Members home made attachments / improvements

[Barryh]

Originally Posted by J_J

Ken, Barry, Phil, Thanks for the comments.

I had been thinking on this for a while, and decided to go ahead with the Mini-hoe with what I had available. I have almost finished a fully articulated Front-hoe, I just need to make a firm decision on the valves that I want to use. I have 4 sets of forks, and decided to make some other use for them. I had posted over a year ago a plant digger using a cut down water tank to make a scoop for plants, which bolted to one of the forks. It works fairly well, but it is thin gage metal. I also made an engine hoist with extendable boom. When I get the time, I intend to make a three bladed tree spade, to push all three blades in the ground and lift a medium size plant, for transplanting, or installing new plants.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures. .

[J_J]

Originally Posted by Barryh

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures. .

Here are some pictures

[KentT]

Wow, that first picture of the grapple-hoe looks like a monster...

How much weight can you pick up with it without experiencing PT pucker?

I'd like to find an affordable way to make a "tree/shrub scoop" -- I have plenty of little saplings I'd like to transplant...

[MossRoad]

Originally Posted by J_J

This is a Mini-hoe I built using a forklift carriage, and one of the forks. I welded a plate in the corner to connect to a cylinder. At the end, is a roll over tube and bolt for the bucket. The bucket is 12 in wide, and 22 in long. I am using the aux control to curl the bucket, and the joystick for up/down, and tilt. It can be taken apart in about 20 min for some other use. The fork can be used any where on the carriage, like for digging up close to a building, etc.

Very slick, J_J. I am especially looking at your curl linkage as we discussed on my backhoe thread . Got any pictures of the bucket curled that you could post? Nice looking bucket brackets, too. They are at a way different angle than what my plans call for.

[J_J]

Originally Posted by MossRoad

Very slick, J_J. I am especially looking at your curl linkage as we discussed on my backhoe thread . Got any pictures of the bucket curled that you could post? Nice looking bucket brackets, too. They are at a way different angle than what my plans call for.

I think the reason that my buckets brackets are different than yours is because the different combinations of bucket tabs. I have made about 6 sets of brackets at different lengths, to try and get the best open and closed combination. The lengths also determine the speed of the bucket curl, and the torque applied. They can be same length, or a combination of different lengths. I am just doing this by trial and error, or best fit. I wish I would have paid more attention in geometry class. I also intend to install a grapple arm. I can take more pictures if necessary. Just a note of interest, if you hold down the Ctrl key and roll the thumb wheel on your mouse, you can magnify or make small, the page or picture, many times for better viewing.

The brackets are 1/2 in thick, with 1 in holes. I cut them out with a carbide hole saw.

Here are some more pictures.


007 - full curl
002 - full open
014 - vertical

[J_J]

Originally Posted by KentT

Wow, that first picture of the grapple-hoe looks like a monster...

How much weight can you pick up with it without experiencing PT pucker?

I'd like to find an affordable way to make a "tree/shrub scoop" -- I have plenty of little saplings I'd like to transplant...

I really don't know at this point, but the longer the reach, the less load you would be able to pick up. It does have a lot of gripping or crushing power. I can also put a bucket on that boom.

[J_J]

Originally Posted by KentT

Wow, that first picture of the grapple-hoe looks like a monster...

How much weight can you pick up with it without experiencing PT pucker?

I'd like to find an affordable way to make a "tree/shrub scoop" -- I have plenty of little saplings I'd like to transplant...

Here is a picture of a large scoop. You could reduce the scoop down to any size, and weld it up on a quick attack plate. Take a 1/4 plate steel and cut it into a shovel, and weld. It can be rolled or welded in three separate pieces.

[Barryh]

Originally Posted by J_J

Here is a picture of a large scoop. You could reduce the scoop down to any size, and weld it up on a quick attack plate. Take a 1/4 plate steel and cut it into a shovel, and weld. It can be rolled or welded in three separate pieces.

Pretty slick that's one of the tools I have in mind and need around here, as Kent says for shrubs, saplings ect.. How well does that dig in and cut through roots ??

[J_J]

Originally Posted by Barryh

Pretty slick that's one of the tools I have in mind and need around here, as Kent says for shrubs, saplings ect.. How well does that dig in and cut through roots ??

It would depend on type of soil, thickness of the metal shovel, and force applied. I would say dig in at a 45 degree angle on two or three sides , apply lots of down force, and wiggle the front, and lift.

[J_J]

Originally Posted by MossRoad

Very slick, J_J. I am especially looking at your curl linkage as we discussed on my backhoe thread . Got any pictures of the bucket curled that you could post? Nice looking bucket brackets, too. They are at a way different angle than what my plans call for.

David, Here is a picture of a mini-hoe that dosn't use any brackets.
The bucket just has large ears. Looks very sturdy.