I have a brand new bucket and matching pin-on thumb from Bodine ready to go on my SK130 Kobelco. Seems that there are different arrangements tho and I'm wondering if I'm missing a part as some have a "dogbone" that goes from the neutral pin in the dipper stick to the Rod end of cyl/thumb attachment. Mine doesn't have this. Is this needed - is there an advantage to have it?
What you are describing is a progressive link thumb. It will follow the bucket almost all the way around. The one you have is a regular hydraulic thumb that will only go about 2/3 of the way. You will just need to have more space to move around to make it work. IE… the progressive link thumb will let you pick up stuff that is really close to your tracks while the thumb you have will require you to back up to pick up the same stuff. I have a progressive link thumb and really prefer them to the other ones.
Very interesting and many thanks for the explanation.