Hello, I'm trying to figure out the Pros and Cons of progressive link vs on axle (stick pivot) hydraulic thumbs and if it's worth the extra money over a regular hydraulic thumb. I think I get it theoretically (pro link follows constant pressure for 100% of bucket rotation while the "on axle" or stick pivot is around 50-75% of the bucket rotation depending on brand). Am I missing anything? Any examples when one shines over the other or when that 30% difference is troublesome? Thanks in advance!
I am a big advocate of pro link. I believe that it is huge improvement over a direct link thumb. The increase in thumb articulation allows you to fully grab from farther away. Allows you more finesses in how grab objects. Doesn't pinch as bad as a direct link, so when moving culverts and other round objects it creates less chance of damage. The extra mechanism gives you another grease zerk. I have never broken a prolink. They cost more, sometimes a lot more depending on who you work with. But over the lifetime of an excavator they give back a lot more than they cost. The Prolink set up needs more stick length because of the extra articulation. So smaller machines may not have the ability to run prolink.
What size machine. I think for smaller machines a regular thumb is all that is needed.
in most cases it is all that is offered from the manufacturer. If you do a lot of grabbing stuff, a progressive is completely worth it. your range of grab is so much better and the ability to hold things through a wide range, and place things straight out away from you.
Depends on what you do and how often you use it. Once you have a pro link, you'll never go back. I'd say an anything 5/6 ton and up its worth it, but again, depends on what you do. Some of the situations where a pro link is superior is rock walls, grabbing brush piles etc. Cheers,
The other nice thing about a progressive link is that it will extend out to the same line as the stick and close against the stick. Most of the direct connects on a short stick will only extend to a 90 degree angle to the stick.