Compact Tractor Grapple Build

[Smokeydog]

That’s a mighty fine looking grapple!

Like your branch bars. They help. Sticks are sneaky. It’s not if but when one will foil your grill. Grapples just increase the odds. Built 5 guards in fifty years with the last ones before I got damage. Fortunately the local scrapyard has good supply of stuff.

 

[fasttruck860]

So I put in a day with the tractor and grapple this weekend. It worked as expected and I got a bunch done. I found out the hose that connects to the farthest point on the cylinder is probably about 6" short. It gets maxed out when I dump forward all the way and it has a tendency to get stuck behind the ssqa lever as Smokey mentioned before. Also, I'm really happy I added the branch bars they got used already

Here's some action shots. The large log calced to at least 700lbs. To anyone with a similar grapple do you experience a lot of "play" in the grapple when you're bouncinng around on the ground? The weight forward seems to be enough to flex the loader ssqa attachment assemble when I'm really bouncing around it which makes sense. Other than that it's really working as is hoped.

 

[Smokeydog]

Your smile must be wall to wall and tree top tall!

No flex play. Had to shim the older ssqa grapple to fit tighter. The older tractor has some loader pin play.

Ever get a final weight?

 

[fasttruck860]

No final weight yet. I'll have to rig up some steel plates and a fulcrum to get a good estimate on overall weight.

 

[Xfaxman]

To anyone with a similar grapple do you experience a lot of "play" in the grapple when you're bouncinng around on the ground?

Do you have a gap at the bottom of the QA plate?

Should be like this:

 

[fasttruck860]

When I did the initial fit up of the ssqa it was tight as could be. I did run into an issue after I welded the side plate of the ssqa. The welds actually pushed the tractor bracket out, didn't allow it to sit flat completely at the bottom and I couldn't lock the pins in all the way. Before painting I ground the welds down to create a smooth corner and everything worked again, although one bracket is about 1/8-3/16" off the face. Let me find some pictures.

 

[fasttruck860]

This was the first go around on the ssqa fit up. Notice the upper portion of the bracket where it bends just before the triangular reinforced section is being pushed out by the steel plate. I notched the 1/4" steel plate to allow it to slide complete into the upper mount. Maybe this is causing some movement? I didn't notice any steel clanging or actual jiggling around while moving fast, just flex if that makes sense. I'll try shimming with something to rule that out, but it might just be the forward weight of the tines. If I travelled back and forth with the upper tines open it didn't seem to happen, maybe because there isn't as much forward weight.

Here's the final fit up, much tighter.

One last view from a different angle. I can't imagine there's any play in this.

I might just be crazy and this is my first grapple!

 

[Xfaxman]

Looks like a prefect fit. Don't know what could be flexing.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Great job on that grapple fasttruck !!

gg

 

[Smokeydog]

Having trouble seeing one picture. Don’t understand the back plate notching of the top plate interference cause? That changes the common plane the top and bottom share? It looks like upper vertical plate on the grapple doesn’t come down enough to support the tractor side ssqa below the upper wedge.

On my many attachments there is some solid plate between top and bottom on the implement side that the tractor side is mated to. The wedges top and bottom forces are distributed thru these plate surfaces.

I don’t have the hands on advantage to tell if this is a problem or source of flex. Hard to see or explain. Could the top angle of top bar be a little off requiring the back plate notching?

Sorry I have more questions than solutions.