Show us your Arb Diggers please.

[Slicer Dicer]

6 hours ago, billpierce said:

so it seems that a decent hydraulic thumb from jb equipment or digbits is about the same as a decent tined grab from the same.  am i correct thinking a grab will be slightly better at grabbing? charging into brash with etc....i imagine a thumb wont be as useful for gripping brash? i got the digger to do a load of jobs on the farm - i dont do any landscaping so imagine if it comes on a job itll be doing arb only

 

thanks

 

appreciate everyone input

You will I think love the thumb for general farm work. I'd favour an RSL grab myself over the JB or similar design. The JB ones are quite wide and feel more cumbersome out on the end, the RSL ones are same width as dipper and pretty much indestructible.

[Slicer Dicer]

Just now, Slicer Dicer said:

You will I think love the thumb for general farm work. I'd favour an RSLthumb myself over the JB or similar design. The JB ones are quite wide and feel more cumbersome out on the end, the RSL ones are same width as dipper and pretty much indestructible.

 

[doobin]

7 hours ago, Slicer Dicer said:

Definitely this. If your chucking brash around you'll get alot more in a bucket and thumb combo. But that's likely more favourable if brash raking and scrub clearance where bulk shifting of material is required . Arb work being more organised and refined by its nature a  grab is very good at precision stuff. Tbh there's nothing I can't do with a thumb  that I can with grab but grabs articulation can be more preferable for certain tasks. As said if your needing to do anything with a bucket too than it's always there when you need it. A grab is another thing to take in the trailer and time will be spent taking it on and off when it's not needed. 6 of one half a dozen of the other . ...

Scrub clearance is way easier, neater and precise with a fixed rotating grab. Can’t imagine doing this with a thumb and bucket, it would be a nightmare. You’d leave half of it in the ground sheared off, or turn the lot into a ploughed field and have to move tonnes of mud.  
 

One hours work. 

Edited November 30, 2023 by doobin

[billpierce]

1 hour ago, doobin said:

Scrub clearance is way easier, neater and precise with a fixed rotating grab. Can’t imagine doing this with a thumb and bucket, it would be a nightmare. You’d leave half of it in the ground sheared off, or turn the lot into a ploughed field and have to move tonnes of mud.  
 

One hours work. 

What size machine do you have that on? I worry that on a 1.7t machine I'll use half its lift capacity  with a fixed rotating grab

[woody paul]

5 hours ago, billpierce said:

What size machine do you have that on? I worry that on a 1.7t machine I'll use half its lift capacity  with a fixed rotating grab

What ever you fit be it a thumb and bucket or grab lift capacity will go down, but it's easier then moving stuff by hand. 

[doobin]

5 hours ago, billpierce said:

What size machine do you have that on? I worry that on a 1.7t machine I'll use half its lift capacity  with a fixed rotating grab

Yup I’d say that’s a fair assumption. That’s the 2.7t, photos earlier in the thread were the same grab on the 1.9t. 

[Slicer Dicer]

These pictures highlight why for me  a thumb will always win when it comes to getting the maximum lift and height capacity out of a machine whilst maintaining a degree of mechanical sympathy to it. 2 rocks both similar in weight. Look how far the grab rock hangs below the dipper pin whereas with with the thumb the rock is more or less level with it- a considerable diffence in lift height on a small machine. In order to get the grab rock into a dumper I have to lift the dipper much further out to get the height subjecting the grab and bracketry to a horrible angle and also more stress on the slew with it being further reach with that kind of weight in in. The thumb holds the weight much nicer closer into the machine and gets more lift height  as a result

[woody paul]

If you want just lift hieght grab wins but weight will be further away. 

 

[Slicer Dicer]

1 minute ago, woody paul said:

If you want just lift hieght grab wins but weight will be further away. 

 

Correct. But with small machines weight is normally the issue at far reach unless your just fiddling around with small stuff. A thumb whill still get things up to a few meters in height which is ample for most applications. If the OP is running a 1.7 I'm confident he'll get more weight up to height with a thumb than a grab. All whilst being more durable, half the cost of the grab and always on the machine when he needs it. I have a thumb machine, fixed grab machine and a rotating grab so I'm not just biasing the thumb because that's all I have which is generally what a lot of people do when they're trying to defend theyre own gear.🤣

[doobin]

8 hours ago, Slicer Dicer said:

Correct. But with small machines weight is normally the issue at far reach unless your just fiddling around with small stuff. A thumb whill still get things up to a few meters in height which is ample for most applications. If the OP is running a 1.7 I'm confident he'll get more weight up to height with a thumb than a grab. All whilst being more durable, half the cost of the grab and always on the machine when he needs it. I have a thumb machine, fixed grab machine and a rotating grab so I'm not just biasing the thumb because that's all I have which is generally what a lot of people do when they're trying to defend theyre own gear.🤣

I run all types too as per my

post with pictures earlier and I love my grapple with hydraulic backstay for the reasons you mention- you can get the weight right back under the dipper.
 

I still don’t like a thumb as they are a bodge to me when it comes to tree work. I’d sooner take a couple of minutes to change attachment to something more suitable. 
 

Were I trenching all day and having to frequently remove rocks from the trench, then a thumb would be ideal.