I have a 2018 Cat 305.5E2 Mini Excavator that I bought for renting. It does not have the thumb and auxiliary hydraulics. What is involved in getting the thumb and adding the auxiliary hydraulics?
You should hopefully have an aux slice installed in the main control valve that is proportional electric controlled from a thumb paddle on one of your joysticks. You would need the port reliefs and an optional two way valve installed for breaker or one way flow attachments. Apart from this you would need to install a thumb to the dipper arm and do plumbing of the pipes and hoses and install pipe clamps where needed. Should you need a second aux function then CAT show the boom swing circuit that is interrupted with an electrical 6 port diverter valve that can supply off to the 2nd aux when the boom swing is not being used. Best regards
That sounds complicated. Thank you for your input
I have Padel installed, which does not appear to do anything. My understanding is that is a Control for 2-way AUX hydraulics.
If you have a machine serial number then I may be able to look that up and confirm for you. A lot of 2 way vales are mounted externally, usually under or around the cab and had a handle or hex head that you would turn to engage 1way/2 way flow. Best regards
Here is the serial number WE205440 In case you need the full serial number CAT3055ETWE205440
Apologies as I incorrectly stated the system set up that is not actually what you have installed based on the serial number you have supplied. Under that serial prefix the parts breakdown shows a direct pilot connection from the foot valve to the aux section of the main control valve and no proportional electrical solenoids. See attachment. This does make it less complicated and you would only need to do plumbing and possibly install port relief valves. I'm not sure about the thumb paddle on the joystick for your version as I cant see it in the wiring schematic, so it may be a feature that is available but not set up for use. Best regards
Thank you for your help on this. So then the paddle/foot value would fully control the thumb? In other words, is the paddle/foot value solely for the auxiliary plumbing or will it need something for the joy stick
No problem. Yes that foot pedal should be double acting and should operate the aux function or thumb when plumbed to your control valve, the paddle on the joystick may not be set up to operate any aux function unless someone has previously set this up after it was shipped from the factory. The wiring diagram I have does not show this as an option under your serial prefix. Best regards
So I called the parts department at Toromont CAT dealer to see if I could buy the plumbing to install a thumb. I would go with a weld-on after-market, so all I need is the plumbing. The person I spoke to was not able to help. Are you able to get the drawings of the plumbing needed for my machine?