Trying to get a pin on thumb on my cat 304.5. It does not have to top cylinder mount on the boom Searched all over for someone that sells the mount I can weld on but no luck Anyone point me in the right direction??
You may be looking for something specific to your machine instead of just a standard hydraulic cylinder mount? Anyone who welds it on for you should also be able to make the mount - that's what I would do if you brought it to me without a mount.
I can send you specs of the one I have send me a pm
Are you planning on running straight pin on buckets?Not sure how well a standard thumb will work running on your stick pin with that bucket rotator. Theres a lot of extra distance from the pivot point to the cutting edge.
The top mount that I made for my t/l/b was quite easy to fabricate out of 1" plate. That bucket you have will be a challenge to put a pin-on style thumb. Here is a decent pin on hydraulic thumb. https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Direct-Link-Hydraulic-Thumb-for-CAT-304C-CR-/113690546168
I had to ditch the idea of keeping the tilt coupler
Build one, most anyone with any experience can help you.
You could keep the tilt coupler and install a thumb that uses a lower mount that is welded on the dipper. By lower mount I mean that is a bracket where the tine is pined on. You could have a mechanical thumb or a hydraulic. It just depends on how much time and money you want to spend. Mechanical thumbs are quite easy to remove.
Last exc. had a add on cheap thumb. I cut all the brackets off and used a longer cylinder on it. Put it all on a 3/8 plate about a inch narrower than the boom. Real easy to make it on the plate then weld the plate on the boom. Kind of spreads the load out some to.
I used a new hydraulic cylinder that is the nearly the same size as the bucket cylinder. I am quite satisfied with what it can do. I have read too many times that undersized cylinders were installed with disappointing results.