would still need a lot of plumbing. You would have to completely isolate both functions because if you are closing your thumb, you don't want your bucket backing away from it.. If your not concerned with convenience, I think it would be cheaper to go with a fixed thumb. I have often wondered if you had a gas powered hydropac with enough pressure and an electric switch. That wouldn't be cheap either, but cheaper than proper setup.

 

[thorns]

yes you are correct i would require two tees and possibly 4 valves.

 

[excavator]

All Deere/Hitachi excavators have a spare valve in the main control valve. Pretty easy, straight forward job to plumb it up. You'll need to get two relief valve cartridges from Deere, also a DO3 valve w sub -plate and a joystick thumb control handle. Mount the DO3 valve back by the pilot filter so you can get your pilot oil there. You'll need a drain line back to tank and then two lines to the top and bottom of the control valve. Deere/Hitachi also uses a special fitting I believe on the top of the control valve spare spool port. Then you have to run lines from the control valve to the end of the boom. Lots of different ways to do that. Don't know where in Canada you are but around here I don't think you would have more than $5000.00 in parts. Another option is to find an excavator wrecker that might have everything you need used. I'll look to see, I might have a couple of plumbing schematics to help out.
Just looked at some schematics and then realized it's a C series machine which makes the electrical part a bit more involved. There's others on here that have more experience here than I do but I believe you need a proportional thumb control handle. If you PM me with your email address I can send you some diagrams ect.

 

[thorns]

pm sent

 

[thorns]

does anybody have diagrams of install instructions and part numbers for installing a hydraulic thumb and the parts required (not worried about the plumbing down the stick just more so about the pilot valve, location, and wiring for control stick. thanks