Bucket Grapple Project Deere 2320

[BIG DOOLEY]

I have done a little more work this morning.
Added a 3rd grapple tine and put in some gussets.
Now I need to round the front off a little and run one more pipe support across to tie in some upper gussets.

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Ready to prep for primer tomorrow.

[swick1]

I'm worried you are gonna scratch the heck out of that chrome rod or bend it. Grapples need cylinder protection

[BIG DOOLEY]

Ready to prep for primer tomorrow.

Primed the pieces late last night and loaded the woodstove in the garage before going to bed.
I'll shake up some flat black paint today. Rustolium flat black will be an inexpensive / easy way to touch it up before storing it in the shed after gathering the years firewood in the spring.

[BIG DOOLEY]

I'm worried you are gonna scratch the heck out of that chrome rod or bend it. Grapples need cylinder protection

No doubt you are right.
I want to assemble it and fabricate a guard that bolts onto the inner top gussets from the bottom side.
I wanted to have it on the tractor with the hydraulics working and take measurements cycled in and out and measure for clearance in both positions.
The guard will most likely need to have a slope or taper because the pick point is lower in the front.
The cylinder rod is above the bottom edge of the top arms though. from a side view you cannot see the cylinder in the grapple between the 4.5" tall arms.
I need to clock the cylinder ends so the hoses are on the top of the cylinder too. Then i can fabricate a guard the can be bolted on to cover them as well.

[BIG DOOLEY]

I'm worried you are gonna scratch the heck out of that chrome rod or bend it. Grapples need cylinder protection

This is a rough sketch of what I was thinking for the lower bolt on guard.

[swick1]

That would definitely help. I used a solid 3/8 plate on mine. Good luck!

[BIG DOOLEY]

That would definitely help. I used a solid 3/8 plate on mine. Good luck!

Yes that looks very nice!
3/8" you shouldn't have an issue bending your guard.
I you get a chance, could you send me a photo sometime showing me your front hose disconnect mount.
Looks interesting.
I like hoew it is mountd further back on the loader arms by the bracket hole for the bucket leveler
Tom

[BIG DOOLEY]

Homemade greasable pivot pins.

[swick1]

Yes that looks very nice!
3/8" you shouldn't have an issue bending your guard.
I you get a chance, could you send me a photo sometime showing me your front hose disconnect mount.
Looks interesting.
I like hoew it is mountd further back on the loader arms by the bracket hole for the bucket leveler
Tom

I used 3/8 for the whole thing. I could have got away with 1/4 and it would be much lighter. I'm not going to break it though! The quick connects are mounted to an angle bracket where the loader arms bend. I haven't made a final bracket yet. I didn't want to mount them on the crossbar because I get dirt piled up on it when I backdrag. I put a lot of engineering effort into the grapple so it will open wide and be tough. I have a thread on it in the hydraulics forum.

[BIG DOOLEY]

I'm worried you are gonna scratch the heck out of that chrome rod or bend it. Grapples need cylinder protection

Well I made a guard and I will give this a try and see how things look with the grapple full of brush.
I can always unbolt it and modify or make a larger guard.
I have a list of fittings that I need to purchase. I still need to find out what size SAE ORB fitting is on the bottom of the John deere joystick svc to send fluid power to the remotes.
At an eye glance it appears to be #6 SAE.