The customer added angle iron on top and bottom to reinforce. It cracked in the next weak spot. Above is the right side. On the left side they only addded angle on the bottom, and it cracked in the next weak spot, and as a patch job they welded a piece of lawnmower blade over the crack, but did not weld the crack first.

Right side, crack starting on top.

This is the left side. I plated both sides and the top with 1/4" steel plate. I also added angle iron on top like they did on the other side to span the weak spot created by Kioti making the hole in the box tube for access to the strap nut.

Both sides done, plated inside, outside, and on top. You can see the piece of mower blade on the ground. I cut it off and gouged out the crack and welded it before plating. When the customer stopped by to see hwo the repairs were going, we got to talking about how he wished the machine had a thumb for moving logs, as he does a lot of tree work. So......

The start of a thumb. The jaws are made from worn out 1/2" plow cutting edge (17.5" long overall), so they are high carbon steel. I didn't really think about putting this on my site, so I did not take as many pictures as I normally would knowing I would be addding it here. The part that will be welded to the dipper is 3" channel steel. In hindsight I would have made the jaws 19" long overall.

Test fit thumb on the Kioti KB2475 dipper.

Welded on. The wire feed was stopping so you see what looks like stitch welds, the wire was twisted a little on the 44# spool, I kept opening the door and pulling some slack. The spool is almost new, so it was not easy to get slack.

All set. The thumb can be removed with two pins.

Took it outside and actually tried it out on a small Cedar stump. I pulled the stump (NOT using the thumb), then used the thumb to carry it to where I wanted to dump it..

A closer look.

Bucket curled against thumb.

Now because I am a Meyer Distributor, I have a lot of Meyer parts here. Some used, most new. I used the Rod from a 12" PA Ram that was gouged and pitted for the support, so that is why it is chrome. For the bottom mount I used a Meyer Pivot Tube and Pivot Pin. I nested the sleeve in the channel steel and welded a gusset on one side for more support. For the top mount I used an 04004 Clevis, and also for the stored position top mount. The top "bolt" is actually a 5/8" Grade 8 with a hole drilled for a hairpin. The end of the PA Ram Rod I cut off the groove and ended up with a piece I could weld to the Pivot Pin on the bottom to make a head. Then I drilled a 1/4" hole for a 1/4" Lynch Pin.