I left the ends open so that when I choose I can insert steel pipe in the two ends (four total) and move lumber and other supplies that are wider that the bottom 24 inch teeth - I may close them up if they become a dirt haven.
The rock bucket was used on a county truck to clear roads of gravel - I have since
cut up the bucket to use for brackets on another project.
The grapple is making money for me already - yesterday I have cleaned up a debris pile that was on the property when I moved here ... and with the help of the grapple gathered and sold 3600 lbs of junk - at the cost of $4.00 per hundred pounds - I am now ready to start on the brush piles that I created with a JD 555 Crawler.
Thanks for the comments - I hope to get a MIG welder and be able to weld better and faster...only this would lead to more projects.