Mini Excavator Thumbs
Depending on what part of the country you live in and if you are in the construction industry, you probably have heard of or even maybe you own a mini excavator. Over the past few years these tiny excavation machines have gained in popularity and almost taken over the jobs of three or more workers. A lot of equipment manufacturers make and sell these size of excavators all throughout the world. One option that can come of these machines is what is called a thumb. If you have been in the industry a while, you may have seen a thumb on a larger sized excavator on a highway construction job or you may have one on your backhoe loader.
A mini excavator thumb is a useful tool that goes on the end of your stick and helps you clamp material with your bucket. If you think about your thumb on your hand, a thumb on this machine works fairly similar to how you use your thumb on a daily basis. If you have never used a tool like this before think of your thumb tool just as the thumb on your hand and your bucket just as your index finger on your hand. You will clamp debris and material using your bucket and thumb just like with your thumb and index finger. A lot of people are so used to only utilizing a bucket on their mini excavator that they do not think they will ever use a thumb. However, once people get a thumb they cannot remember how they will ever lived without it.
There are many different types of thumbs and it many different sizes that will fit with whatever bucket you may be using on your machine. Some of the most popular thumbs are hydraulic ones that are controlled within the cab by the operator. These are the most popular because they are handy and allow you to really maneuver the thumb and bucket depending on the size of the material or debris you are trying to pick up.
If you have not tried out a mini excavator thumb, one way to get a good feel to see if you would like to add this to your machine is to rent a machine from your local dealer that has a thumb installed so you can try it out for a week or two. Depending on the model and how your machine is set up, your dealer will be able to tell you will be able to retrofit your machine with a thumb if you choose to go that direction.
